Transparency Statement

TRANSPARENCY STATEMENT

We act for both employees and (mainly smaller) employers. As a small business and Federation of Small Business member ourselves we hope to understand better the needs and concerns of the sector. Dale Langley has set up and run three specialist firms since 1993. We seek above all to help our clients resolve all sorts of disputes on acceptable terms quickly, and insofar as possible, amicably and cost-effectively. We start from the point that both employers and employees rarely want to end up in the courts or tribunal.

Our approach

Right from the start we appreciate the importance of keeping the work and costs we incur proportionate to the value of the individual case. For individual clients, we tailor the amount of work to the possible outcome sought as far as possible. We place no limits on who we will help in terms of size of salary or amount of claim. We have dealt with cases with potential values across the spectrum. We are happy to work on cases where the client has legal insurance cover and are well known by most legal insurers. For employer clients, we recognise that there may be more at stake, for example, the need to enforce policy or take a tough line against meritless claims. However our same rigorous approach is followed to keep work proportionate

Your first meeting

We offer you a first meeting which can be done on a time basis or for a fixed fee, typically from £235 – £500 plus VAT (currently at 20%) depending on the number of papers to read and the number of issues involved and experience of those solicitors attending the meeting. The meeting usually lasts from 1 to 1.5 hours. We ask you to bring ID and relevant papers including your contract or other terms of employment.

At our first meeting we seek a full understanding of your objectives and the background to the situation. We will raise questions, rather than make any assumptions, analyse the situation and by the end of the meeting we hope to agree the best and most cost effective way forward. Ordinarily we then confirm this to you by a concise letter. We would hope to provide you with legal, strategic and practical advice in the course of the first meeting.

We strongly believe that the initial analysis is key and the experience we bring is based on Dale Langley’s own, over 30 years’ devoted to employment cases, as passed on to his associates. This enables us to focus on the issues that matter to you and devise a strategy to meet your requirements.

We sometimes find that it is more efficient for us to review any lengthy documents after the initial meeting. However we are only too aware that documents often do not tell your whole story and a meeting or (if a meeting is impractical for you) a phone call are, in most cases, essential. We will, if required, agree to pre-read your important papers before having a meeting. We reserve the right to make a charge for this on a time basis.

The starting point for estimating costs for your matter is time spent (or anticipated) multiplied by our charge-out rates. In the financial year (2020/2021), our hourly rates range from £225 plus VAT for an assistant solicitor to a maximum of £360/395* plus VAT for our most experienced principal solicitor. Our charge-out rates are reviewed periodically and may be varied from time to time. We are happy to let you have the rates which will apply to you at any time and any changes will be notified to a client in advance. * Most individuals pay £360 & Vat.

Meet the team

Our highly specialised team of five solicitors has a cumulative total of some 90 years of experience in contentious work, dispute resolution, employment and partnership. Our team is displayed elsewhere in this website.

The majority of our team trained with Dale Langley and have stayed with the firm since then. How many other firms can say that?

We understand that you may want to get to know your legal advisers before giving us any formal instruction. We can do this by phone but for regulatory reasons we cannot advise you if you have not been through our regulatory checks and procedures, which are done when you become a client of the firm.

Costs – Unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims

It is difficult for us to provide you with meaningful costs indications for your own claim before we have taken details of your individual claims (or claims against you) for the reasons we explain above and below. However in our experience most claims are settled before reaching a final hearing in the Employment Tribunal.

Recent cases we have settled (in fact both settled only days before the final hearing) this year (2020) include:
A claim by a financial sector executive for sex discrimination and unfair dismissal – costs £29,900 paid by her insurers, of which £12,000 was for Counsel. There were five witnesses and it was a five day hearing.

A claim by a senior manager in the telecommunications sector (settled overnight the day before trial) – costs of £20,000 of which about £13,000 was covered by insurers and £1,750 was for Counsel. There were three witnesses and it was a one day hearing.

The indicative costs illustrated above cover the following stages and services:

• taking initial instructions and reviewing the main documents to advise on merits and compensation (which will be subject to constant review and may change for example as disclosure takes place);
• advice on, and help with a data subject access request;
• the early conciliation process;
• preparation of the claim or defence (in some cases this will be prepared by counsel);
• advising on whether expert evidence is required (for example of disability
• preparing for and attendance at a preliminary hearing, including reviewing the other side’s claim or defence, preparing an agenda, list of issues and schedule or counter schedule of loss;
• disclosure of documents, including inspecting documents for relevance and privilege;
• preparing witness statements and reviewing the other side’s evidence;
• preparing a bundle of documents (this is often undertaken by the employer or respondent but we must still oversee and ensure correctness); and
• preparation for and attendance at the final hearing, including instruction of counsel.

Many factors will affect the final cost including the complexity of the case; the number of relevant documents, the need in some cases for expert evidence, the seniority of the lawyers engaged on the matter, the actions taken by the other side, and the time it takes to complete. The costs of the trial are usually the largest part. Trial cost in turn is governed by length of trial and seniority of Counsel. We have set out below a list of factors which may affect the size of claim and costs involved:

• Bringing a claim for an employee client for unfair dismissal with a final hearing length of 1 to 3 days may cost in the region of £19,000 (simple) to £50,000 plus VAT (more complex) excluding disbursements (such as the fees of Counsel). Often there will be three or more separate claims being pursued of which unfair dismissal is only one.
• The Tribunal covers simple unfair dismissal with a statutory cap of one year’s pay (£86,444 max) a service related basic award (up to £15,750 max) and a cap of £25,000 for additional claims for wrongful dismissal (breach of contract). Certain types of claim have no limit or cap – these include claims based on, for example unlawful deductions from pay, whistle-blowing, maternity and discrimination.
• Larger claims for wrongful dismissal or breach of contract (e.g. bonus claims) must generally be brought in the Courts;
• Defending an employer client against a claim for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal with a final hearing length of 1 to 3 days may cost in the region of 20-30% more than the cost for an individual, £25,000 to £65,000 plus VAT excluding disbursements (such as the fees of Counsel). This is due to the reporting structure and greater number of individuals and witnesses who must be interviewed and evidence prepared
• Due to the disparity and complexity of the cases we handle, it is not possible to provide an average cost for unfair dismissal cases, simply to illustrate via the examples set out above.

Examples of further factors that could make such a case more complex and consequently increase the total cost for an employer client include the following:

• The complexity of the factual background where we have not already been advising.
• Regulatory aspects.
• Responding to a data subject access request or other requests for information (e.g. freedom of information)
• Where there are litigants in person.
• Making or defending a costs application.
• Where there is a foreign element to the claim and an issue of tribunal jurisdiction is raised.
• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim.
• Preliminary issues that need separate preliminary hearing.
• The number of witnesses and documents and if applications for specific disclosure are required
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if the employee is dismissed after whistle-blowing on his or her employer. An application seeking interim relief in a whistle-blowing clam would have further cost implications.
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.
• Where there is a mediation or prolonged settlement discussions and negotiation of settlement terms, particularly where preparations for a hearing must continue at the same time to meet tribunal timetables.
• If an order or judgment is the subject of an appeal.
• If a respondent client is funded by an insurer, and there are additional reporting obligations to the insurer.
• Where the matter goes part heard, or a hearing is postponed by the Tribunal at the last minute or where the Tribunal holds separate hearing to decide the merit of the claim and decide the compensation payable.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to a client’s matter that are payable to third parties, such as counsel or an expert witness. We generally handle the payment of disbursements on behalf of our clients although a few insurers now pay these directly.

How long will the matter take?

The time that it takes from receiving a client’s initial instructions to the final resolution of the matter depends largely on the stage at which the case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation or pre-action correspondence, a case is likely to take a few weeks. If a claim proceeds to a final hearing, the case may from experience take 6 to 18 months from the Employment Tribunal issuing the claim to receipt of a final judgment. This is only an estimate as much will depend on the availability of the particular tribunal and the speed with which it can process claims and list any hearings.

Thinking of instructing us?
Just give me; Dale Langley, a call on 07908-864-745, or speak to James Corrish 0204-549-2486.