Employment Solicitor in Aylesbury Bucks, Herts, Beds, London

Doctor Simba, solicitor advocate & director

Your case is supervised by Dr D Simba, a solicitor with over 9 years of post-qualification experience. He holds a Doctor or Science degree in Technology (April 2001). In addition Dr Simba qualified to be a solicitor advocate (civil and criminal cases) with rights of audience in the highest courts in England & Wales including county courts, the High Court and Court of Appeal.  He trained and qualified as an architect in Kenya (1988), Finland (1992), USA (2001) and UK (2001). Doctor Simba charges £210 per hour.

Employment Tribunal cases (Range of costs)

Our pricing for bringing and defending Employment Tribunal claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal (inclusive of any VAT)

Simple case £600 to £1,200. These are cases likely to be listed for up to one full day of hearing.

Medium complexity case: £1,200 to £2,400 (cases likely to be listed for 2 or 3 days of hearing including case management discussion)

High complexity case including discrimination, harassment and victimisation: £2,400 to £4,800. (cases likely to be listed for 3 to 5 days of hearing including case management discussion and preliminary hearings). Cases lasting over 5 days will cost £4,800 plus £600 to £1,200 for each hearing day. Once a case is listed for hearing then we have to start preparing for it, which includes collating documents, the hearing bundle, drafting witness statements etc.

Many cases are settled without a hearing. There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1,200 per day.

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to      provide further information about an existing claim
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
• Making  or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is  not agreed by the parties)
• The  number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after      blowing the whistle on your employer
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees and medical reports. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Preparing  claim or response
• Reviewing  and advising on claim or response from other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
• preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing  for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
• Exchanging  documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
• preparing bundle of documents
• Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements
• agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 3-7 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 3 to 6 months for simple unfair dismissal claims and 6 to 18 months for complex unfair dismissal cases and discrimination claims. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses. extensive training and qualification in architecture in Kenya, Finland, UK and USA gives him deeper insight in property law, planning law, conveyancing and construction law.S