Pricing Info | Workwise Legal

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Pricing and Service

At Workwise Legal we pride ourselves on our reputation for excellent client service, clear and pragmatic advice, thorough representation and value for money.

Who will have conduct of my case?

We have five specialist employment solicitors within our team: two partners and three consultants. Their details can be found here. Regardless of which solicitor works on your case, they will always be supervised by a partner.

How do we charge?

When you engage us to carry out work for you, we will be as clear as possible about how much that work is likely to cost.

We primarily work on a time-spent basis according to an hourly rate. At the outset of your case, we will tell you the applicable hourly rate and provide an estimate of how many hours are likely to be required for the first stage of work that we will do. After that, we will provide you with regular costs estimates as the case progresses.

We review our hourly rates on an annual basis. In the current financial year (2025/2026), our partners normally charge £400 plus VAT and consultants charge £350 plus VAT. VAT is currently charged at 20%.

Sometimes we can offer a fixed fee price to complete a piece of work. This might be where the work is project based, or if you ask us to complete a defined piece of work such as a contract review, drafting/amending a letter, basic advice on the terms of a straightforward settlement agreement, or providing you with initial advice on your legal position and options.

We do not offer "no win, no fee" or conditional fee arrangements.

We may ask you to provide a deposit on account when you open a file with us, which is set off against your first bill. We will determine the level of this deposit by estimating how long the initial piece of work we intend to do for you will take. We usually send you a bill every month to help you keep track of your costs as your case progresses.

Disbursements and other expenses

You will need to pay for disbursements and expenses in addition to our fees.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. The most significant of these is likely to be fees for counsel (i.e. the fees of a barrister who may be instructed for instance, to advise on the merits of a case, draft your claim or response and represent you at hearings). Counsels’ fees will vary according to the size and complexity of the case and the seniority of the barrister. We typically work with barristers charging between £250-£500 (plus VAT at 20%) per hour.

We may also pass the costs of certain incidental expenses on to you, such as the costs of scanning or copying high volumes of documents and hearing bundles, travel costs outside of London, courier charges and expert witness fees.

Every disbursement or expense will be agreed with you in advance. We will require you to pay the agreed sum into our client account before we incur the charge. We will then handle the payment of these costs on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Our fees for bringing and defending claims for unfair and wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal (ET)

Our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, requires us to publish information on prices and the services we offer for certain types of work, specifically unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal ET claims. This information is set out below.

Key steps of a claim

If you instruct us to litigate your claims, the keys steps that we will take on your behalf are likely to include:

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the strength of your claim(s) and likely compensation if successful (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)

Initiating and/or representing you in ACAS Early Conciliation to explore whether a settlement can be achieved
Preparing and submitting your claim (employee clients) or response (employer clients) to the ET
Reviewing and advising you in relation to the claim or response
Preparing your schedule of loss (employee clients) or counter-schedule (employer clients)
Preparing for and arranging representation for a case management/preliminary hearing
Dealing with disclosure i.e. collating, reviewing and exchanging documents with the other party
Agreeing a bundle of documents for use at the final hearing (and producing that bundle, if the ET directs us to do so)
Drafting witness statements
Reviewing and advising you in relation to the other party’s witness statements
Agreeing a list of issues, chronology and/or cast list with the other party
Instructing a barrister to represent you at the final hearing
Corresponding with you, the ET and the other party throughout the case on issues that arise
Exploring the possibility of settlement and a negotiating the terms of a settlement if one can be achieved

The steps set out above are those we would expect to take if we were representing you in the ET and are only intended as a guide. You may instead wish to represent yourself and only have our assistance in relation to some of these stages. This can be arranged according to your individual needs and preference. We can provide a tailored estimate for all stages of your case once we know more about it.

Wrongful dismissal

Our fees to represent you in the ET to bring (or defend) a standalone wrongful dismissal claim with a final hearing length of one day, are likely to be between £6,000 and £16,000 (plus VAT at 20%). As explained above, counsel’s fees for representing you at a hearing will be in addition to this. We would expect counsel’s fees for wrongful dismissal claims listed for one day to be £4,000 - £10,000 (plus VAT at 20%).

In the ET, wrongful dismissal claims (i.e. claims for notice pay) have a compensation cap of £25,000. This means that in most cases, it would not be cost effective to instruct us to bring such a claim.

Higher value wrongful dismissal claims would be pursued in the High Court or County Court, where different procedures and costs rules apply. Workwise Legal do not deal with High Court or County court litigation, however we could signpost you to other firms that do.

Unfair dismissal

Our fees to represent you to bring (or defend) a standalone ‘ordinary’ unfair dismissal claim (i.e. one not involving discrimination or whistleblowing) with a final hearing length of 1-3 days, are likely to be between £24,000 and £40,000 (plus VAT at 20%).

In addition to our fees, Counsel’s fees for unfair dismissal claims listed for 1-3 days are likely to be £5,000 - £25,000 (plus VAT at 20%).

Factors that could make a case more complex and affect our pricing

Each case is different. The following factors could make a case more complex and therefore more costly for you if the case:

includes a lot of documents;
involves multiple witnesses;
requires multiple preliminary/case management hearings and/or multiple day final hearings;
requires expert witness evidence;
is delayed or cancelled at the last minute;
involves unexpected applications made by either party during the claim (e.g. applications to amend claims or defence, strike out the claim or defence, for a deposit or costs order, or requests for further particulars);
involves complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties);
is for automatic unfair dismissal e.g. if the employee is dismissed after blowing the whistle on their employer);
includes allegations of discrimination linked to the dismissal
includes a litigant in person; or
results in appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal or Court of Appeal.

In most cases, to keep your costs down we will not attend hearings with Counsel unless you want us to. If you instruct us to attend the ET there will be an additional charge for attending at our normal hourly rate.

Tribunal hearings can sometimes be postponed or cancelled at the last minute. If so, it is likely that you will still incur Counsel's fees for the hearing, even if the hearing does not take place.

How long will my matter take?

This 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 4-6 weeks. However, most cases of wrongful or unfair dismissal from submission of the claim to the ET through to receipt of the judgment will typically last between 9 and 24 months.

Alternative funding options

You might have other funding options available to you, such as cover under a legal expenses insurance policy or with a trade union.

Free advice is also available through ACAS (a telephone helpline service giving general employment law advice) and can be available through Citizens’ Advice Bureaux or law centres.

Pricing and Service

At Workwise Legal we pride ourselves on our reputation for excellent client service, clear and pragmatic advice, thorough representation and value for money.

Who will have conduct of my case?

We have five specialist employment solicitors within our team: two partners and three consultants. Their details can be found here. Regardless of which solicitor works on your case, they will always be supervised by a partner.

How do we charge?

When you engage us to carry out work for you, we will be as clear as possible about how much that work is likely to cost.

We review our hourly rates on an annual basis. In the current financial year (2025/2026), our partners normally charge £400 plus VAT and consultants charge £350 plus VAT. VAT is currently charged at 20%.

​

We do not offer "no win, no fee" or conditional fee arrangements.

Disbursements and other expenses

You will need to pay for disbursements and expenses in addition to our fees.

We may also pass the costs of certain incidental expenses on to you, such as the costs of scanning or copying high volumes of documents and hearing bundles, travel costs outside of London, courier charges and expert witness fees.

Every disbursement or expense will be agreed with you in advance. We will require you to pay the agreed sum into our client account before we incur the charge. We will then handle the payment of these costs on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

​

Our fees for bringing and defending claims for unfair and wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal (ET)

Our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, requires us to publish information on prices and the services we offer for certain types of work, specifically unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal ET claims. This information is set out below.

Key steps of a claim

If you instruct us to litigate your claims, the keys steps that we will take on your behalf are likely to include:

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the strength of your claim(s) and likely compensation if successful (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)

Initiating and/or representing you in ACAS Early Conciliation to explore whether a settlement can be achieved

Preparing and submitting your claim (employee clients) or response (employer clients) to the ET

Reviewing and advising you in relation to the claim or response

Preparing your schedule of loss (employee clients) or counter-schedule (employer clients)

Preparing for and arranging representation for a case management/preliminary hearing

Dealing with disclosure i.e. collating, reviewing and exchanging documents with the other party

Agreeing a bundle of documents for use at the final hearing (and producing that bundle, if the ET directs us to do so)

Drafting witness statements

Reviewing and advising you in relation to the other party’s witness statements

Agreeing a list of issues, chronology and/or cast list with the other party

Instructing a barrister to represent you at the final hearing

Corresponding with you, the ET and the other party throughout the case on issues that arise

Exploring the possibility of settlement and a negotiating the terms of a settlement if one can be achieved

Wrongful dismissal

In the ET, wrongful dismissal claims (i.e. claims for notice pay) have a compensation cap of £25,000. This means that in most cases, it would not be cost effective to instruct us to bring such a claim.

Higher value wrongful dismissal claims would be pursued in the High Court or County Court, where different procedures and costs rules apply. Workwise Legal do not deal with High Court or County court litigation, however we could signpost you to other firms that do.

Unfair dismissal

Our fees to represent you to bring (or defend) a standalone ‘ordinary’ unfair dismissal claim (i.e. one not involving discrimination or whistleblowing) with a final hearing length of 1-3 days, are likely to be between £24,000 and £40,000 (plus VAT at 20%).

In addition to our fees, Counsel’s fees for unfair dismissal claims listed for 1-3 days are likely to be £5,000 - £25,000 (plus VAT at 20%).

Factors that could make a case more complex and affect our pricing

Each case is different. The following factors could make a case more complex and therefore more costly for you if the case:

​

includes a lot of documents;

involves multiple witnesses;

requires multiple preliminary/case management hearings and/or multiple day final hearings;

requires expert witness evidence;

is delayed or cancelled at the last minute;

involves unexpected applications made by either party during the claim (e.g. applications to amend claims or defence, strike out the claim or defence, for a deposit or costs order, or requests for further particulars);

involves complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties);

is for automatic unfair dismissal e.g. if the employee is dismissed after blowing the whistle on their employer);

includes allegations of discrimination linked to the dismissal

includes a litigant in person; or

results in appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal or Court of Appeal.

In most cases, to keep your costs down we will not attend hearings with Counsel unless you want us to. If you instruct us to attend the ET there will be an additional charge for attending at our normal hourly rate.

​

Tribunal hearings can sometimes be postponed or cancelled at the last minute. If so, it is likely that you will still incur Counsel's fees for the hearing, even if the hearing does not take place.

How long will my matter take?

Alternative funding options

You might have other funding options available to you, such as cover under a legal expenses insurance policy or with a trade union.

​

Free advice is also available through ACAS (a telephone helpline service giving general employment law advice) and can be available through Citizens’ Advice Bureaux or law centres.