Employment

Funding

At Bolt Burdon we recognise that when you come to us for advice you may be concerned about your employment status and the possible ramifications that any change in your working life could have on your financial stability. We therefore offer you a range of funding options, dependent on your particular employment problem, to try and assist you at what can be a difficult time.

Initial Enquiries by telephone

Initial enquiries by telephone are free of charge. This will help you get a feel for whether it is worthwhile formally instructing a solicitor and just as importantly whether you want to formally instruct us!

Standard billing

Solicitors traditionally bill clients on an hourly basis for all work done. We will always provide you with clear estimates before commencing a piece of work and will keep you continually updated about our fees so that costs do not escalate without you knowing. We can also agree a cap on costs where necessary and appropriate.

Recoupment of legal fees from the employer or ex-employer

Often we can help you settle a dispute with your employer or ex-employer without bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal, or, without the need for a full hearing. Although costs are not normally recoverable in the Employment Tribunal, as part of any settlement package we will always attempt to recover from the employer or ex-employer the legal fees incurred by you in seeking legal advice on the dispute.

Compromise Agreements

A Compromise Agreement is a legally binding agreement bringing to an end all claims that you may have arising out of your employment or its termination. For a Compromise Agreement to be binding on you, you must take independent legal advice from a suitably insured legal adviser such as a solicitor.

Your employer or ex-employer will generally offer to make a contribution towards your legal fees if they ask you to enter into a compromise agreement with them. As it is only a contribution, generally speaking (although not always), it will not cover the entirety of your legal fees in seeking advice on the Compromise Agreement. However, we will always ask your employer or ex-employer to increase their contribution so that they cover all legal fees incurred by you.

Contingency Fee Agreements

Contingency Fee Agreements ("CFA's") are more commonly known as 'No Win No Fee' Agreements. A CFA may be suitable to fund your case if you have already left employment and have a claim or claims against your ex-employer that entitle you to seek compensation in an Employment Tribunal.

In essence, as the name suggests under a CFA, we will only charge by taking a percentage share of the monies received if we are able to obtain financial compensation for you, either by way of a negotiated settlement or by way of an award made at a full hearing at the Employment Tribunal. If no financial compensation is received, you will not have to pay us anything other than to reimburse us for any disbursements such as expert's fees or photocopying we incur on your behalf.

A CFA is not suitable for every employment case and you may decide that you would prefer to be billed on an hourly basis rather than pay a percentage of your compensation to us at the end of your matter. If you are interested in a CFA we will consider this carefully with you to ascertain whether a CFA is suitable taking into account the nature of the dispute and your individual circumstances.

Fixed Fees

Sometimes we can agree a fixed fee for a particular piece of work with you prior to commencing work. This gives you the security of knowing in advance exactly what your legal fees for that particular piece of work will be. If you case is ongoing, for example, if you commence Tribunal proceedings, we can agree a fixed fee for each stage of the work we carry out for you.

Legal Expenses Insurance

We often find that our clients have legal expenses insurance without even realising it! When you first make contact with us we will therefore encourage you to check all insurance policies you hold, such as home and car insurance, to see whether you have legal expenses insurance. If you are covered by legal expenses insurance, the insurer will cover your legal fees up to a set limit and will pay us direct at the end of your case.

For further information email Sophie McGuinness at sophiemcguinness@boltburdon.co.uk
or call our Employment Department on 020 7288 4723.