Types of Work We Undertake

We offer a range of legal services for businesses which include:

Oakwood For Business – this is our outsourced legal department for all of your legal needs;
Our Corporate Employment and HR Package – for unlimited employment law support for the duration of the retainer (this can be included within Oakwood Connected)
Fixed Fee Services – this can be for specific services, for instance draft Employment Contracts and Handbooks
Private Retainer – to deal with more complex issues, such as Tribunal representation.

Funding Options

There are a number of ways to fund our services and we will aim to provide a funding package for you which is suitable for particular circumstances.

We are not obliged to offer any particular method of funding and some methods of funding may only be available in cases where we assess that the case is suitable for both you and us.

Fixed Fee

This product is where we assert an amount of money to be paid for the service we provide. At the commencement of the claim we will advise you of the amount of the fixed fee we will charge you for completing the service you have instructed us for.

The costs owed to the Firm under the fixed fee agreement will be the same amount regardless of the work taken to complete your matter. There may be additional charges to the fix fee for additional products or disbursements, but these will be notified to you at the time they become necessary.

All fees charge by the Firm are VAT payable, which is currently set at 20%.

Most of our services are provided on a Fixed Fee basis and our Fixed Fees are detailed below. In some circumstances, where your instructions are particularly complex or high value, it may be more appropriate to instruct us on a private retainer.

Damages Based Agreement (DBA)

Under a DBA, our charges are based on a fixed deduction from your damages based on a fixed percentage of 35% excluding disbursements.

For example, if your claim is settled or awarded the sum of £30,000 then our fees would be £10,500 irrespective of the time we spend on the matter. Conversely if your case settles for £5,000 then our fees would be £1,750.

The advantage of a DBA to you is that it gives you certainty that our costs are proportionate to the award. The disadvantage is that our fees under a DBA could be higher than under a private retainer particularly with higher value cases which settle quickly.

We are not obliged to offer a DBA and we will only offer a DBA where we believe that there sufficient prospects of success to do so.

Private Retainer

You will pay us for our charges based on an hourly rate set in our retainer. We will provide you with an estimate of fees from time to time but our charges will be based on the amount of time we spend on your matter.

Our standard hourly rates are dependent on the qualification and experience of the fee earner dealing with the matter.

The extent of our fees will be dependent upon the amount of time we spend on your case and the level of the Fee Earner who has conduct of the matter. We will allocate a Fee Earner of a suitable level to your case. So for example, more complex cases will ordinarily be dealt with by more senior staff.

Below is a table of the typical Fees we charge for a typical Employee of different experience levels:

Grade of Fee Earner	Hourly Rate	Estimated VAT at 20%
Grade A
Solicitors and Legal Executives with 8 or more years’ qualified experience. Heads of Department.	£255.00	£51.00
Grade B
Solicitors or Legal Executives with 4 or more years’ qualified experience. Unqualified File Handlers with more than 8 years’ Litigated experience.	£220.00	44.00
Grade C
Solicitors or Legal Executives with less than 4 years’ qualified experience. Unqualified File Handlers with more than 6 years’ Litigated experience.	£175.00	£35.00
Grade D
Unqualified File Handlers and other staff with less than 6 years’ experience.	£150.00	£30.00

We will allocate a Fee Earner of a suitable level to your case. So for example, more complex cases will ordinarily be dealt with by more senior staff.

By way of example if a case is dealt with by our Head of Department, their hourly rate is £255.00 per hour plus VAT. If we spent 10 hours working on your file, our fees would therefore equate to £2,550.00 plus VAT, totalling £3,060.00.

Fee Earners working in the Employment and HR Packages Department

Below is a list of our Fee Earners, their qualifications and the hourly rates they charge. Hourly rates are subject to change dependent upon the service provided and the increasing experience of the handler:

Person	Qualification and Experience	Hourly Rate Charged (Exclusive of VAT)

Fiona Almaezdi	Grade A Solicitor, with over 17 years’ experience	£255.00

Corporate Employment and HR Package

Ordinarily we encourage clients to enter into our Corporate Employment and HR Package as this is typically the most beneficial service for the client.

Our standard package is on a 12 month retainer but we can offer longer term retainers, at discounted prices, on request. This service includes:

Unlimited Employment Law advice as required during the retainer on all employee relations matters including disciplinary proceedings, maternity issues and disputes
Drafting, and as appropriate updating, Employment Contracts and handbooks
Drafting, and as appropriate updating, staff handbooks, policies and procedures
Insurance to insure you against the risk of Tribunal proceedings
Tribunal representation (subject to adherence to the insurance policy)
Drafting, as appropriate, bespoke letters relating to employee relations matters

Estimate of Costs/Our Fee Structure for the Package

Where clients enter into our package, fees are paid by direct debit each month. Our fee structure is based on the number of employees engaged in the business:

Number of Employees	Type of Document	Monthly Payment (inc VAT)	Total Package Payment (Inc VAT)
All prices below are based upon a 12 month subscription to the service
0 to 10	Employment and HR Package	£200.00	£2,400.00
11 to 20	Employment and HR Package	£250.00	£3,000.00
21 to 30	Employment and HR Package	£300.00	£3,600.00
31 to 40	Employment and HR Package	£350.00	£4,200.00
41 to 50	Employment and HR Package	£450.00	£5,400.00
51 and over	Employment and HR Package	Specific quotes will be given depending upon Employees and work required	Fixed fee to be advised at meeting

Disbursements

Disbursements charges are payable in addition to your Solicitor Fees for conducting the claim. They are costs you have to pay to third parties in respect of services relating to your transaction. Not all of the disbursements below will apply to your transaction and some of the amounts may vary on individual matters.

The most typical type of disbursement for an Employment and HR Package will be Legal Expenses Insurance. This is an insurance product offered to cover the costs of tribunals, legal fees, settlements and awards. The insurance will be offered after your demands and needs are assessed.

The main provider we use for this insurance is Albion Legal. The monthly premium they offer will be dependant upon your Business needs and number of Employees. The typical Fees for the insurance are as follows.

These figures are given as a guide for the insurance product and are subject to change with inflation and different factors of your business:

Disbursement Type	Number of Employees	Estimate Cost inclusive of IPT	IPT charged in addition	Total Monthly Charge
Legal Expenses Insurance	0 to 10	£14.59	£1.75	£16.34
	11 to 20	£32.08	£3.85	£35.93
	21 to 30	£49.12	£5.89	£55.01
	31 to 40	£66.25	£7.95	£74.20
	41 to 50	£82.92	£9.95	£92.87
	51 to 60	£98.33	£11.80	£110.13
	61 to 70	£117.92	£14.15	£132.07
	71 to 80	£132.92	£15.95	£148.87
	81 to 90	£147.50	£17.70	£165.20
	91 to 100	£162.92	£19.55	£182.47
	101 to 125	£177.08	£21.25	£198.33
	126 to 150	£191.67	£23.00	£214.67
	Over 151	To be determined

Duration of Claim

Your employment Packages will run for the period specified within the initial correspondents. For example if your package is for 12 months then Employment advice will be given for the 12 month period.

Employment Claims

If you do not believe you would benefit from our package, we can offer alternative funding options for individual circumstances. This maybe a Private Retainer where we charge an hourly rate for our Fee Earner dependant upon the work you require to be completed.

We could also offer you a fixed fee services and specify the amount of costs payable for the type of work you require us to undertake. In both these situations it would be dependant upon the work required to be completed.

The amount of time we spend on a case will depend on the stage at which a case settles. So for example our charges may be more on a less complex case which proceeds to a final Tribunal hearing than our fees on a more complex case which settles quickly.

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.

Estimate of Costs

We will provide you with an estimate of our fees on a case by case basis. Based on experience our usual estimate of fees to a final Tribunal hearing would be:

Simple cases: £2,000.00 – £5,000.00 (excluding VAT and disbursements)

A simple case may include a claim for unlawful deduction of wages, a claim for redundancy pay or a simple breach of contract case.

Medium complexity case: £5,000.00 – £10,000.00 (excluding VAT)

Medium complex cases may include claims for Unfair Dismissal or more complex breach of contract claims such as holiday claims or claims relating to commission payments.

High complexity case: £10,000.00 – £15,000.00 (excluding VAT)

Typically higher complex cases will involve issues of discrimination, whistleblowing or victimisation.

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

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of around £1,250.00 – £2,000.00 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow 1 – 4 days depending on the complexity of your case. This charged may be raised by the Solicitor or by a Barrister where a Barrister is representing you at the Tribunal Hearing.

Disbursements

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

If your case goes to a Tribunal hearing and it is necessary to instruct Counsel then Counsel will ordinarily charge a daily or hourly rate based on their level of experience.

Disbursement Type	Estimate Cost	Estimated VAT at 20%
Counsel Fees	Between £1,250.00 and £3,000.00	Between £250.00 and £600.00

Duration of Claim

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 4-8 weeks.

If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 6 to 18 months, and sometimes longer in complex cases. 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.

Settlement Agreement Claims

If you and your Employer have agreed to part ways then you will usually be required to enter in to a settlement agreement. The Employer will usually pay an amount towards the Cost of instructing an Employment Solicitor to advise you on the settlement agreement.

We try to recover our fees for this service from the Employer, but you maybe required to pay any additional fees not recovered. You will also be liable for the full fees we charge if the settlement agreement does not go ahead.

Settlement Agreements are based upon a fixed fee amount dependant upon the type of work. Below is an estimate of the costs that would be owed:

Type of Document	Fixed Fee Amount	Estimated VAT at 20%
Settlement Agreement – Standard	£350.00	£70.00
Settlement Agreement – Medium complexity	£600.00	£120.00
Settlement Agreement – High complexity	£1,000.00	£200.00

Disbursements

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

We do not anticipate any disbursements would be payable under a settlement agreement.

Duration of Claim

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the finalising your settlement agreement will be determined upon how quickly we can reach an agreement with your former Employer on the terms of the agreement. Typically cases are likely to take 4-8 weeks.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you would like to enquire about any of our services, call us now on 0113 200 9720 or email us at enquiries@oakwoodsolicitors.co.uk.