Christopher Waters, who founded Mortimers and is one of the company directors, is a member of the Employment Law Association and acts on behalf of both employers and employees. He conducts a wide variety of cases both in and outside the Employment Tribunal.
We are happy to meet clients by telephone, online, in the office or at another venue suitable for you.
We may be able to offer a no-obligation 60-minute consultation for £150 plus VAT at 20% for certain employment matters. Please contact us to arrange an appointment.
We specialise in the following fields:
Settlement Agreements
A Settlement Agreement is a legally binding agreement setting out the terms of the termination of your employment, in which you effectively sign away your right to bring an employment tribunal claim in exchange for an agreed payment from your employer.
If you have been given a settlement agreement by your employer we can review it with you, explaining each section in plain English. We can help make sure that you are receiving the best deal and advise you on your options.
Our fee for this work is normally paid by your employer up to a maximum of approximately £500 plus VAT at 20%. Any fee above the amount paid by your employer remains your responsibility.
Contract Review
With new employment legislation and procedures published almost every week, it is vital to keep contracts, company handbooks and policy statements up to date.
We can review all such documents on a regular basis to ensure that your organisation is compliant, and can do this for a fixed cost. We will provide a quote once we have your details.
Unfair Dismissal
We can offer advice and Tribunal representation to employers or employees in claims for Unfair Dismissal.
With Tribunal awards reaching ever higher levels, the procedural and tactical consideration of Tribunal claims requires good, sound commercial advice.
Redundancy
We have experience in advising on the principles and mechanics of large and small redundancy exercises, ensuring appropriate consultation and adherence to statutory requirements.
We can also chair meetings or advise on site as necessary.
Breach of Contract
Where there is a breach or anticipatory breach of contract, we can advise on the effect both in terms of HR management and commercial decision making.
Stress at Work
We can offer advice and support on Stress at Work claims, whether relating to work overload or the pressures of bullying and harassment.
We will advise on the merits of a claim, whether based on contract or negligence, and take all necessary steps, including liaison with medical advisers and Occupational Health specialists. We have represented clients with significant claims against private and public bodies.
Discrimination
We can offer advice and support on all protected characteristics – disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.
We can advise on the options available, such as pursuing a grievance, mediation, an Employment Tribunal claim and/or negotiation with employers.
Employment Law Fees
Initial discussion
We are pleased to have an initial brief discussion with you by telephone or to respond to an initial email enquiry. However, if you need more advice, if your matter is complex or we need to look at documents, we may be able to offer a no-obligation 60-minute consultation for £150 plus VAT at 20% for certain employment matters.
There is no legal aid for employment law, so we are only able to act for clients who are able and willing to pay for advice. We may require a payment on account before commencing work.
Estimate of costs
We will do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the costs you may incur, both when you first instruct us and at appropriate intervals while we work for you. We act for both employees and employers. All work (unless funded by an insurer) is subject to our hourly rates below.
Ways of paying
- Payment by hourly rate
- Payment by agreed fee
- Payment by legal expenses insurance
Our current hourly rate is: Christopher Waters – £282 plus VAT at 20%.
Some organisations offer legal advice for free or at a modest cost (pro bono). We do not currently take on pro bono work. If you are a member of a union, you may be entitled to free legal advice from your union. We will advise you if we think any of these funding methods apply to your case.
Payment on account
In some cases we will ask you to make payments in advance to cover anticipated fees or disbursements. These payments are held in our Client Account and governed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Accounts Rules.
Likely costs of Tribunal claims
As each case is individual, we can only give a guide to our fees in typical cases:
| Type of case | Likely cost (excluding VAT) |
|---|---|
| Simple cases | £5,000 – £6,000 |
| Complex cases, particularly if more than one day is needed at the final hearing | £8,000 – £10,000 |
| Very complicated cases, with substantial evidence or complex legal arguments | Could exceed £10,000 |
Disbursements may also be incurred, which will increase these figures.
Legal expenses insurance
Some clients have legal expenses insurance which they can use to fund a claim against their previous employer. This can only be done once the insurer has agreed cover in writing, and cover usually only becomes active after a claim has been issued. It is unlikely we will be paid under the insurance for costs incurred before a claim is issued, so the client remains liable for that cost. Insurers will not pay for time spent communicating with them about the claim; we will invoice the client for that time at the hourly rate above.
Settlement agreements
Settlement agreements are made under Section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 where the parties have agreed the termination of an employee’s contract, usually with compensation paid to the employee. The employer usually contributes to the legal costs of the independent adviser’s certificate; in our experience these contributions range between £250 and £500 plus VAT for a standard agreement. If the agreement is not standard and more work is required, costs may exceed the employer’s contribution. We will always try to secure a larger contribution, but if that is not possible our client remains liable for any additional costs. If no agreement is reached, the employer will not pay its offered contribution and costs will be the client’s responsibility.
Specific pieces of work
We are happy to provide advice or carry out specific pieces of work within a claim where we are not acting generally — for example drafting or reviewing a Schedule of Loss for a litigant in person. This is charged at our usual hourly rate, currently £282 plus VAT.
Disbursements
We may need to incur external fees on your behalf, such as barristers’ or experts’ fees. VAT is added to most disbursements except court fees. Barristers’ charges are usually around £300 per hour. We will ascertain the likely cost and obtain your approval before incurring these fees, and usually ask for barristers’ fees to be paid in advance.
Employment Tribunal claims
There are presently no fees to issue claims in the Employment Tribunal. It is unusual, but not impossible, for there to be a costs order for or against a party.
The cost depends on the complexity of the case, the amount of evidence and the legal issues. If a claim reaches a final hearing it will go through several key stages:
- Early conciliation through ACAS, before proceedings are issued
- Preparation and issue of a claim at the Employment Tribunal
- Receipt and analysis of the response to the claim
- Compliance with the Tribunal’s directions, including exchange of documents, preparing an agreed bundle, exchanging witness statements and setting the hearing date and timetable
- Preliminary hearings, where needed, to manage the case or decide specific issues
- The final hearing, where the evidence is heard and a judge decides the case
Many cases are settled or withdrawn before the final hearing, in which case the cost will be less than the estimates above.
How long will a case take?
In our experience it takes 6 to 10 months for a simple claim to reach a final hearing, and 12 to 18 months for more complicated cases, depending on the Tribunal’s diary.
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