Urgent: Legal advice & settlement agreement

cindy01

Dear All,


I needed an urgent feedback which would be much appreciated regarding recommendations for a good employment solicitor based in London for legal advice & settlement agreement review/negotiation.
Any indication on approx. cost for the service would also help.


Many thanks in advance.

TadleyBaggie

I recently had to do this and the solicitor I used (not London based I'm afraid) charged £220+vat per hour, but for a simple review this was capped at £500+vat.

cindy01

Thanks TadleyBaggie for your reply. Do you mind sharing their details/location and your experience with them.

cindy01

I had previously heard good reviews about a legal advice forum Redundancyforum.co.uk , does anyone know what happened to it as I don't think it exists any more.

sangie595

The standard rate is for review of the agreement and to ensure that you understand the implications of signing it. Few solicitors would include negotiating a better deal in that fee, which varies enormously around the country. The basic cost is often / usually paid for by an amount or contribution from the employer, but anything over and above that basic rate would be down to you to pay, which is fair because no employer is going to fund you to argue with them! £500+ is, in my view, a bit on the steep side if all they are doing to checking the agreement and advising you on the implications of signing. Many solicitors have a set fee, not an hourly rate, for such work, and I would say that in my experience this can cost in the region of £300 - £400 these days. But if you are not paying for it, then it is perhaps moot - are you planning to dispute the settlement, because if you are not you don't need anything but the basic advice and check.

If you are in a union you don't need a solicitor - they can provide this service free of charge for union members.

KayJay

Union solicitors dont provide this free of charge. Usually the union solicitors would charge the employer. The employer usually has no problem paying because they do realise that the employee would want it checked legally.

sangie595

KayJay wrote: »

Union solicitors dont provide this free of charge. Usually the union solicitors would charge the employer. The employer usually has no problem paying because they do realise that the employee would want it checked legally.

A union solicitor is not required. Any union official can do this. And they do not charge. I know because I unfortunately get to do a lot of them.

KayJay

sangie595 wrote: »

A union solicitor is not required. Any union official can do this. And they do not charge. I know because I unfortunately get to do a lot of them.

Perhaps you do. Any union official I know would refer to union solicitors. Unless you have legal qualifications and legal standing then surely you would not legally advise? If you advise incorrectly you would have to stand the cost, which the solicitor would do.
just my opinion though, based on 40 years of union membership.

sangie595

KayJay wrote: »

Perhaps you do. Any union official I know would refer to union solicitors. Unless you have legal qualifications and legal standing then surely you would not legally advise? If you advise incorrectly you would have to stand the cost, which the solicitor would do.
just my opinion though, based on 40 years of union membership.

Union officials have more than adequate training and experience to manage settlement agreements without a solicitor.

Just my opinion though, based on 40 years of being a union official in one of the countries largest unions and signing off on such agreements, as the law stipulates - a lawyer or a trades union official. We (and no union of my acquaintance) do not use solicitors unless the situation is complex, which in 99.9% of cases it is not complex. I do not know of any case where a union official has advised incorrectly, although I accept it might happen- but there is no guarantee that a lawyer would get it right. There are plenty of examples around this board where the lawyer got it wrong and the person can do nothing about it. It is actually very hard to evidence that a lawyer has got advice wrong, and even harder to get your money back or to action it. Unions don't have it that simple - if we get it wrong we lose members. A lawyer doesn't need to care - you won't be back anyway.

If unions employed a lawyer for everything a lawyer could be used for, then we would be bankrupt within months - that is why union officials are trained to manage such agreements as well as representation at employment tribunals. Legal advisors are valuable assets, but they are not the be all and end all of union representation. They are used where necessary and not where they are not.