Employment solictor to review settlement agreement

Mackle

Hi,


I've been given a settlement offer by my employer, which I need to be advised on by an employment solicitor, preferably one who is able to act on my behalf if the terms of the settlement are not fair or questionable.


Ideally I'd be able to attend a meeting in person in London with the solicitor as well.




Does anyone know of any recommendations, especially ones who have challenged settlement offers.

Undervalued

Mackle wrote: »

Hi,


I've been given a settlement offer by my employer, which I need to be advised on by an employment solicitor, preferably one who is able to act on my behalf if the terms of the settlement are not fair or questionable.


Ideally I'd be able to attend a meeting in person in London with the solicitor as well.




Does anyone know of any recommendations, especially ones who have challenged settlement offers.

I can't give a specific recommendation but a couple of general points....

Any solicitor would be able to "act on your behalf". Remember they are acting for you in this, not your employer.

I would suggest looking for a medium sized firm large enough to have one or two solicitors who specialise in employment.

Also keep in mind that although it is customary for the employer to pay towards your legal costs it is not actually obligatory. In any case few employers will pay for more than the absolute minimum the law requires. They are unlikely to want to pay for the solicitor to argue against them or negotiate on you behalf.

Ultimately it is the bottom line that counts! Also a good agreed reference can be worth far more long term than an extra thousand or two on the settlement figure.

ohreally

Try Thompsons, not a recommendation a suggestion.

jobbingmusician

Your employer might recommend one. Seriously - lawyers should be able to act for their CLIENT (you) whoever recommends them. Also - I assume your employer is paying for this? (Make sure they are paying enough!)

Mackle

They are prepared to pay up to £500, don't know if that's good or bad for a solicitor!

TadleyBaggie

At about £200 per hour, £500 will just about cover their costs if there is nothing to query, if the solicitor suggests lots of changes you will find the cost quickly exceeds what the company will pay.

TELLIT01

Be careful is a solicitor claims they can get you much more than the original offer. A friend of mine was made an offer to settle an industrial injury claim and their solicitor told them they could get much more and it would take no more than 6 months to get it settled. To cut a very long and nasty story short, it took over 10 years to get a settlement which was actually little better than the original one.

Savvy_Sue

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Your employer might recommend one.

Yes, DH's employer mentioned one in their 'how to open yourself to a potential employment tribunal claim without really trying' letter.

The solicitors they mentioned were in Kidderminster. We are not. Needless to say we found our own - I'm not saying the Kidderminster bunch wouldn't have been any good, but we got an excellent recommendation and were very happy with the result. Actually DH had used this chap previously, as an employer, so knew they knew their stuff.

So failing a recommendation, make sure you get an employment specialist - not a conveyancing solicitor, not a family solicitor, not a wills and probate solicitor, not a criminal solicitor (you know what I mean!)

And not all partnerships will have an employment specialist, so make that your first question.

sangie595

TadleyBaggie wrote: »

At about £200 per hour, £500 will just about cover their costs if there is nothing to query, if the solicitor suggests lots of changes you will find the cost quickly exceeds what the company will pay.

Also, the deal is usually that the employer will pay £XXX for a lawyer to advise you on the agreement - not to challenge it. As soon as they have advised you, whether the whole amount is spent or not, then the bill is yours. You cannot reasonably expect an employer to fund action against themselves.

steampowered

The only thing an employer will usually want to pay for is advice on the effect of the settlement agreement. That is all you will get for £500.
Negotiation of the terms of the settlement won't be covered.

Most settlement agreements are fairly simple. You can compare against the template available on the ACAS website if you want to see what is standard. If there are parts of the agreements you aren't happy with, you can ask for them to be changed.