Minimising my costs in an Employment Tribunal case

CYPER

Hi everyone,

I need legal advice in regards to minimizing my costs for an Employment Tribunal case.

As legal costs are not normally recoverable I am obviously looking to minimize them, so I have a few questions:

1. I can fill my own ET1 form and probably argue the case myself in court, but I guess I would have much higher chance of success if I hire legal aid, so which steps through the whole process are crucial and I would definitely require a solicitor/barrister’s help?
2. My current solicitor has quoted me costs in the region of £12000. I also had a consultation with a barrister, who quoted me a package around £5000 to prepare for the case and represent me for a few days in court. Do I really need a solicitor or just a barrister would suffice? Is it true that barristers are cheaper on average?
3. I know there are many legal professionals out there, so can you recommend a person/place/service that won’t cost an arm and a leg. I would be happy if I can keep my total costs below £5000.

Thank you.

steampowered

I won’t go into too much detail as the case is quite complex, so here is a brief summary

I appreciate you might not want to provide all the details on here, but if you have been on stress-related sick leave for six months over a demotion, are you prepared for a long and draining fight with your employer? ET proceedings are stressful.

I can fill my own ET1 form and probably argue the case myself in court, but I guess I would have much higher chance of success if I hire legal aid, so which steps through the whole process are crucial and I would definitely require a solicitor/barrister’s help?

You can't get legal aid for Employment Tribunal cases.

If you can't afford full legal representation and can only afford a littlebit of help, the time to get it is right at the start - to get advice on whether you actually have a case, and help as to what goes in your ET1.

Most importantly though, if you want to claim don't miss the strict timelines associated with issuing a claim.

My current solicitor has quoted me costs in the region of £12000. I also had a consultation with a barrister, who quoted me a package around £5000 to prepare for the case and represent me for a few days in court. Do I really need a solicitor or just a barrister would suffice? Is it true that barristers are cheaper on average?

Barristers can sometimes be cheaper. £5k sounds quite reasonable to me.

A barrister might not be able to help you with getting your evidence together, requesting disclosure from the other side and so on. This can be important in disability discrimination cases, although this can be done by yourself at a push.