Defending tribunal claims
Our specialist employment law team draws on its extensive sector knowledge and experience and can guide you through each stage of the tribunal process, from the initial response to a tribunal claim, through to support with preparing witness statements and strategic advice on handling an employment tribunal.
We know employment tribunal claims can be stressful, costly and time-consuming and we work with employers to handle claims in the most cost-effective and least time-consuming way possible.
Legal support before a matter gets to a tribunal
Our team have an excellent track record with judicial mediation. We often settle cases at mediation for less than we had advised would be a reasonable amount to settle for. When a claim is brought by a current employee, this can be used as a means of agreeing their exit, achieving not only an end to their claim, but also a risk-free way to bring about their dismissal without a lengthy internal process. Our team can support you prior to a potential tribunal claim – for example, disciplinary or grievance hearings (which gives us an eye for detail as to what might be picked up on in a claim).
Defending a matter at a tribunal
We appreciate however that some clients may wish to defend claims out of principle and because of the message that settling a particular claim might send (where an employee has behaved in a way that is harmful to their organisation or for example, the vulnerable people it supports). We are experienced in defending claims from start to finish in those situations and fully understand the reasons for this.
Tribunal-focused training and resources for your organisation
We are passionate about sharing our experiences and are able to deliver training on employment tribunal process and procedure.
Our lessons learnt analysis can be given at any stage of a claim which can be shared internally with HR or management colleagues to seek to avoid similar situations arising again.
We have produced documents and guidance on the back of dealing with certain claims to help with internal processes that seek to reduce the risk of a claim. These include our guide on dealing with employment situations with a police involvement, and a suspension checklist.
Our approach to fees
We know that the cost of defending a claim is often one of the foremost considerations.
As far as possible, we give a fee for the entirety of the case which gives you more certainty to costs and removes the financial risk for you. We use a variety of fixed fee options where some more routine jobs are charged on a fixed fee to give certainty, and for others, an hourly rate, to ensure that you are not paying a fixed fee where the time spent on a matter may not justify this.
Recent employment tribunal work
Defending a claim of racial discrimination in housing
We successfully defended a claim of race discrimination, harassment, and victimisation for a large regional social housing provider at tribunal.
Defending a dismissal claim for a domiciliary care provider
We successfully defended a claim on behalf of one of the UK’s largest domiciliary care providers.
Who we act for
We act for a range of clients, from large national providers in the health and social care sector with over 10,000 employees, city councils and national housing associations to small independently owned or charitable businesses with fewer than 50 staff. We act for universally well-known and instantly recognisable names within our sectors, and a large range of faith-based charities and organisations.
For example, our spread of client relationships and partnerships with umbrella bodies in the social care sector (UK Homecare Association, Care England and the National Care Forum) ensures we are deeply embedded in the sector and have the depth of expertise to understand the practical issues faced by clients. These close sector ties assist with pre-empting likely issues and offering pragmatic solutions.
What our clients say
We are proud of our expertise and successful track record, but don’t take our word for it; here’s what some of our clients have said:
Oh Wow – what a result Jackie, great work and thanks so much – this has made my day! This claim has brought a lot of hassle and upset to many people at our organisation so it’s good to get a result like this
I have found your service, speed and accuracy to be excellent. Your approach to our cases and support has been professional and direct which I have found refreshing. It really has been a pleasure working with you! Thanks again for all your help.
THANK YOU so much for your assistance in this matter. You were amazing support and the witnesses were really assured by your meeting yesterday. It was a pleasure working with you on this, and hopefully we will get to do it again soon (although not too many times!).
For more information
If your organisation is facing a potential employment tribunal claim, please contact Anna Dabek or Jackie Morris.