How We Work

The process and available payment options

Initial contact between us

Whether you are an employer or an employee, we appreciate that instructing a solicitor to deal with your employment issue is an important decision. You will want to feel comfortable working with us and you will want to be assured that we will do our very best for you. We listen to the feedback we get from our clients and we understand that you would like the opportunity to speak to one of our solicitors before deciding whether to instruct us.

In most situations, and before you decide whether you would like to instruct us, one of our solicitors will have a brief telephone call with you to find out a little more about your issue to see if this is something we can help you with. The purpose of this call is to discuss how we would work with you, which solicitor would be the most appropriate to help you and how our fee structure works. If we can, we will give you an idea of preliminary fees.

On other occasions, depending on your query, we may send you an email to explain how we operate and what you will need to do to instruct us to advise you.

We will not charge you for this initial call and there is no obligation to instruct us following this call, but we are not able to give legal advice until you become a client. In particular, we will not give you specific advice on your personal situation until you have instructed us. We do not offer “no win no fee” arrangements.

We are very proud of the relationships we have with our clients many of whom have been clients for several years. We recommend you look at our testimonials page which includes some of the positive feedback we get from our valued clients.

“A note to thank you for your patient guidance and expertise in two very tricky situations which had driven me to despair, in fact were making me feel that it was pointless trying to continue. So thank you for guiding us through that process. We are all now able to move on.” – 2020 Client

“I found JE Solicitors through a Google Search as I needed some advice on a settlement agreement. Helen called me back promptly & dealt with the agreement for me within 24 hours (actually the same day!). Totally professional & friendly advice & would highly recommend to anyone.” – 2020 Client

“Rachel, thank you for all your help and support this year. It has been very much appreciated and will be remembered.” – Owner of a chain of Opticians

I’m an Employer

I’m an Individual

Retainer

For a fixed monthly fee you can consult one of our solicitors as much as you like and for whatever employment related issue you may have. We have many happy employer clients under this service who have been with us for several years.

Pay as you go

This is popular for clients who are only likely to need sporadic advice or for a one-off matter. You will be charged for work done on a time spent basis and, like most solicitors, our hourly rates vary according to the experience of the solicitor advising you. Where possible, we will give fee estimates and bill regularly.

Fixed Fee

We can offer fixed fees for most types of work. These are most popular for drafting contracts, handbooks and other documents. If you are keen for us to work to a fixed fee, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate this.

Fees - Defending a Unfair Dismissal Claim

We are obliged by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to provide details of our fees for defending unfair dismissal claims. Each case is different in complexity and in the amount of documents and witnesses involved, this makes it difficult to provide discrete pricing indications. Defending a stand - alone claim for “ordinary” unfair dismissal which does not involve any other head of claim, may cost in the region of £25,000 - £50,000 & VAT including disbursements. Typical disbursements include counsels fees, travel and couriers. We charge primarily on a time spent basis and dependant on the seniority of the solicitor engaged. These rates are renewed annually. In the current financial year (2022/2023) our hourly rates range from £360 & VAT for our most senior solicitors and £290 & VAT for a junior solicitor.

Fees - Defending a Wrongful Dismissal Claim

We are obliged by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to provide details of our fees for defending wrongful dismissal claims. However, we rarely defend a stand- alone wrongful dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal as compensation for these claims is capped at £25,000. If we were to defend a stand - alone claim for wrongful dismissal which does not involve any other head of claim, may cost in the region of £20,000 – £30,000 & VAT including disbursements. Typical disbursements include counsels fees, travel and couriers. We charge primarily on a time spent basis and dependent on the seniority of the solicitor engaged. These rates are renewed annually. In the current financial year (2022/2023) our hourly rates range from £360 & VAT for our most senior solicitors and £290 & VAT for a junior solicitor.

Pay as you go

This is our most popular option and you will be charged for work done on a time spent basis. Like most solicitors, our hourly rates vary according to the experience of the solicitor advising you. Where possible, we will give fee estimates and bill regularly.

Fixed fees

We can offer fixed fees for most types of work. These are most popular for advising on specific one off issues such as Settlement Agreements and drafting documents. If you are keen for us to work to a fixed fee, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate this.

Fees - Bringing a Wrongful Dismissal Claim

We are obliged by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to provide details of our fees for bringing wrongful dismissal claims. However, we rarely bring a stand- alone wrongful dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal as compensation for these claims is capped at £25,000. If we were to bring a stand - alone claim for wrongful dismissal which does not involve any other head of claim, may cost in the region of £20,000 – £30,000 & VAT including disbursements. Typical disbursements include counsels fees, travel and couriers. We charge primarily on a time spent basis and dependent on the seniority of the solicitor engaged. These rates are renewed annually. In the current financial year (2022/2023) our hourly rates range from £360 & VAT for our most senior solicitors and £290 & VAT for a junior solicitor.

Fees - Bringing an Unfair Dismissal Claim

We are obliged by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to provide details of our fees for bringing unfair dismissal claims. Each case is different in complexity and in the amount of documents and witnesses involved, this makes it difficult to provide discrete pricing indications. However, bringing a stand - alone claim for “ordinary” unfair dismissal which does not involve any other head of claim, may cost in the region of £25,000 - £50,000 & VAT including disbursements. Typical disbursements include counsels fees, travel and couriers. We charge primarily on a time spent basis and dependent on the seniority of the solicitor engaged. These rates are renewed annually. In the current financial year (2022/2023) our hourly rates range from £360 & VAT for our most senior solicitors and £290 & VAT for a junior solicitor.

Insurance

Some individuals have legal expenses insurance to cover employment matters and so you should check your insurance policies for this. In most cases we are able to act for you under your insurance policy. If you have legal expenses insurance please call us to discuss this further.

No win, no fee

If we consider your case to have high chance of success and that you are likely to secure a suitable level of compensation, we may be able to work with you under a no win, no fee agreement. This means that our fees would be calculated as a percentage of the compensation you recover. Before deciding whether we could work with you on this basis, we would need to spend time assessing your case and this work would be charged for, regardless of the outcome. Please be aware that we only offer a limited number of no win, no fee agreements at any one time.

How can we help you today?

Settlement Agreements

We can help you obtain
the best possible agreement.

More Info

I'm an employer

We help managers to solve people problems, individual and collective.

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I'm an employee

We win compensation by settlement or award in nearly 90% of claims.

More Info

HR Advice

We are different to most HR advisors as we are qualified solicitors.

More Info

Restrictive Covenants

This video will help explain what Restrictive Covenants are.

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Unfair Dismissal

This video will help explain what unfair dismissal really means and what can be done about it.

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Whistleblowing

This video will help explain what Whistleblowing is.

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Bullying at work

This video will help explain what Bullying at Work is

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Disability Discrimination - Employees

Disability Discrimination (Employees) Law: some key aspects explained by J : E Solicitors.

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Disability Discrimination - Employers

Disability Discrimination (Employers) Law: some key aspects explained by J : E Solicitors.

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Sexual Harassment - Employers

Sexual Harassment (for Employers): Rachel O'Connell of J : E Solicitors explains key aspects of Sexual Harassment law for employers.

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Sexual Harassment - Employees

Sexual Harassment (for Employees): Rachel O'Connell of J : E Solicitors explains.

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Sex Discrimination - Employers

Sex Discrimination law (for Employers): Rachel O'Connell of J : E Solicitors explains.

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Sex Discrimination - Employees

Sex Discrimination law (for Employees): Rachel O'Connell of J : E Solicitors explains.

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Settlement Agreements

Settlement Agreements: J : E Solicitors explain key points.

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I would like to express my sincerest thanks for all your help in person….we would like someone who is reliable and good, basically someone of your calibre. Dr A A, London University