Defending an Employment Tribunal Claim

Facing an Employment Tribunal claim can be daunting – complex rules, tight deadlines, and potentially six-figure awards all hang in the balance. Early, expert advice is critical, yet most SMEs don’t have in-house employment specialists on call.

That’s where we come in. If you receive an employee grievance, ACAS Early Conciliation notification, or Employment Tribunal claim form, it is very important that you contact an Employment Law solicitor.

Seeking legal advice at this early stage is absolutely vital to ensure that you are best placed to defend any claim from former or current employees. In addition, it could save you thousands of pounds as we are able to ensure that no costly mistakes are made in the early stages of a dispute, mistakes which come back to haunt you later on.

Why early legal advice is essential

Strict deadlines mean even a strong defence can fail if paperwork is late or incomplete. Consulting a specialist employment lawyer from day one:

• Pins down key facts and evidence while they’re fresh.

• Ensures every procedural box is ticked – no missed forms, dates or fees.

• Allows time to explore settlement options that may cap costs and avoid publicity.

In short, act fast: the Tribunal clock starts the moment a claim lands on your desk.

What are the likely costs when defending an employment-tribunal claim?

Fees vary according to the nature of the case. Unfair- or constructive-dismissal defences tend to be shorter and therefore less costly than discrimination defences, which are usually more complex, require longer hearings and involve greater volumes of evidence and legal resource.

For more information regarding pricing please click here.

How do we run a defence in the Employment Tribunal?

When we defend a claim in the Employment Tribunal, we follow a clear, staged process that keeps your commercial goals front and centre. We begin with an initial assessment: reviewing your instructions and up to 100 pages of evidence, flagging any limitation deadlines, gauging prospects of success and estimating likely financial exposure.

The matter then passes to mandatory ACAS early conciliation. During the next four to six weeks we lodge the employer’s response, negotiate with the claimant and, where agreement is possible, draft a COT3 settlement that protects your business.

If conciliation ends without settlement, we turn to formal pleadings. We draft and file your ET3 or scrutinise the claimant’s ET1 for jurisdictional or procedural defects within the tribunal’s deadline. Should the tribunal set a preliminary hearing, we prepare the joint agenda, agree a timetable with the other side and represent you on the day.

Case preparation follows. We quantify potential liability and mitigation, exchange disclosure, agree the hearing bundle and, where required, produce the list of issues, chronology and cast list. We take, draft and finalise witness statements, applying a 30 per cent fee reduction to any statement beyond the first.

For the final hearing we either instruct specialist counsel or deploy our in-house advocates, remaining your main point of contact throughout. After the tribunal delivers its judgment, we explain the result in plain language, outline any remedies and advise on appeal or enforcement options. From start to finish you receive regular updates on progress, settlement opportunities and costs, ensuring every step aligns with your commercial priorities.

For more information regarding the stages of an employment tribunal please click here.