Tribunal representation

Contact us at the earliest opportunity if you have an issue which you believe may end up in the employment tribunal or where proceedings have already been issued against your company. One of our expert lawyers will be able to assist you either on the basis of an agreed hourly rate or on the basis of fixed-fees for stages of work and will help you get the best possible outcome on the most commercial basis.

The Tribunal Process

You may or may not have been contacted by ACAS to discuss early conciliation before receiving the claim form (ET1) from your former employee.

Claimants must contact ACAS to obtain an early conciliation certificate before they can issue tribunal proceedings and usually (although not always) they will ask ACAS to contact their former employer to see whether a settlement can be negotiated before proceedings are issued.  

There are strict time limits for both contacting ACAS and issuing a claim so the first thing we will check when you instruct us is whether the claim or claims have been issued in time.  If they have not, we may advise making an application to strike the claim(s) out.

If you have been contacted by ACAS for early conciliation, this is the best time to contact us as we will be able to advise you whether to enter into early settlement negotiations and, if so, what a reasonable settlement would look like.

If early conciliation succeeds, the terms of settlement will be reflected in a COT3 agreement (a type of settlement agreement) and that will be the end of the matter.  If it doesn’t and proceedings are issued, the next step is for you to submit your defence or ET3.  This is where you are strongly advised to get legal representation and our lawyers are expert in ensuring that any defence drafted is clear, concise and as robust as possible thereby giving your business the best chance of defending the claim(s).

The next step is likely to be a case management hearing to set the timetable and, if any applications are to be considered (for example, to strike out some or all of the claim(s)),then a preliminary hearing may also be listed.

Parties will then exchange documents, agree a hearing bundle and exchange witness statements before the matter is heard in the tribunal, but there will be opportunities for settlement at every stage of the process and we will be able to guide and advise you to ensure that you have the best chance of the best possible outcome (both financial and reputational) throughout.