No.18’s Approach to Employment & Discrimination

Late last week the President of the Employment Tribunals said in the Legal Gazette that he is expecting an influx of redundancy related dismissal claims once the furlough scheme ends later this year. Unfortunately, we think that over the next couple of months we are likely to see the real impact of COVID-19 on the Job markets and will begin to see employers reaching the decision that the furloughing arrangements have allow them to defer and, as a result, the sad truth is that there will be a rise of redundancy and settlement agreements too.

No.18 Chambers recognises the hurdles in providing high quality legal services for clients with the challenging times ahead which will make  clients more hesitant in paying for legal representation in employment tribunal cases .To assist we remain committed to deliver exceptional advice, representation and resolution.  We base our service on being 'committed to our clients’, ‘serious about service’ and ‘always fair on fees’. Exceptional service is the corner stone of our ethos.

We believe in providing the same great service whether the case is small or high in value or claim. Lay clients deserve high standards of specialist advice and advocacy regardless of the value of their claim. We also know that our professional clients want our support and assistance to win cases and maximise damages for our clients in all types of cases.

In order to ensure this No.18 are delighted to offer nine schemes in order to assist in every eventuality (further details of each set out below);

• Damage based agreements (Subject to assessment)
• No Win No Fee
• No Win Low Fee
• Package deals
• Meet the insurance
• Armed & Police Forces Discount
• Emergency Services Discount
• Low Income  “tailored fees”
• The  Merits, Advice, Drafting and Support Package

At No.18 we recognise that new methods of funding need to be found in order to bring claims. No.18 are delighted to offer Damage Based Agreements as a solution. We are committed to assess cases as to whether Damage Based Agreements are an appropriate recourse of funding for a particular lay client in order to allow them purse their claim.

Members undertake work under a variety of conditional fee agreements (CFAs) and in appropriate cases offer 0% success fee. Not all cases are appropriate for CFAs and the barrister concerned may decline to enter into a CFA after considering the merits of the claim/prospects of success.  Chambers has a flexible policy on CFAs and will do our best to tailor the agreement to the needs of the case. Our standard arrangements are based on the latest models provided by the Bar Standards Board and specialist bar associations.

Where a case is not suitable to take under a traditional CFA, No.18 strives to offer a feasible alternative in order to make litigation available to those who would otherwise not be able afford it. Individually calculated on a case to case basis members undertake work in appropriate cases offering No Win, Low Fee. Not all cases are appropriate for No Win Low Fee Agreements and the barrister concerned may decline to enter into a CFA after considering the merits of the claim/prospects of success.  Chambers has a flexible policy on CFAs and will do our best to tailor the agreement to the needs of the case. Our standard arrangements are based on the latest models provided by the Bar Standards Board and specialist bar associations.

No.18 are able to offer fee packages in relation to written advisory work, drafting, conferences & litigation (for example a global fee for both a conference and hearing or drafting and a hearing).

Where the matter is insurance backed, No.18 will do our utmost to work within the rates agreed with each insurance company and where there are agreed rates (either hourly or fixed) between another Chambers and that insurance firm we will also do our best to match the fees.  We are able to do both in most cases.

We are delighted to offer reduced fees (for matters that are paid privately) for members of the Armed & Police Forces and their dependants, please contact us for more information on our 10% discount for Armed & Police Forces personnel and their dependants.

We are delighted to offer reduced fees (for matters that are paid privately ) for members of the emergency services and their dependants, please contact us for more information on our 10% discount for emergency services personnel and their dependants.

We recognise that the economic pressures on some clients require flexibility on fees in order to ensure that they can secure access to high quality legal representation. We can in most instances provide tailored fees for clients on a low income or who would previously have been eligible for legal aid to assist.

No.18  are delighted to  offer our new Merits Advice, Drafting and Support package: please see below for our table of fees offering a guidance as to price. In addition No.18 can offer various fee schemes to help meet your lay client budget as detailed below the table of fees.

Our Barristers will provide at your request:

• Merit assessment & Advice;
• Drafting ET1s and ET3s;
• Telephone or (if needed) face to face conference with solicitor and client;
• Assistance with ad hoc queries by phone or email where reasonably required.
• Undertake Settlement agreements (to include liaising with the client) at the agreed fixed rate with the employer

No18 continues to be committed to providing the highest level of service, client care, advocacy and advice by ensuring that the needs, concerns and interests of clients are always paramount support by over 50 years of clerking expertise. Just in case you have missed them some of our initiatives over the past few months have been:

• Family Law Emergency Helpline
• Merits, Advice, Drafting And Support Package
• Remote: Private Dispute Resolution (Children Disputes)
• Remote :Private FDR/Early Neutral Evaluation
• Remote Dispute Resolution Suite: Round Table Meetings/Joint Settlement Conferences (Employment & Civil Matters)

More detail on each of these can be found by clicking the attached link.

If you need any assistance in any of these areas, please contact our clerking team for the on 023 80 73 6812 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.