Our pricing
As employer solutions lawyers, we provide strategic consultancy and managed services that ensure that businesses and HR practices are both fully compliant with legal requirements and effective in meeting people-led business objectives.
Immigration services
We charge £295 per hour and our principal, Anne Morris’ rate is £450. In many cases for the visa applications listed below, once we have reviewed your circumstances and satisfied that you are eligible to apply, we charge for our service on a fixed fee arrangement. This means that even if the work on your application takes longer than initially anticipated there will be no additional charges unless there is a significant change to your circumstances or instructions.
The costs for the various applications can vary depending on your circumstances, including where you currently live, your previous immigration history, whether you have access to the correct documentation in a timely manner and the amount of supporting evidence we have to review and time to prepare the application.
Additional factors you need to consider are the Home Office processing times, whether you will be interviewed and in the event of your application being deferred for consideration by a more senior Caseworker at the Home Office.
The immigration rules in the UK are complex and subject to frequent changes.
When you instruct DavidsonMorris in connection with any of the visa types as listed below, our service working with you is to discuss and review your circumstances in detail and consider all the visa options available and determine which application is the most appropriate for you. Ensure that you fully understand the pros and cons of each visa option and whether there are any reasons why the application you intend to make could be refused by the Home Office.
All of the above types of visa applications must be supported by the relevant documentation and presented to the Home Office in accordance with their guidelines. We will ensure that you receive clear instructions on the type and format of the documentation and whether any of the documents need to be attested or translated.
If you need assistance to obtain certain documents, such as a letter from your bank or medical records, we will contact the provider and arrange to obtain the documentation.
Once your application has been submitted to the Home Office, our work is to liaise with the Home Officials on your behalf until a decision has been made and your documents returned. Unfortunately for certain types of applications such as Long Residency and Discretionary Leave, the processing times can take 6 – 9 months.
Interpreters
In the event that you will need the services of an interpreter or your documents need to be translator, we will confirm the costs of the service. If you have a friend or relative who can interpret for you, please feel free to bring them along to our meetings. Please note – the Home Office will only accept documents that have been translated by a specialist company, which means you will incur costs for translating documents.
Travelling to meet you
We are regularly requested to meet our clients in person when they are applying from outside the UK. In addition to our fees, we charge for flight and accommodation expenses which if there are a number of applicants, for example a Tier 1 Entrepreneurial Team application, the costs can be divided across the applicants.
Disbursements
Our fees do not include any charges you will incur such as the Home Office application fees, special delivery postage costs, courier etc. We will advise you of the costs and when they must be paid.
Fixed fee arrangement
In many cases for the visa applications listed below, once we have reviewed your circumstances and satisfied that you are eligible to apply, we charge for our service on a fixed fee arrangement, which means that even if the work on your application takes longer than initially anticipated there will be no additional charges unless there is a significant change to your circumstances or instructions which impacts on the work schedule.
Current fixed fee charges
Immigration service | Price |
| Naturalisation / Registration as a British citizen | £950 |
| Applications on behalf EEA nationals and their family members | £950 |
| Spouse, partners fiancé(e)s or proposed civil partners | £5500 |
| Sole Representatives | £7500 |
| High Potential Individual | £1500 – £2000 |
| Visitor visas | £1500 – £2700 |
| Global Talent route | £3500 – £5000 |
| Graduate Entrepreneurs | £5500 |
| Tier 1 Investors | £17500 – £55000 |
| Tier 1 Entrepreneurs | £12500 – £35000 |
| Ancestry visas | £1200 |
| Long residence | £3500 |
| Discretionary leave | £3500 |
DavidsonMorris is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
We are committed to delivering the highest quality of legal advice and client service.
Employment services
Employment service | Price |
| 30-minute Telephone Consultation | Free |
| Settlement agreements | From £500 +VAT |
| Case review | From £350 +VAT |
| Hourly rates | £295 +VAT per hour £450 +VAT per hour rate for our principal, Anne Morris |
Employment Tribunal matters
Our fees for defending claims brought against your business for unfair and wrongful dismissal are based on three bands, which we will be happy to discuss with you.
We will advise you of the funding options available to you, for example, using any commercial legal expenses insurance your business is covered by.
Every case is different; there are different issues in each case. A case can be heard over one day but depending on the issues in the case and the number of witnesses; a case can be heard over a week or longer in more complex cases. Shorter simple cases will naturally be less expensive than longer more complex cases.
Simple case defined as: One day hearing with two witnesses attending:
Our fees £5,000 – £8,000 plus VAT
Barristers’ fees – £5,000 plus VAT
Medium complex case defined as: Two Day hearing and more than two witnesses:
Our fees £10,000 – £12,000 plus VAT
Barristers Fees – £5,000 for day one plus £1,500 – £2,000 for each additional day plus VAT
High complex case defined as: Three or more days hearing and more than two witnesses:
Our fees £15,000 – £20,000 plus VAT
Barristers Fees – £7,500 for day one and £1,500 to £2,000 for each additional day plus VAT
The information on costs is an estimate of our charges and they are not fixed fees. We assess each case on its own facts and will give a concise estimate for work to be carried out on your behalf. Costs information provided here is for guidance purposes only and is not indicative of costs in all similar claims before an Employment Tribunal which depends on the facts of the case, nor does it create any binding costs estimate on the firm.
Costs will vary depending on the details of each case, and once we assess your case, we provide you with more concise estimates for work. You may have legal expenses insurance cover for the costs of an Employment Tribunal claim.
If your claim were to be settled at any time during the proceedings, this would affect the overall cost to you.
The work that is included in our fee:
- Review and advise on the Employment Tribunal application form
- Drafting and filing a Response form with the Employment Tribunal
- Preliminary Hearing (Case Management)
- Reviewing Employee’s Schedule of Loss
- Preparing a List and bundle of documents and disclosing to Employee
- Review documents received from the Employee
- Drafting and finalising witness statements
- Preparing or finalising a bundle of documents for use in the Tribunal hearing with the Employee
- Instructing a Barrister to represent you in a final hearing at the Employment Tribunal
- Dealing with you, the Employment Tribunal, the Employee or their representative and ACAS throughout the matter.
The work that is not included in our fee:
- Initial advice, review of merits of claim
- Pre action negotiation with Employee
- ACAS Early Conciliation
- Remedy Hearing (if not dealt with in the Final Hearing)
- Interim applications/Preliminary Hearings which arise during the course of the claim either made by you or the Employee or ordered by the Employment Tribunal
- Re-listing of hearing and work related to a new hearing if a final hearing is postponed by the Employment Tribunal, you or the Employee
- Advising on or dealing with an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (made by you or the Employee)
- A second hearing if the first hearing is not completed within the time given by the Tribunal when the parties have to return to the Tribunal to complete the hearing
- Discrimination claims or claims other than unfair dismissal/wrongful dismissal.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Counsel’s (barristers) fees estimated in the table above (depending on the experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).
Exclusions & factors which may make a case more complex
- Multiple day hearings (more than one day)
- Multiple witnesses
- Unexpected applications made by either party during the course of the claim e.g. an application to strike out, an application for costs or application for adjournment of a hearing
- Hearing is postponed and re-listed at the request of you, the Employee or by the Employment Tribunal
- Multiple claims for example: an unfair dismissal, sex/race or disability discrimination or breach of contract all brought at the same time
- The hearing is not completed within the timeframe given by the Employment Tribunal and the parties have to return to the Tribunal for a further hearing
- Barristers’ fees for advice or representation in the Employment Tribunal will be in addition to our fees.
Timescales
A one-day Employment Tribunal claim could take 6-12 months from the issue of the claim to a final hearing and is entirely subject to when an Employment Tribunal can hear the case. In the South East and London regions, cases can take at least six months to be listed for hearing.
Other Employment Tribunal regions may vary.
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