Aviso legal
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Transparency Rules
The SRA Transparency Rules stipulate that an authorised body which publishes as part of its usual business the availability of certain services to individuals or businesses, must, in relation to those services, publish on its website cost information. Of the services listed in the SRA Transparency Rules the only service relevant to the Firm is the provision of advice and representation to employers in relation to defending claims before the Employment Tribunal brought by an employee for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.
The SRA Transparency Rules also stipulate that an authorised body must publish on its website details of its complaints handling procedure including, details about how and when a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman and to the SRA.
The required information under the SRA Transparency Rules is set out below:
Costs Information in respect of Employment Tribunals (unfair and wrongful dismissal)
Our fees:
All Employment Tribunal cases are different – there is no such thing as a standard Employment Tribunal claim. In our experience, a realistic range of our fees for an unfair dismissal case in an Employment Tribunal case (with no other elements to the claim such as discrimination or whistleblowing) would be between £50,,000 and £200,000 broken down as follows:
Simple case £50,000-£80,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements)
Medium complexity case: £70,000-£100,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements)
High complexity case: £100,000-£200,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements)
Factors that could make a case more complex include:
- If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim;
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person;
- Making or defending a costs application;
- Complex preliminary issues;
- The number of witnesses and documents; and
- If other claims are made which are linked to the dismissal (such as allegations of whistleblowing or discrimination).
There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of approximately £8,000 per day (excluding VAT and disbursements). Generally, we would expect a hearing to last 1-8 days depending on the complexity of the case.
We would deploy the right level of lawyer for each Employment Tribunal case with applicable and appropriate senior supervision. We have a range of experience in respect of Employment Tribunal matters from trainee, to associate to partner.
Disbursements:
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court, and counsel's, fees. We would typically engage counsel to draft Grounds of Resistance for Employment Tribunal matters, attend any preliminary Employment Tribunal hearing and any Employment Tribunal final hearing (and to advise on statements, strategy etc.). Their cost will vary depending on their relative experience and we would always work with clients to identify the appropriate counsel for Employment Tribunal matters. Counsel’s costs solely for preparation and attendance at a one day Employment Tribunal unfair dismissal hearing would typically be in the range of £5,000 to £15,000.
Our fees and most disbursements we would incur in connection with Employment Tribunal litigation typically attract VAT.
Key stages:
The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
-
Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits, risks, and potential compensation (this advice will be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change);
- Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
- Preparing a claim or response to a claim;
- Reviewing and advising on a claim or response from the other party;
- Exploring the potential for a settlement and negotiating any settlement;
- Preparing or considering a schedule of losses;
- Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing and advising on any other pre-hearing steps;
- Advising on documents and other relevant evidence for disclosure;
- Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing on a bundle of documents;
- Taking witness evidence, drafting statements, and agreeing on their content with witnesses;
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fees incurred will be reduced.
Complaints Procedure
In the event of your being in any way dissatisfied with the service you are receiving we would ask you initially to contact the fee earner dealing with your matter. If this does not resolve your concerns or you are uncomfortable raising it with the fee earner responsible you should contact the relevant partner. If you are unsure who this is or if you are uncomfortable raising it with the partner responsible we would ask you to contact the London Partner-in-Charge (John Phillips). The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can also help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Making a complaint of any form will not affect how we handle your matter.
We aim to respond quickly but the person dealing with the complaint will obviously wish to discuss the matter with the relevant partner and fee earner(s) to make sure that they understand the position. You can expect to receive an initial response within seven days of a written complaint. Our written response will:
- Propose a timescale for our investigation into the matter, which timescale we will then seek to agree with you;
- Contain details of the Legal Ombudsman, including its postal and web addresses (which are also set out below);
- Explain that you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to become involved at the end of our own complaints procedure if you are unhappy with the outcome.
The person dealing with the complaint will keep a note of their investigation into the matter and will confirm, in writing, our response to your complaint. If, following our final response you remain dissatisfied, you should contact the SRA or the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
- Within six months of a final response to your complaint being received from Jones Day; and
-
No later than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about, or one year from the date when the complaint should have realized that there was cause for complaint: or
- No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Please note that, if your complaint involves an allegation of negligence against this Firm, this will require us to inform our insurers with whom we will be required to liaise before providing any response.
The foundation values of Jones Day include Integrity, both individually and institutionally, and a sense of Personal Accountability, for every decision, judgment and action on behalf of the Firm. Within the Jones Day partnership in the United Kingdom, that includes taking steps to combat the risk of modern slavery practices in our supply chains.
Organisational structure and supply chains. Operations in the United Kingdom are through a general partnership regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. As a provider of legal services in the United Kingdom, our business has relatively straight-forward and low-risk supply chains. Senior lawyers and management staff in each of our departments are responsible for supplier due diligence and contract management.
Organisational policies. We have had a supply chain policy in place for the last seven years. The policy is reviewed regularly. The purpose of the policy is to provide guidance to staff about our commitment to combat the risk of modern slavery in our supply chains, make clear that it is the responsibility of all staff to prevent, detect and report modern slavery in any part of our business or supply chains, including through our whistleblowing procedures, if appropriate.
Diligence processes. When dealing with a new supplier and/or when we renew our supplier contracts, we may ask them to confirm what steps they take to ensure that their own supply chains are slavery-free and/or require them to provide us with copies of their own policies and procedures for review. We continue to introduce into our supply contracts commitments to prohibit modern slavery and human trafficking. Where we assess that an individual supplier could be higher risk for supply chain issues, we carry out additional diligence. In this period, we have continued to assess whether there are additional modern slavery risks in our supply chain as a result of global developments.
Risk assessment and management. Our view remains that the key risks in terms of our suppliers are in relation to the London Office premises, IT, human resources and when we instruct third-party suppliers to carry out work relating to our clients from the London Office. The main way we manage our supply chain risk is by engaging with reputable suppliers, many of whom are also subject to the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We also undertake the diligence processes identified above.
Key performance indicators. We continually assess the effectiveness of the measures we have in place to identify and manage modern slavery risks, including by ensuring that those involved in supply chain management are aware of legal developments in this area; that modern slavery issues are considered in connection with each supplier contract we enter into; and that any concerns regarding a supplier are escalated to subject matter specialists for investigation and, if necessary, further action.
Training. We provide training on supply chain issues for all lawyers and staff members who have responsibility for our supply chain contracts. This training occurs during onboarding and as deemed necessary to reflect changing legal and factual circumstances.
This statement concerning slavery and human trafficking is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our statement for the financial year ending April 2024. This statement is authorised and approved by the Administrative Partner of the London Office on behalf of the Jones Day partnership (SRA number 223597).
Lee Coffey
Partner
21 Tudor Street
London, EC4Y 0DJ
Office +44.20.7039.5959
21 October 2024
Article 1 – Definitions
The following defined terms are used in this complaints procedure:
Complaint: any written expression of dissatisfaction from, or on behalf of, a client directed at an attorney or the person working under the responsibility of an attorney regarding the acceptance or performance of an engagement, the quality of the services or the amount of the invoice, provided it is not a complaint as referred to in Section 4 of the Attorney’s Act (in Dutch: Advocatenwet); and
Complainer: the client or his representative who expresses a complaint; and
Complaints officer: the Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day Amsterdam who is in charge of handling complaints.
Article 2 – Scope of application
This office’s complaints procedure applies to every engagement agreed to between Jones Day and the client, provided it is performed by an attorney who is registered at the Dutch Bar.
Each attorney of Jones Day registered with the Dutch Bar ensures that complaints are handled in accordance with the office’s complaints procedure.
Article 3 – Purpose
The purpose of this complaints procedure is:
to establish a procedure for constructively dealing with a client's complaint within a reasonable period of time;
to establish a procedure for determining the cause of a client's complaint;
to maintain and improve existing relationships by correctly dealing with complaints; and
to improve the quality of services through a complaint treatment and complaint analysis.
Article 4 – Publication
This office’s complaints procedure has been published on the firm’s website. Before accepting an engagement, the attorney indicates to the client that Jones Day uses this office’s complaints procedure for its engagements.
Any unresolved complaints will be submitted to the District Court of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Article 5 – Internal complaints procedure
If a client contacts the firm concerning a complaint in connection to services of an attorney of Jones Day Amsterdam, the complaint will be passed on to the complaints officer.
The complaints officer notifies the person against whom the complaint is made of the filing of the complaint and offers the complainer and the person against whom the complaint is made the opportunity to express his or her view regarding the complaint.
The person against whom the complaint is made will try to resolve the issue together with the client, whether or not after intervention of the complaints officer.
The complaints officer will handle the complaint within four weeks of receiving the complaint or will inform the complainer that this term will be deviated from, stating the reasons and specifying the term within which an opinion will be issued regarding the complaint.
The complaints officer will notify the complainer and the person against whom the complaint is made of the opinion regarding the validity of the complaint, in writing; this may or may not include recommendations.
Article 6 – Confidentiality and free complaints handling
Unless the complainant has given publicity to the complaint, the complaints officer and the person against whom the complaint is made will observe confidentiality in handling the complaint.
The complainer will not have to pay any compensation for the costs of handling the complaint.
Article 7 – Responsibilities
The complaints officer is responsible for handling the complaint in time.
The person against whom the complaint is made is responsible for keeping the complaints officer up to date of any communications and of a possible solution.
The complaints officer will keep the complainer up to date regarding the progress of the complaint.
The complaints officer is responsible for keeping a file on the complaint.
Article 8 - Complaint registration
The complaints officer registers the complaint, specifying the subject matter.
A complaint can be broken down into several subjects.
The complaints officer periodically reports on the handling of any complaints and issues recommendations to prevent new complaints, as well as to improve procedures.
At least once a year, the reports and recommendations are discussed within the office.
The advocates listed below have registered the following principal (and secondary) legal practice areas in the Netherlands Bar’s register of legal areas:
Jonathan Bakker is registered for Civil Procedural Law and Contract Law
Lodewijk Berger is registered for International Tax Law
Jasper Berkenbosch is registered for Insolvency Law
Benne Brouwer is registered for Corporate Law
Allard Carli is registered for Contract Law
Selien Coolen is registered for Civil Procedural Law
Yvan Desmedt is registered for Economic Law
Sophie Dijkmans is registered for Corporate Law and Contract Law
Flip van der Drift is registered for Insolvency Law
Coen Drion is registered for General Law
Quirine Eenhorst is registered for Corporate Law
Jan Grootenhuis is registered for Contract Law
Kasper van Haaren is registered for Employment Law
Rick van 't Hullenaar is registered for General Law
Ate van IJlzinga Veenstra is registered for Corporate Law
Anouk in den Kleef is registered for Corporate Law
Mike Jansen is registered for Corporate Law
Bastiaan Kout is registered for Corporate Law and Contract Law
Selma Olthof is registered for Employment Law
Claire Overduijn is registered for Corporate Law
Sid Pepels is registered for Insolvency Law
Floris Pierik is registered for Corporate Law and Contract Law
Stef Plouvier is registered for Tax Law
Erik Schuurs is registered for Insolvency Law, Corporate Law and Contract Law
Roos Suurmond is registered for Insolvency Law
Gulsen Taspinar is registered for Civil Procedural Law
Irene Vermeeren-Keijzers is registered Employment Law
Kate Watchorn is registered for Corporate Law
Gerjanne te Winkel is registered for Civil Procedural Law
Based on these registrations, they are required to obtain ten training credits per calendar year in each registered principal legal practice area in accordance with the standards set by the Netherlands Bar.