Please read the important information below and the terms of our Privacy Policy all of which apply to your use of this website. By using this website you agree to such terms. You should check this page regularly as we may alter or add to such terms from time to time by posting them on this website. Such alterations or additions will apply to any visit or use of this website from the time of such posting.
Abbiss Cadres is the trading name of Abbiss Cadres LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales, with registered number OC339497. Our registered office is at 11 Ironmonger Lane, London, EC2V 8EY. A list of the members of the LLP appears below and is also available at our registered office. The word “partner” is sometimes used on this website to refer to a member of Abbiss Cadres LLP and shall be construed accordingly.
Abbiss Cadres LLP is authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) to undertake the following reserved legal activities: (a) the exercise of a right of audience (b) the conduct of litigation (c) reserved instrument activities (d) probate activities (e) the administration of oaths, and (f) to provide immigration advice and immigration services for the purposes of section 84(2) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Abbiss Cadres is also regulated by the SRA in respect of carrying on other legal activities which fall within section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007. Any services which fall outside the definition of “legal activities” are not regulated. Abbiss Cadres’ SRA ID is 571596. Details of the SRA’s professional rules detailing their regulation of Abbiss Cades as a licensed body can be found on the SRA website under “SRA Standards and Regulations” at www.sra.org.uk.
The members of the firm are:
Guy Abbiss*
Warren Wayne*
Alasdair Friend*
David Widdowson*
* denotes solicitor
† denotes non-lawyer
Abbiss Cadres carries professional indemnity insurance covering the “legal activities” in respect of which we are regulated by the SRA. Our insurer is Axis Speciality Europe SE, address Mount Herbert Court, 34 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2, D02FT72, Ireland. Our PII policy covers all advice given by Abbiss Cadres under our standard terms of business, regardless of where in the world our clients are situated.
No Reliance
Abbiss Cadres provides the information on this website for general information purposes only and is not intended to be comprehensive. It does not constitute or contain legal advice or any other advice. Abbiss Cadres accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss which may arise from accessing or otherwise relying on any information contained on this site. Abbiss Cadres accepts no responsibility or liability for the content of any website which is linked to, or from, or referred to on this site.
Our goal is to give the highest levels of service and advice to clients at all times. If for any reason at any time you feel that we have fallen short of that goal, we encourage you to let your client partner know about your concerns as soon as possible.
Where the matter cannot be swiftly remedied to everyone’s satisfaction, the process set out below will be followed with a view to reaching resolution as quickly as possible.
Where an informal approach has not been successful, the first step is for you to put the detail of your complaint in writing, together with the action that you would like to be taken to remedy the situation.
This formal complaint should be sent directly to our Managing Partner, Guy Abbiss, either by email or post. He will respond to you within 5 working days of receipt of the complaint either:
1.1 Agreeing to the course of action suggested by you to remedy the problem and giving details of the steps that will be taken and the timescales involved in implementing the agreed solution; OR
1.2 Inviting you to a meeting to discuss the matter in order to try and reach agreement on its resolution; OR
1.3 Where further investigation is required, confirming this and asking for further details from you, if necessary. Ordinarily, we will endeavour to investigate a complaint within 10 working days of receipt of such details. If the process is likely to take longer we will inform you in writing and explain why. When the investigation is completed we will either provide you with a written response or invite you to meet with the Managing Partner or his designate to discuss the matter further.
If we have a meeting we will write to you within 2 working days of the meeting to confirm what was discussed and any conclusions we reached.
If we are unable to resolve your concerns in this way we will suggest another stage in the process (or otherwise) in order to resolve your complaint, including the possibility of referring the matter to the Legal Ombudsman if that is your wish.
Where we consider that it is appropriate to the case and if you agree, we may arrange a review by a lawyer in another firm of any of the issues unresolved through our internal process.
Unless the basis of complaint is a specific technical issue, the reviewing lawyer need not necessarily be an expert and will be chosen on the basis of having the necessary experience to take a balanced view of whether or not your complaint is well-founded and to suggest what action should be taken to remedy the problem.
If we consider this course appropriate, we will write to propose an independent review. Within 5 working days of receipt of written confirmation from you that you wish your complaint to be reviewed by an independent lawyer, we will identify a third party lawyer to review the relevant case file, together with your grounds of complaint and documents created as part of stage 1 of the complaints process. Where stage 1 of the process has been omitted we will also submit a summary of matters that we think should be taken into account.
We will give you details of the lawyer that we propose should undertake the review. The review will not go ahead unless you give your express consent to the independent lawyer being given copies of your client file and all other relevant information.
Unless we expressly agree otherwise the review will be paper-based only. That is, the independent lawyer will not interview you, any partner or member of staff of Abbiss Cadres LLP or any third parties. The timescale for the review will be subject to agreement with the independent lawyer and will be notified to you at the outset. Ordinarily we would expect this to take up to 10 working days.
Abbiss Cadres will be solely responsible for the costs of this independent review.
Once the independent lawyer has completed the review you will receive a copy of his/her written report and recommendations. We will write to you within 5 working days of receipt of the independent lawyer’s report advising you of what action we propose to take to resolve your complaint in light of the findings of the independent review. We will also confirm the process for taking a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can 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. You should report the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority if you believe this firm or anyone regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has breached a SRA Principle.
You can also report this firm or someone regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for non-payment of professional fees (such as agent or expert fees) if:
You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
If matters have not been resolved to your satisfaction once stages 1 and 2 of this process (if applicable) have been completed, you may also contact the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman advises that you must give us a chance to address your complaints first and recommends that you allow us at least eight weeks to do so before contacting the Legal Ombudsman. Once it is clear that matters cannot be resolved to your satisfaction and you still wish to pursue a complaint then you should contact the Legal Ombudsman:
Once accepted an Ombudsman’s decision is final.
The Legal Ombudsman’s address is Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ. Telephone: 0300 555 0333 Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
Further information about the service provided by the Legal Ombudsman and how to complain is available at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
Please note that the Legal Ombudsman will not become involved unless you have already tried to resolve matters using our internal complaints procedure.
The contents of this website are protected by international copyright laws. Except for information in respect of which another copyright owner is identified, Abbiss Cadres is the owner of all the copyright and database right contained in this website or its content. In respect of such content owned by Abbiss Cadres users may:
(a) read and take copies of information contained on this website for their own personal use;
(b) circulate copies of copies of extracts from of charge to their third parties for their personal use provided that Abbiss Cadres is acknowledged on the copy as its source and the text is not altered in any way and the third party’s attention is drawn to the provisions relating to the use of copyright etc. on this site.
Unless our prior written permission is received, or otherwise authorised by any applicable law, any use of this site or its contents (including by means of a hypertext or other link) except as identified above is prohibited.
The terms on which you use this site are governed by the laws of England and Wales and users submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in relation to any dispute arising in relation to such use or otherwise in relation to this website.
Our team has over 50 years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to employment law.
We have three members of the team who may work on your matter. Abbiss Cadres is a partner led firm; anyone working on your Matter will be supervised by either David Widdowson, Head of Employment, or Guy Abbiss, Managing Partner.
The costs of our services are based on hourly rates. Partner rates for Employment law work are £520 per hour plus VAT at 20%
David Widdowson
David is the head of the Employment Team. He qualified as a solicitor in 1985, specialising in employment law at an early stage, boasting over 30 years of experience in this field.
He has extensive experience in dealing with employment tribunal claims from the perspective of both business and individuals.
Guy Abbiss
Guy qualified as a solicitor in 1992. He has considerable experience in dealing with employment matters for senior executives and board members.
Trainee Solicitors
Trainee solicitors may assist with the work to be carried out under the supervision of a Partner. Trainees are post-graduates who either passed or are in the process of completing the formal qualifications to become a solicitor and who are undergoing a mandatory period of training before final qualification.
The Trainee Solicitor hourly rate is £173 plus Vat at 20%.
Price Guidance
Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal:
Factors that could make a case more complex:
Disbursements
Disbursements are charged in addition to our own fees. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as counsel’s fees, or the costs of bulk photocopying. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. At present no fee is required to bring a claim in the Employment tribunal.
VAT is applied to disbursements charged back to UK companies and individuals. VAT is not added to disbursements for non-UK companies that we bill.
Photocopying Charges
Fees for photocopying, which we carry out in house, are charged at the rate of 8p a sheet for A4 black and white copies, where the amount of printing is significant, by which we mean in excess of 100 sheets during a case, we may use an external company or provide you with a quote for the photocopying prior to carrying out the work.
Where we use an external company for photocopying we will attempt to provide an estimate for such charges before they are incurred. For guidance purposes external copying charges will differ based on, page and copying size, and whether the copying is black and white or colour.
Additional charges may also apply if documentation needs to be bound or put in a lever arch file.
Guidance Charges for Copying
A4 Pages
Black and White – single page – 8p
Colour copy – single page – 28p
A3 pages
Black and white – 11p
Colour – 39p
Plans – 1 plan to a page
A2 Colour £7.95 per plan
A1 Colour £11.95 per plan
Counsel’s fees
These are fees payable to a barrister where we recommend – and you agree – seeking their advice and representation. Counsel’s fees for work done during a claim are usually charged at an hourly rate – typically these will be between £250 and £850 an hour depending on their seniority and the complexity of the case. Where a barrister is instructed to appear at the hearing of the case (or any application made to the Employment Tribunal during the case) a “brief fee” will be charged which is for the first day of a hearing and includes the barrister’s preparation time. This will depend on the complexity of the case and the seniority of the barrister but typically these will be
All sums above are subject to VAT at 20%
Key Stages
The table below sets out the likely range of costs for each stage in an unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal claim. Where the range differs as between employee and business this is because usually there will be a greater number of witnesses for a business defending a claim. The stages represent a typical case but not all cases run in the same order – for example, settlement discussions (see Stage 4) may take place at any time and may be short or very extensive; a barrister’s advice may be sought (with your agreement) at Stage 1 or may only be required for Stage 5. You may require our advice only on some of the stages and decide to undertake some of the stages yourself. Time scales are the length of time each stage is likely to take. It does not take account of delays in listing cases. This will depend on the length of the case and the geographical region in which the claim is brought. These can vary widely but, as a general indicator, a hearing is likely to take place between 6 months and 2 years from the date the claim is commenced though this may be longer for cases which are highly complex and/or involve a large number of witnesses and documents.
| Stage | Timescale | Range of Costs | |
| Employee | Business | ||
| Stage 1
Taking initial instructions, reviewing relevant documents, advising on available claims and merits and likely level of compensation Attending to pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore possibility of an early settlement Preparing letter of claim/responding to letter of claim Preparing claim/response and filing Reviewing and advising on merits of claim Preparing a schedule of loss/preparing counter-schedule
|
2 – 12 weeks | £7,500 – £17,000 | £7,500 – £17,000 |
| Stage | Timescale | Range of Costs | ||||
| Employee | Business | |||||
| Stage 2
Reviewing documents and preparing a list for disclosure Exchanging lists and reviewing documents from employee/employer Agreeing bundle of documents for the hearing Further advice on merits of the claim Preparing for and attending a preliminary hearing
|
4 – 12 weeks | £6,500 – £23,500 | £6,500 – £23,500 | |||
| Stage 3
Meeting to take statements of evidence Preparing statements for each witness; dealing with amendments; exchanging with other side Reviewing other side’s statements and taking instructions Further advice on merits of the claim General correspondence with other side |
4 – 12 weeks | £10,000 – £40,000 | £13,000 – £60,000 | |||
| Stage 4
Preparing documents for trial Instructing a barrister Preparing list of issues, chronology, updating schedule of loss/counter-schedule of loss Preparing/reviewing statement as to mitigation of loss Further advice on merits Settlement negotiations
|
4 – 6 weeks | £6,500 – £26,000 | £6,500 – £30,000 | |||
| Stage 5
Attending hearing Reporting on outcome |
1 – 5 days | £5,500 – £24,000 | £5,500 – £24,000 | |||
| Total | £36,000 – £130,500 | £39,000 – £213,500 | ||||
The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim.
When issuing a claim in the Employment Tribunal there are no fees to pay, however it should be noted that the losing party may be ordered to pay the costs of the other side.
How Long Will My Matter Take?
Overall the time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 2-4 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 45-104 weeks. This is heavily dependent on Employment Tribunal resources (which vary widely geographically) and the length of time that it is estimated necessary for the hearing of the case. Simple 1 day cases may be concluded within 6-9 months while listing of cases involving large numbers of witnesses and lengthy hearings may be much longer than that. We will be able to provide you with a more informed estimate as to timing once we have a clear picture of the nature and extent of a particular case.
Our team has over 20 years of collective experience in delivering high quality work on business immigration matters for companies, their employees and the employee’s families.
We have three members of the team who may work on your immigration matter. Abbiss Cadres is a partner led firm; anyone working on your matter will be supervised by Guy Abbiss, Managing Partner, for the purposes of SRA rules.
Jonathan Martin
Jonathan leads our immigration team and has more than 20 years’ experience in this area.
Jonathan qualified as a Barrister in 1994 after graduating in Law from Oxford University. He started practising in immigration law in 1997 and has focused exclusively in it since 2001. He is vastly experienced in all areas of immigration law, has lectured on it and produced the Bloomsbury online Immigration briefing in 2018/19.
Jonathan joined Abbiss Cadres in 2015 to lead our business immigration offering. He is experienced in all types of applications and has assisted thousands of people in applying for permission to be in the UK.
Guy Abbiss
Guy Abbiss qualified as a solicitor in 1992. He is the supervisor on immigration matters for SRA purposes.
Trainee Solicitors
Trainee solicitors may assist with the work to be carried out under supervision. Trainees are post-graduates who either passed or are in the process of completing the formal qualifications to become a solicitor and who are undergoing a mandatory period of training before final qualification.
The Trainee Solicitor hourly rate is £173 plus Vat at 20%.
Immigration Pricing
Hourly Rates
| Guy Abbiss | Managing Partner | £567 + VAT |
| Jonathan Martin | Senior Consultant | £520 – £567 + VAT |
| Immigration Support | Standard hours required |
| Applications for leave to remain by Skilled Worker (designated CoS) migrants | £1,900 – £2,400 |
| Applications for leave to remain by Skilled Worker (undesignated CoS) migrants | £1,900 – £2,400 |
| Applications for leave to remain by (Intra-company Routes) migrants |
£1,500 – £2,000 |
| Applications to extend leave to remain by Tier 2 migrants, Skilled Workers and those on Intra-company Routes | £900 – £1,300 |
| Applications for leave to remain by Global Talent, Innovator and Start Up migrants | £2,500 – £3,600 |
| Applications for leave to remain by other work based migrants (eg youth Mobility and Graduate routes) | £1,700 – £2,500 |
| Applications for leave to remain by family members of points based system migrants | £900 – £1,300 |
| Applications for leave to remain by other points based system migrants | £1,700 – £2,400 |
| Applications to settle in the UK by points based system migrants and their families | £1,500 – £2,300 |
| Applications for leave to enter the UK or remain here by representatives of an overseas business | £2,300 – £2,900 |
| Applications by EU nationals | £900 – £1,300 |
| Applications to enter or remain on family routes | £1,700 – £2,600 |
| Applications to become a British citizen | £1,800 – £2,800 |
The time estimates above are per visa and exclude relevant government fees, VAT and expenses.
Details of services
We normally charge a fixed fee for the majority of immigration applications by individuals.
Our fee is based on what is likely be required to complete the matter based on our hourly rates, level of expertise involved, the urgency of the matter and the circumstances of your case.
If the circumstances of your application are more complex – and/or there are unforeseen complications – then the cost may well exceed the fees specified in the table. Any such additional costs will depend on the time spent at the applicable hourly rates.
Services included are:
Key stages and Likely Timescales
The likely timescales depend on (i) the type of application, (ii) your individual circumstances, and (iii) the visa expiry date.
We aim to complete applications in 3 to 6 weeks. Depending on the circumstances, a longer period of time (potentially a few months) may be required for complex applications. We would advise on the anticipated time frame for each individual instruction at the outset.
Please note that the time frame within which the application can be completed is dependent on the timely provision of the relevant information by the client.
| Stage | Activity | Timeframe |
| Stage 1 | Obtaining instructions, providing strategic advice and preparation of application. | Factoring in the needs of each client, the completion of stage 1 can take from a few days to a few weeks/months depending on the individual circumstances and the timings of the strategic plan agreed. |
| Stage 2 | Submission of application, consideration and decision-making by the Home Office. | Home Office processing times can vary between 24 hours to more than six months, depending on the type of application, the availability of premium services, the country from which the application is made, and any case-specific complexities. For an indication of the most recent Home Office processing times please click https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visa-decision-waiting-times-applications-outside-the-uk |
| Stage 3 | Post-decision advice. | Once an application has been decided we promptly provide post-decision advice, explaining the next steps. |
Disbursements
The costs quoted do not include disbursements. Disbursements are costs related to your matter payable to third parties such as:
Please note, the list does not include the Immigration Health Surcharge which we will calculate according to your personal circumstances and include among the disbursements payable. Where payable the rate is £624 per year for adults and £470 per year for children and those on Youth Mobility visas
Value Added Tax
Disbursements, but not the application fees or Immigration Health Surcharge, are subject to VAT. VAT is currently set at 20%.
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