Legal Fees spent on an employment tribunal
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.031487
I note you seek access to the following information:
1. How much money did you spend on legal fees in defending the below referenced employment tribunal: 2304102 / 2018 Mr Adams vs The Commissioner.
2. What was the average amount of money you spent on legal fees in defending allegations of discrimination at employment tribunals between 2018 and 2022.
The release of this information is in the public interest as the, 'Met Discriminates' - Baroness Casey. The amount of public money 'wasted' by the Met on defending internal discrimination rather than tackling the problem should be made available for public scrutiny.”
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
Q1 - How much money did you spend on legal fees in defending the below referenced employment tribunal: 2304102 / 2018 Mr Adams vs The Commissioner.
It is not possible to provide a full picture of the costs incurred by the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) relating to the Employment Tribunal (ET) brought against the MPS by Mr Adams in 2018.
In-house Costs – DLS staff and facilities:
This information is not held. Basic costs such as facilities, eg, stationery, etc, are not recorded on a granular level. In relation to staff costs, a number of in-house staff may have completed work associated with the case, including say Admin Assistants. Fee earners (our lawyers and paralegals) are the only ones who record the time they spend working on each case. We can supply the total amount of any time spent on cases by fee earners, but it is not possible to provide the cost of that time without calculating it using the Met’s Ready Reckoner. Therefore the cost of Directorate of Legal Services fee earners is not information that is ‘held’, as we would have to create information to answer the question.
External Costs – Counsel, Professional Fees and miscellaneous costs
It is possible for DLS to provide the cost of external counsel and professional fees. The total cost is £91,835 (excl VAT*).
* The MPS is a Section 33 public body for VAT purposes and thus allowed to recover Input Tax on all expenditure subject to certain conditions.
| Definitions | |
| External Costs – Counsel | Costs paid to Counsel outside of the MPS |
| External Costs - Professional |
Fees Costs paid to External Solicitors outside of the MPS
|
Q2 - What was the average amount of money you spent on legal fees in defending allegations of discrimination at employment tribunals between 2018 and 2022.
As stated in question 1, it is only possible to provide the costs of external counsel and professional fees in all Employment Tribunal cases dealt with by the Directorate of Legal Services. It is not possible to provide a full picture of costs incurred by the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS).
The cost for Counsel Fees and Professional Fees in all Employment Tribunal cases dealt with by the Directorate of Legal Services in the calendar years 2019-2022 is as follows:
| Total Counsel and Professional Fee cost - all Employment Tribunal cases | ||||
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Counsel Fees | £294,082.76 | £413,902.74 | £408,783.92 | £408,837.13 |
| NLSF* Professional Fees | £1,011,336.16 | £984,140.00 | £613,269.50 |
£1,336,217.98
|
| *NLSF - National Legal Services Framework | ||||
The cost for Counsel Fees and Professional Fees in all ET cases dealt with by the Directorate of Legal Services in the calendar year 2018 is set out below.
| Employment Tribunal claims | |
| 2018 | |
| Counsel Fees | £363,385.72 |
| NLSF Professional Fees | £576,628.40 |