An ET1 has landed. The next 28 days decide your position.
Your ET3 response is due 28 days from the date the tribunal sent you the claim, and the strategy set now shapes everything that follows. We match you with a specialist respondent-side solicitor within 24 hours.
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An employment tribunal claim is a legal process with fixed deadlines, formal pleadings and cost consequences, and it starts the moment the ET1 arrives. Most SME employers meet it for the first time with no in-house employment lawyer and no sense of what the claim is actually worth. That combination, rather than the underlying facts, is what turns manageable claims into expensive ones.
Our panel firms act for respondents week in, week out: drafting the ET3, running disclosure, preparing witnesses, and making the settlement judgement calls that decide whether a claim ends in a negotiated agreement or a three-day hearing. We match you with one of them, free, within 24 hours.
What a specialist does first
In the opening days of a defence, the work is triage:
- Check the response deadline on the tribunal's covering letter and diarise it, along with any case management orders already made
- Read the ET1 against your own records to identify what is admitted, what is denied and where the claim is legally weak
- Secure the documents and contemporaneous notes now, before the people involved leave or memories fade
- Value the claim: heads of loss, mitigation, the ACAS Code uplift risk, and what a tribunal would realistically award
- Set the strategy: defend, negotiate through ACAS early conciliation, or prepare both routes at once
The ET3 is the whole defence in miniature
The response document is not an administrative form. It fixes the case you will run: the reason for dismissal, the procedure you say you followed, and the facts you put in dispute. Tribunals notice when a respondent changes its account later, and claimants' representatives build cross-examination around exactly that. A response drafted in a hurry, or by someone who does not defend these claims regularly, is the single most common own goal in employer-side litigation.
The same applies to the paperwork behind it. Investigation notes, appeal outcomes, the decision-maker's reasoning, and the ACAS Code steps you took are the evidence the tribunal weighs. Where those documents exist and are consistent, claims settle earlier and cheaper. Where they do not, a specialist will tell you plainly and factor it into the strategy rather than discovering it at the hearing.
Not sure where you stand?
Two minutes of questions, and a specialist tells you what your options actually are.
⏱ 28 days to respond, from the date the tribunal sent the claimIf the ET3 is late, the tribunal can decide the claim without hearing your defence, and applications to extend time are not granted as of right. If an interim relief application has been made, the timescale is days rather than weeks. Get a specialist involved immediately.
What the framework allows
Up to £123,543
Compensatory award cap for ordinary unfair dismissal, or 52 weeks' gross pay if lower
Uncapped
Discrimination awards, including injury to feelings, carry no statutory cap
Uplift of up to 25%
Where an employer unreasonably failed to follow the ACAS Code
How MatchMySolicitor helps
We are a referral service, not a law firm. What we do is remove the search: instead of ringing round local firms and hoping the person who answers defends tribunal claims regularly, you tell us about the claim once and we match it to a firm whose practice fits it.
Every firm on the panel is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and vetted for genuine respondent-side employment work. Your details go to one matched firm, never to several, and the first conversation is free with no obligation to instruct. Many of our panel firms offer fixed-fee defence packages, and if you are insured we can match you with firms that work with legal expenses policies.
Tell us about the claim in a two-minute form. No documents needed yet.
We match you with a respondent-side specialist, same day where a deadline is urgent.
The solicitor contacts you within 24 hours for a free initial assessment of the claim and your options.
1.Tell us about the claim in a two-minute form. No documents needed yet.
2.We match you with a respondent-side specialist, same day where a deadline is urgent.
3.The solicitor contacts you within 24 hours for a free initial assessment of the claim and your options.
Facing a tribunal claim?
Tell us about the claim and we will match you with a respondent-side specialist within 24 hours. Free, confidential, no obligation.
Tribunal defence FAQs
How long do I have to respond to an ET1?
Twenty-eight days from the date the tribunal sent you the claim, not the date you opened the envelope. Miss it and the tribunal can issue a judgment without hearing your side, so the date on the covering letter is the first thing a specialist checks.
Can we settle instead of defending?
Often, and it is a commercial decision rather than an admission. A specialist will value the claim, weigh the cost and management time of defending it, and advise whether to negotiate through ACAS, defend fully, or run both tracks in parallel.
What does a tribunal defence cost?
It depends on the claim and how far it runs. Many of our panel firms offer fixed-fee packages for the response and early stages so the cost is known up front, and fees are always agreed directly with the firm before you commit.
We have legal expenses insurance. Does that change things?
Tell us when you enquire. We can match you with firms that work with legal expenses policies, and your insurer may require a panel firm, which is worth establishing before instructions are given.
What if the claim includes discrimination?
Treat it as the more serious exposure. Discrimination awards are uncapped, include injury to feelings, and the burden of proof can shift to the employer, so the evidence and the written response need handling by someone who defends these regularly.
The claimant has applied for interim relief. What now?
Interim relief applications are heard within days, and if granted you pay the employee until the full hearing. Say so in your enquiry: we prioritise these for same-day matching.
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Free enquiry. Matched with a defence specialist within 24 hours.