Going to Employment Tribunal Without a Solicitor

The short answer is yes: you do not need a solicitor to bring an employment tribunal claim. The tribunal system was specifically designed so ordinary people could represent themselves. Whether you should is a different question - and the honest answer is that going to tribunal without a solicitor is entirely doable, but it rewards preparation more than confidence.

How common is self-representation?

More common than you might think. Across employment tribunals, a significant proportion of claimants every year are unrepresented (see Ministry of Justice tribunal statistics). Tribunals are an accessible forum by design - judges are used to guiding 'litigants in person' through the process, and there are no tribunal fees.

Who can represent you at an employment tribunal?

You do not have to choose between hiring a solicitor and going completely alone. Employment tribunals allow a range of people to represent you, and you can mix and match as the case goes on:

• Yourself - a 'litigant in person'. This is the default the system is built around, and what most of this guide is about.
• A solicitor or barrister. You can instruct one for all or part of the case, or go straight to a barrister through the direct access (public access) scheme - often cheaper for the hearing alone.
• A trade union representative. If you are a union member, your union may provide an experienced representative at no extra cost - one of the most overlooked sources of free help.
• A friend, family member or colleague. A tribunal has discretion to let a 'lay representative' speak for you; they do not need legal qualifications.
• Free advice services. Citizens Advice, law centres, university law clinics and the Free Representation Unit can advise or, in some cases, represent you for free, subject to capacity.
• A paid non-lawyer. Employment consultants and 'claims' firms can represent you, but unlike solicitors they are not regulated - check their experience, fees and insurance before signing anything.

Whichever route you take, the cost side is covered in the cost of a tribunal claim and employment solicitor costs guides.

What is the stage-by-stage journey?

If you represent yourself, it helps to see the whole road before you set off. A typical claim moves through these stages. Timescales vary a great deal: the process commonly takes many months from start to final hearing, and longer for complex discrimination cases - check current tribunal backlogs for your region rather than relying on a fixed figure.

For the timing rules at the front of this - the 3 months less 1 day limit and how ACAS pauses the clock - see our employment tribunal deadlines guide and our ACAS Early Conciliation guide.

What does self-representation actually involve?

If you represent yourself you will need to:

• Draft and file your ET1 claim form - setting out the facts and legal basis of your case
• Respond to your employer's ET3 response - understanding their defence
• Disclose and prepare a bundle of documents - every relevant contract, email, letter, payslip and policy, paginated
• Write a witness statement - your account in chronological order, referencing the bundle
• Present your case at the hearing - including cross-examining your employer's witnesses
• Make submissions on the law - explaining which statutes apply and why your claim should succeed

What are the advantages of going alone?

• Cost. Solicitors typically charge £200 to £500 or more per hour, and a full tribunal case can run into five figures in legal fees. Self-representation is free.
• No tribunal fees. There are no court fees to bring or defend a tribunal claim.
• Knowing your own case. You lived the events. You know who said what and where the documents are.
• Tribunal support. Judges will explain procedure and make reasonable adjustments, even if they will not argue the case for you.

What are the risks?

• The employer probably has lawyers. You may face an experienced employment barrister.
• Legal arguments can be complex. Burden of proof, the section 98 test, case law on procedural fairness - these take work to learn properly.
• It is emotionally hard. Re-telling a painful experience while being cross-examined is a heavy ask.
• Procedural mistakes hurt. Missing deadlines, failing to disclose documents, or not following tribunal orders can damage even a strong case.
• Costs orders are rare but possible (see below).

How do you build the bundle?

The bundle is the single, paginated set of documents the tribunal and both sides work from at the hearing. Getting it right is where many litigants in person quietly win or lose ground.

• Be complete and chronological. Include the contract, payslips, policies, emails and messages, disciplinary and grievance correspondence, the dismissal or resignation letter, and anything else relevant. Put it in date order.
• Disclose the unhelpful too. Disclosure means showing all relevant documents, not just the ones that help you. Hiding a damaging document is the kind of conduct that can attract a costs order.
• Paginate everything. Number every page so everyone can be directed to "page 47" in seconds. The hearing runs on page references.
• Agree it with the other side where you can. The bundle is usually meant to be a joint document. Co-operating on it looks reasonable and saves hearing time.

Our employment tribunal evidence guide goes deeper on what to gather and how to organise it.

How do you write a witness statement?

This is your story, in your own words, in chronological order, referencing documents in the bundle by page number. Tribunals usually read witness statements before the hearing, so it does a lot of your talking for you.

• Stick to facts you can speak to. What you saw, heard, said and did - not what you assume someone else was thinking.
• Reference the bundle. "On 3 February I emailed my manager (bundle page 22)" is far stronger than an unsupported assertion.
• Leave out legal argument. Save the law for your closing submissions. The statement is evidence, not advocacy.
• Be complete. If something is not in your statement, you may not be allowed to spring it on the other side at the hearing.

For the hearing day itself - the order of events, swearing in, cross-examination, and how the decision is given - see our what happens at an employment tribunal hearing guide rather than improvising.

Could you be ordered to pay the employer's costs?

This is the fear that stops many people, so it is worth stating plainly: in the employment tribunal, costs orders are rare. Unlike the civil courts, the normal rule is that each side bears its own costs. A tribunal can order one party to pay the other's costs mainly where a party (or its representative) has acted unreasonably, vexatiously, or abusively in bringing or conducting the case, or where a claim had no reasonable prospect of success.

In practice that means an ordinary claim, brought in good faith and conducted sensibly, does not expose you to the employer's legal bill just because you lose. Where claimants do get caught is conduct: ignoring tribunal orders, pursuing a hopeless claim after being warned, or behaving abusively. Run your case reasonably and the costs risk stays small.

What free help is available?

If you cannot afford a solicitor, there are still options:

• ACAS - free, impartial advice on employment rights and the tribunal process, and the body that runs Early Conciliation.
• Citizens Advice - free guidance on employment disputes, with some local offices able to help with paperwork.
• Legal aid - available only in limited circumstances, mainly some discrimination cases, and subject to a means test.
• Trade unions - if you are a member, your union may provide free legal advice and representation.
• Law centres and pro bono clinics - some offer free employment law advice, and university law clinics and the Free Representation Unit help in some areas.

Is there a middle ground?

It is not all-or-nothing. Between paying a solicitor for the whole case and doing everything alone, several options let you buy help where it matters most and save money elsewhere:

• Paid advice on specific issues - pay a solicitor to review your ET1 or witness statement, or to give you an hour on strategy, without representing you throughout.
• Direct-access barristers - instruct a barrister for the hearing only, or for a single advice, without going through a solicitor first.
• Unbundled support - some firms offer "pay for what you need" packages covering only the steps you find hardest.
• AI-assisted case building with human review - tools that help you draft documents and organise evidence in a structured way, with a human quality check before anything important is filed.

The right mix depends on your budget, the complexity of your claim, and how confident you feel running the procedural parts yourself.

Key takeaway

You can absolutely take your employer to tribunal without a solicitor. The thing that decides cases is the quality of your preparation - a complete bundle, a clear witness statement, knowing the test your claim has to meet, and hitting every deadline - and that is true whether or not you are represented. Do not assume that being unrepresented means being outmatched.