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About us

Ovidius Law Ltd is a highly specialised employment law practice set up by Mateusz Bratko, who is a Solicitor of England and Wales, Chartered Legal Executive FCILEx and a Foregin Lawayer in Poland. Mateusz draws upon his extensive experience in representing employees and employers alike in all aspects of employment law with particular emphasis on unfair dismissals and discrimination. Mateusz worked in a private practice at IMD Solicitors LLP and as part of a main legal team in one of the biggest trade unions in the UK,

USDAW (Union of Shops and Distributive and Allied Workers).

As a law practice we act for both employers and employees and believe that our experience on both sides of the table equips us best to provide more rounded, practical and relevant advice. Our clients can expect commitment, individually tailored approach and highest quality service. Ovidius Law stresses the importance of modern-day practice with use of newest technology in order to be able to provide services at the highest level and maintaining very attractive fees.

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Mateusz Bratko

Solicitor

Mateusz Bratko is the founding member of the Ovidius Law Ltd law firm and experienced employment, civil and company law practitioner. He has qualified as a Solicitor of England and Wales, Fellow Member of Chartered Legal Executive FCilex as well as Foreign Lawyer in Poland. Mateusz is a member of Employment Lawyers Association.

He represents employees from every industry and at every stage of their careers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mateusz was mentioned in specialised and international press, like International Employment Lawyer in relation to law change proposals, new challenges facing employers or Reward Strategy in relation to trade unions.

Mateusz has excellent Client care skills and always approaches each Client individually. Mateusz Bratko has a reputation for negotiating favourable settlements on behalf of their Clients. Mateusz has achieved great number of excellent results in cases involving biggest employers in the United Kingdom.

Qualifications:

  • LLB (Hons) at London South Bank University
  • LLM LPC at University of Law in Manchester
  • PSC at BPP University

How we work?

Contact us

Call, email or reach out to us using our contact form without any obligation to instruct us further. Please note, however, that we are unable to provide any legal advice until you become our client by booking a consultation or instructing us.

Initial discussion

The solicitor will let you know if your matter qualifies for a consultation, which is the first step to resolve your matter. The cost of the consultation is £199 and you can find more information here: "Consultation" .

Consultation

Our solicitor will provide you with all relevant information regarding your matter, assess prospects of success and set out our offer of further representation. We aim to provide the most important information to allow you to understand the issue from a legal point of view and enable you to make a decision on your next steps either on your own or with our help.

Instructing us

If you would like to instruct us in your matter, you will be provided with an offer from the solicitor in writing and we will sort out initial formalities. We will then begin working on your matter and in most cases it would involve further assessment of available documents and evidence. We may ask for additional information or documents. It is of paramount importance that we start in a best way possible.

Conduct of your case

We will act on your behalf, informing you on all important matters and any next steps in your case. We will deal with everything on your behalf, starting from managing all of the correspondence, representing you in a tribunal and before any third parties. If possible, we will negotiate favourable settlement. We aim for our work to always exceed your expectations.

The best result

We strive for the very best result in every case. We have particular experience in negotiating favourable settlements, which can save a lot of stress, time and money involved in court proceedings. However, if the matter does go to trial, we make every effort to achieve best possible outcome. You can rely on our knowledge and extensive experience to handle your matter.

Consultation

The solicitor will allow sufficient time to gather all necessary information about your case and to explain you the applicable law, assess prospects of success and potential financial award.

It is usually possible to get a Skype/Zoom consultation 24 hours from contacting us. We believe that everyone should receive the best quality service, therefore all consultation are carried out personally by the solicitor.

We always discount the cost of the consultation from the cost of further action if you instruct us. We believe that the first assessment of your case should always be carried out by the solicitor and we want to ensure the highest standard of the initial case assessment. We always aim to give you all necessary information to allow you to make an informed decision regarding you matter, without any pressure. We always aim to discuss overall costs, prospects, and potential financial award so that you are in a position to make the best decision. We strive to provide the best possible service to our Clients and we want the same in your matter from the outset.

Yes, you can, however please remember that the cost of the consultation would be deducted from further cost of action therefore a consultation is always worthwhile. We recommend that you always start with a consultation, because it is paramount that we get to know your situation and provide you with an initial advice of our assessment. Even, if you instruct us without the consultation, we will have to start by getting to know all details of your case to provide full advice.

Book a consultation today!

Telephone or Skype / Duration: 60 minutes / Cost: £199
You will get answers to questions like ‘Do I have a case?’, ‘What kind of compensation could I get?’, ‘What are my next steps?’

Contact us !

Employees

Ovidius Law specialises and can help in every aspect of employment law in the United Kingdom. Our Solicitor has broad experience and achieved a great number of very good results, even in very difficult cases.

We know that the difficulties at work might be very stressful and affect your personal life and career. We appreciate that they often come together with financial difficulties, therefore we approach every case individually, empathetically and professionally. We always aim to explain costs clearly and offer fixed fees to give you the biggest financial comfort possible. You can find detailed information on costs and employment tribunal proceedings on our „Tribunal” page.

We represent in every aspect of employment law and on every stage of the proceedings!

We deal with the following issues on everyday basis:

If you were dismissed contact us to check if you could make a claim in an employment tribunal and what compensation you could get. Your employer must have a proper reason, evidence and follow correct procedure during your dismissal.

 

In some cases we can claim automatically unfair dismissal, if you were dismissed because of one of particularly protected reasons.

 

If you were put in a situation where you just had to leave, you may have a claim in an employment tribunal for Constructive Dismissal. Contact us to find out more as every case is decided on its facts.

We specialise in all aspects of discrimination cases. Compensation in those matters is unlimited and can often reach tens of thousands.

We can help you if you have ever been treated less favourable because of your:

  • Nationality
  • Age
  • Sex
  • Religion or belief
  • Disability (illness or poor health)
  • Pregnancy or maternity
  • Marriage or Civil Partnership
  • Sexual orientation

We have particular expertise in LGBTQ+ representation. We know that a lot of LGBTQ+ people suffer from discrimination and sometimes physical violence at their workplace, which is totally unacceptable. We understand your problems and we can help in a professional and emphatical manner whilst provide highest level of legal help.

 

We can potentially offer No Win No Fee representation in discrimination cases depending on circumstances. Contact us today to obtain full legal help and protect your rights.

There are four kinds of discrimination:

  • Direct discrimination
  • Iindirect discrimination
  • Harassment
  • Victimisation 

We will explain all aspects of your case during a consultation.

Your contract of employment is the most important document of your employment. If you employer breached the contract or is trying to force you to accept new contract, contact us to find out what to do and how to get compensation.

Unfortunately, it often happens that an employer does not pay your wages for some period or at all, or any additional elements of pay, overtime or holiday pay. Our Solicitor will check what you are entitled to, provide legal advice and explain how to enforce any monies due.

You should never have to put up with bullying or harassment. It affects in a significant manner your personal life. That is why it is so important to take appropriate action to stop it immediately.

Any kind of behaviour that is offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting or humiliating or an abuse of authority that undermines someone.

Contact us to find out what to do, how to stop such behaviour or whether you can take any steps against your employer.

Contact Us !

Employers

Our Solicitor has a wealth of experience gained at international level and in one of the largest trade unions – USDAW (Union of Shops and Distributive and Allied Workers. Our boutique approach allows us to offer clients of all sizes a personalised and cost-effective service at the highest level.

We can help you navigate through any relevant rules or regulations for your UK business. Your business would be safe with us on your side whether we defend you in employment tribunal or ensure that you stay up to date with all legal requirements and implement all relevant policies and procedures in your company.

We consulted a number of businesses and lawyers providing services to those businesses and found out that amongst most important matters during a resolution of a legal issue is to know the costs and the plan of action from the outset. We aim to provide fixed fees in all cases and we always provide full legal advice along with a suggested plan of action. Our fees start from £500 and you can expect a detailed offer, depending on your case, at the end of every consultation.

Case issued by an employee is likely to be disruptive, costly and time consuming. There might be significant financial and reputational damage at stake. In employment tribunal there is no cap on financial compensation in discrimination cases and many could go into tens of thousands of pounds. You can find detailed information about costs and key stages in employment tribunal on our „Tribunal” page.

We can provide vital legal help to minimise potential damages, defend your case robustly and take care of the matter comprehensively. We will give you proper legal advice regarding the merits of the claim, its value and the best plan of action to deal with the matter.

We can assume the role of your HR department and conduct any internal matters with minimum risk of any potential issues like discrimination or any other further claims by employees.

We advise on contract negotiations with new employers, including key terms such as remuneration and restrictive covenants. We draft staff handbooks and HR policies as well as internal procedures.

We regularly assist our business clients to negotiate the best, safest and quickest resolution when there is a need to terminate a contract of one or more employees. We draft settlement agreements to ensure any practical or legal liability is avoided. If you need to remove an employee, but do not know how, we are here to help – from initial advice to navigating the whole process on your behalf.

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Tribunal

We believe that the costs should be clear and we aim to always provide fixed fees to allow you to feel financially safe and stable. Every case is different and may end at a different stage, therefore we set out predicted costs depending on complexity of the matter.

  • Simple cases – from £995 with predicted costs around £2,500 – £,4500
  • Medium complexity cases (including some basic discrimination cases) – from £1,995 with predicted costs around £4,500-£9,000
  • High complexity cases – from £2,995 with predicted costs around £9,000-£25,000
  • Hourly rate – our hourly rates range from £100 to £200 depending on the complexity of your case and the experience of the lawyer.
  • Initial instructions, review of the documents, advise on the merits and potential compensation
  • Entering into ACAS early conciliation to in attempt to reach early settlement
  • Drafting a claim or defence, submission to the court, review and advise upon response from other party
  • Continuing efforts to negotiate settlement throughout the process
  • Preparing a schedule of loss
  • Continuing with requests and responding to requests for additional information and documents
  • Preparing for and attending a preliminary hearing
  • Preparing documents for disclosure and reviewing the opponent’s documents
  • Preparing, exchanging and agreeing case documents
  • Taking witness statements, drafting statements, agreeing their content with witnesses and reviewing/advising on the other party’s witness statements
  • Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
  • Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing
  • Managing case strategy throughout, analysis of the strengths of the case and general conduct of the case
  • Dealing with correspondence from the opponent or their representative throughout the proceedings
  • Preparing documents and specific instructions for Counsel and conferences with Counsel

This will mainly depend at which stage a case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during ACAS early conciliation it is likely to take 2-6 weeks. 

If a claim proceeds to a final hearing it could take anything between 6 – 12 months and sometimes up to 24 months depending on the complexity of the matter, number of preliminary hearings as well as particular Employment Tribunal and their caseload.

It may be the case that we will incur additional costs, like experts’ opinions, evidence or special arrangements. We will keep you informed regarding these throughout your claim.

It is customary and cost effective that Barristers represents you in person during a tribunal hearing. Barristers’ fees range between £500 to £1,800 per day for attending a tribunal hearing, in addition to a preparation fee for a final hearing which varies between £600 to £12,000. 

Contact us !

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