Does a settlement agreement need to be signed by a solicitor?

At Thompsons, our specialist settlement agreement solicitors are independent of your employer. Our legal advice on your settlement agreement looks at whether the agreement is in your interests. Our advice is not influenced by the fact that your legal costs are being funded by your employer.  

In this article, our expert solicitors will explain why your settlement agreement needs to be signed by an independent legal adviser and why it is in your best interests to take legal advice.

The requirement for an independent legal adviser to sign a settlement agreement

The law says that an employee needs to have taken advice about their settlement agreement from a relevant independent adviser.

The requirement to take advice from an independent adviser means many employers are willing to pay a fixed amount for settlement agreement solicitors to review the agreement and advise you on the terms. If you are happy to settle, the solicitor will sign to certify that you have had independent advice on the agreement.

The legal requirements for a settlement agreement

For a settlement agreement to be valid and to stop you from being able to bring an employment tribunal claim, the following conditions must all be met:

• The agreement must be in writing
• The agreement must relate to a particular complaint or proceedings
• The employee must have received advice from a relevant independent adviser on the terms and effect of the proposed agreement and its effect on the employee’s ability to pursue their claim or proceedings before an employment tribunal or other court
• The independent adviser must have insurance or professional indemnity insurance covering the risk of a claim by the employee for loss arising from that advice
• The agreement must name the adviser
• The agreement must specify the statutory provisions regulating the validity of the settlement agreement have been satisfied

Why get a specialist settlement agreement solicitor to sign your settlement agreement?

The advantage of asking settlement agreement solicitors to check your agreement for you is that you get independent legal advice from a specialist solicitor who is experienced in employment law and who can give you their advice on:

• The terms and effect of the settlement agreement
• If the settlement agreement needs to be amended. For example, to reword a restrictive covenant that your employers are asking you to agree to or to make the financial payment more efficient

Paying for a solicitor to sign a settlement agreement  

Most employers are willing to pay for you to take legal advice on a settlement agreement, because if you do not take legal advice the settlement agreement is not binding on you. That means you could start or reactivate an employment tribunal claim.  

Some people are understandably wary that if their settlement agreement solicitor is being paid by their employer, the lawyer will be bound to just tell you to sign the settlement agreement. It does not work that way at Thompsons as we specialise in employment law for employees and come from a background of representing trade unions.

You can rest assured that the free legal advice you get from our settlement agreement solicitors is the best advice tailored to your case and circumstances. Getting paid by your employer does not affect the quality of our legal advice or the professional rules we are obliged to follow on client confidentiality. We cannot pass on what you tell us to your employer’s solicitors unless you authorise us to do so.  

Why choose Thompsons as your settlement agreement solicitors?  

Years of experience in advising on settlement agreements makes Thompsons the solicitors of choice for many people presented with a settlement agreement by their employer. If you are feeling daunted by your employer’s perceived power, then having Thompsons on your side helps redress the balance.  

We understand that when you are presented with a settlement agreement you want to take legal advice as quickly as possible, so you have the information you require to move forward. We provide expert legal advice delivered efficiently and without the use of unnecessary or complex legal jargon.

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