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From: Cooper, Tom - UKGI[/O=HMT/OU=EXCHANGE ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP
(FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=8D968D43E33749AE9E59F9C9350E69D5-
COOPER, THOMAS (TCOO]
Sent: Fri 19/10/2018 6:28:16 AM (UTC)
To: Watson, Richard - UK Aldred, Tom -
UKGI[T Clarke, Stephen - UKGI[S"~”
Subject: Fwd: Postmaster Litigation
There’s a separate email from Paula about how they are going to change approach which she has asked me not
to forward.
Tom
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
, Alisdair
<
Subject: Postmaster Litigation
All
As you may recall we had a Case Management Conference last week (Wednesday 10 October) to hear
our application to strike out certain parts of the evidence presented in the witness statements of the
Lead Claimants. We received the decision on Monday evening and the decision rejects our application.
The application was decided on case management grounds for which the Managing Judge has
considerable discretion; applying that discretion, the Managing Judge set a very high threshold for strike
out, and concluded that we had not established to the necessary standard that the Claimants’ evidence
could never be relevant to the case, given the number of Common Issues; the “considerable legal
analysis” each will require; and what our case on those issues is. However he confirmed that he will
apply properly the law on admissibility when it comes to trial, and that the November 2018 Common
Issues Trial will not rule on matters which concern Horizon or whether Post Office actually “breached” its
obligations to the Claimants (matters to which most of the disputed evidence goes and which will be
dealt with in later trials).
As previously advised, this is consistent with the Managing Judge’s approach of enabling the Claimants
to have their “day in court” while applying the orthodox legal position. That said, we lost the application
and can expect the Claimants to be awarded their costs when that question is dealt with on the first day
of trial.
However in deciding the application, the Managing Judge was very critical of our conduct of the case,
intimating that we were not acting cooperatively and constructively in trying to resolve this litigation
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(which criticism was levelled equally between the parties); and that we had impugned the court and its
processes by making the application for improper purposes. This response is extremely disappointing as
this has not been our intention, and his challenge as to the purpose for which we had applied for strike
out is at odds with comments he had made during various procedural hearings over the past year.
The judgement has been reported today in the Law Gazette (https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/judge-
berates-aggressive-litigation-tactics-from-an-earlier-era/5067986.article). This is the same journal that
picked up the Judge’s criticism of Post Office tactics around the same time last year.
We are working with Portland and the Comms team to refine our preparation for trial — including our
reactive communications plan — in the context of the Judge’s remarks.
Please let me know if you would like to discuss this further.
Kind regards,
Jane
Jane MacLeod
Group Director of Legal, Risk & Governance
Ground Floor
20 Finsbury Street
LONDON
EC2Y 94Q a
Mobile numberd__
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