Having learned last week that around 10,000 documents were not disclosed by legal departments that had a legal professional duty to do so in the Post Office scandal, it seems all the more poignant to have listened to some lesser-known insights that were eloquently shared by Kathleen Donnelly KC, who was part of the claimants’ legal team in civil action against the Post Office, yesterday at the Eagles GC Symposium. The galling fact remains that the legal departments of both Fujitsu and the Post Office, including external legal advisors, have yet to be held to account; nevermind, addressing a clear indication of the endemic and pernicious corporate culture that fostered such an avoidable scandal to occur. Her talk makes clear that scapegoating the few names we now know mainly from Netflix (let’s face it as the case was decided December 2019) hardly scratch the surface of those responsible. Lawyers are held to a higher ethical standard for good reason as gatekeepers of the rule of law and administration of justice. It is clear there is more to be done in making sure in-house counsel and external legal advisors who assist and indeed perpetrate corporate misdeeds and abuse of the legal system are held to account. Where are the lawyers who prosecuted so many of these sub-postmasters based on flimsy or nonexistent evidence and instructed/used intimidation tactics to obtain pleas? Why wasn’t the sudden increase in actions against sub-postmasters noticed as suspect? (Or was it?) Where are the lawyers now that prepared those bundles to instruct counsel in those matters? Have any been challenged or faced consequences? Not only lessons need to be learned here but further professional and legal reprimand is needed for justice in this matter to be properly metered. We need to do better and clearly Lesley Wan and all those involved with pulling off a fabulous senior in-house counsel Eagle event are doing to their part to help achieve that change. Thank you! #theeagleclub #generalcounsel #inhouse #knowledgesharing #inspirationalleadership #legaleagles #ruleoflaw #postofficescandal #justice
General Counsel & Company Secretary | Leading Legal Professional & Innovator | Founder & CEO, The Eagle Club
WHO IS KATHLEEN DONNELLY KC? Yesterday, the Eagle Club were so fortunate to have the brilliant & inspiring Kathleen Donnelly KC from Henderson Chambers (their first female SILK) as our Keynote speaker. For the first time, we were able to hear directly from counsel who was part of the great legal team that brought justice to Alan Bates & the 555 sub-postmasters in civil litigation against the Post Office, which led to the unravelling of the largest miscarriage of justice in UK history. Kathleen Donnelly KC shared her insights on what lessons the general counsel community could learn from the scandal & how we could all be more thoughtful about our actions & the ethical decisions we make as legal advisors. The fact that she is described as a “phenomenal barrister” in Chambers & Partners was quite apparent in her presentation as the entire Eagle Club GCs present were mesmerised by her presence. Thankyou. Notably, there were in fact 7 brilliant women in this legal team in the photo below … Kathleen Donnelly KC Reanne M. Imogen Randall Chloe Oram Angélique Richardson Stephanie Jameson Siobhan Forster We applaud your amazing legal talent 🌺 Thanks to Ian Moyler Jason Housden Daniel Kemp for the incredible introduction to this formidable barrister. Yes, I’m a fan, and so is the Eagle Club. ❤️
Radhika R.
3mo
Applaud your using your voice to draw attention to these points, MacKenna.
General Counsel & Company Secretary | Leading Legal Professional & Innovator | Founder & CEO, The Eagle Club
3moThanks MacKenna Roberts a thoughtful and intelligent summary and many questions that still need to answered. 🔥🔥🔥