Study of a Corporate Psychopath at Play
Hi there
All Scottish Convictions quashed
Before we get into the dregs of yesterday, some Big News for today – all Subpostmasters in Scotland have had their convictions quashed! The law came into force today. Congratulations to all affected/involved. Read more on the BBC website here.
The Parsons Problem
It was quite something to witness Womble Bond Dickinson partner Andy Parsons give evidence yesterday. If I had to characterise it in a general way I would say he seemed to be rather enjoying himself.
Parsons is undoubtedly a clever man and appeared to be on top of his brief, calmly batting back or away many of the allegations put to him by counsel to the Inquiry, Julian Blake.
In the room, it felt like Blake barely laid a glove on him. Parsons had a careful and precise answer for everything. The way he described his six year career working on the Post Office account, he acted at all times like a careful and proper litigator.
This meant protecting the reputation of the Post Office by correcting or changing the language it used in its communications, maintaining a tight control on document flow and usage and advising on all civil matters.
Occasionally Parsons was shown to have weighed in on PR and criminal matters, areas where his lack of professional competence and basic humanity left him exposed.
Not that Mr Parsons would agree, though he did admit being “too strong” in calling former Subpostmasters Noel Thomas, Jo Hamilton and Seema Misra “liars and criminals”.
Parsons’ tragedy is that his brilliant strategic legal advice tanked his client, destroyed its reputation and required a £1bn bailout. Anyone watching him yesterday thinking “he’s the man I’d want on my side in a streetfight” would do well to remember that.
If Parsons really is an excellent litigator, then he is the exemplar of a broken system. I would welcome correspondence on the matter from any litigation lawyers who watched Parsons give evidence yesterday. If you didn’t get the chance you can read my write up here:
You can also spin through through a selection of the contemporaneous documents here – all on one web-page along with the live-tweets, or watch/read the whole thing again on the Inquiry website – I’m pleased to say the official transcript is already up (just scroll right to the bottom of the page).
Other takes
It was great to see John Hyde from the Law Society Gazette and meet Jack from Law360.com in the Inquiry room yesterday. I didn’t spot Jane Croft (formerly of the FT, now of The Guardian), but she may have been watching remotely. Anyway, she produced the following report of Parsons’ evidence:
Lawyer advised Post Office to adopt ‘cold’ approach and not apologise, inquiry hears
Parsons gives evidence again today. I will be there. As will fellow Horizon Scandal Fund trustee Varchas Patel, who has promised to come armed with more delicious samosas, and that alone is worth the trip to London.
I’ll write up Parsons’ second and final day of evidence before the end of today and get another newsletter to you tomorrow.
Don’t forget you can follow my live-tweets blow-by-blow here, you can watch the evidence from 0945 live here, and you can get each blog post I publish sent directly to your email inbox by signing up via the Post Office Scandal website. This is a free service, powered by your kind donations, so you might as well use it!
Thanks to everyone who has recently got in touch. It’s great to read your correspondence. Apologies if I cannot reply to everything I get sent, but I do appreciate it.
Yours
Nick