Cash Money Cerebrations

Hello secret emailers

I thought I’d write a note about the logistics and finances of reporting the judgment and forthcoming trials now we have a bit more clarity about what’s going on.

There is a half day case management conference (CMC) for the third trial coming up on 12 Feb. I’ll go along to that and report back to you.

The judgment for the Common Issues trial will now appear sometime after 27 Feb. I will obviously be on duty to write it up (and provide broadcast analysis should it be required) the day it comes out unless it clashes with a work trip to Germany which is in the diary for early March.

If I am out of the country when the judgment does drop I can read and fisk it whilst I am in my hotel room, which isn’t ideal, but such is life.

Unfortunately I have an unavoidable commitment which will take me out of the loop for the fifth week of the Horizon trial (if indeed it goes to five weeks). I booked this in before I knew the trials were generally going to be 5 weeks long and when I thought the Horizon trial was starting at the beginning of March.

This means I’ll miss the closing arguments, but I will still get the transcripts on the same day, so I can’t live tweet, but I can write daily reports.

I am thinking of employing a proxy to do the live tweeting, but that eats into the diminishing budget.

Either way, we definitely have a third trial and it is definitely taking place on the week commencing 4 November 2019. The judge has said it will last four weeks only. At the CMC the JFSA QC seemed very keen to get alleged issues of deceit, concealment and fraud by the Post Office into this trial and the PO QC seemed very keen to keep them out. That battle is being fought over the next 12 days. If the JFSA QC wins, it could make the third trial by far the most interesting.

By then, the crowdfunding pot will be virtually empty, so I’ll have to have a look at doing another campaign. Kickstarter worked last time, but they also took more than a thousand pounds in fees. The Paypal website button has potential. Its fees are much smaller, and it doesn’t require me to commit to rewards. But it also has lower visibility.

Anyway, there’s loads of time to think about that, and I might be doing a completely different job which precludes me from covering the trial anyway, but as things stand I can afford to cover the CMC on the 12th, the Common Issues judgment (arriving between 28 Feb and 8 March) and most of the Horizon trial (starting 11 March) and its eventual judgment. And that’s all down to you. So – thanks!

Have a great weekend.

Nick