OFT Test Case - as it happens

[Budgie]

Re: OFT WIN

Thanks Tuts that means a lot but Ame & Tools made far more of an effort to attend than me.

It was great to meet up again with Budgie and the ever capable Amethyst and a pleasure to meet Tools, even though the frock he'd chosen for the occasion was covered in coal dust and pigeon feathers.

It was great to see you again too Nick and also to finally meet Ame and Tools. I thought that the coal dust and pigeon feathers actually matched Tools frock nicely but why oh why did he have to bring his pet ferrets with him as well !!!!

[scottishlass]

Re: OFT WIN

Brilliant:laugh:

[enaid]

Re: OFT WIN

Oh I say lol

[EXC]

Re: OFT WIN

Well done Exc,Ame and Tools for attending the Judgement hand down and your informative posts on the event. It makes me so very proud to be a memeber of LB which such dedicated peeps. ( Even if it did take Tools over 6 hours to get there)
Dxx

Thanks Tuts that means a lot but Ame & Tools made far more of an effort to attend than me.

It was great to meet up again with Budgie and the ever capable Amethyst and a pleasure to meet Tools, even though the frock he'd chosen for the occasion was covered in coal dust and pigeon feathers.

Re: OFT WIN

Well done Exc,Ame and Tools for attending the Judgement hand down and your informative posts on the event. It makes me so very proud to be a memeber of LB which such dedicated peeps. ( Even if it did take Tools over 6 hours to get there)
Dxx

[EXC]

Re: OFT WIN

----- Original Message ----- From: Sue Thackeray
To: EXC
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 11:28 AM
Subject: FANTASTIC RESULT - VERY GOOD NEWS INDEED



Nick

You must be very proud of all your efforts.

I'm thrilled for you

Kind regards

Sue

Sue Thackeray

Head of Litigation


Finers Stephens Innocent LLP
179 Great Portland Street
London WlW 5LS

Tel: +44 (0)20 7344 5536 (Direct Line)
+44 (0)20 7323 4000 (Switchboard)
Fax: +44 (0)20 7344 5603

[righty]

Re: OFT WIN

Well done people on a very professional & succinct bit of reporting.......particularly liked the Awards...........& who on earth is Megan Murphy

[Amethyst]

Re: OFT WIN

Wow well a busy day and definately an experience. If any one can manage to get down to any of the forthcoming hearings of this test case then do !

Think we were in the room all of 10 minutes, got the judgement read out, picked up the full copy and left in the mad press rush to make calls and get stuff up on here. Was good to hear a lady from channel four call her colleague and say We Won !

Was good to see Martin there, he certainly attracted the most press attention on the court steps after !

RJC is a lovely building, historical but not at all intimidating. The courtroom was packed and we were pretty much last to arrive. The majority were press and lawyers, not many members of the general public as far as I could make out.

Not a lot I can add to what EXC has said. The Judge did say before reading the conclusions that the draft judgement had been responded to by the banks lawyers with suggestions, some of which had been taken into account in the final one, but that it had had no significant impact on the outcome.

Great to meet Tom Brennan, (he's a pretty amazing guy) and good to meet Budgie and see EXC again. And cheers Tools for driving ! 6 hours travelling for a 6 minutes judgement but soooo worth the effort.

I'll probably add a bit tomorrow as I'm pretty knackered. lol. I'll also go and correct the spellings in the speedy type ups we did straight after the judgement.

[EXC]

Re: OFT WIN

Judgment Day

The handing down of the judgment took place in the victorian splendour of the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, a stones throw from the venue for the test case hearing, the International Disputes & Resolution Centre.

The theatre style courtroom no 73 was the same room used for the Diana inquest and had a much more serious atmosphere than the IDRC which was no more than a large office.

Before proceedings commenced, there was great speculation in the public & press gallery as to what format the handing down of the judgment would take and if the event would include a case management conference. Would the judge simply read the entire judgment out and then give his decision? How long would this all take?

All the familiar test case faces were there with the addition of Martin Lewis and the notable exception of OFT QC, Brian Doctor.

At 10.00 sharp the judge took his seat and the packed courtroom rose and sat back down. He then read his conclusions - the final page of the written judgment - and within 60 seconds we knew the result. Justice Smith then called for a brief adjournment to allow the press to grab a copy of the judgment and dash into the corridor and release the news.

The rest of what turned out to be a very short event was a discussion between Justice Smith and the OFT’s number 2 legal representitive, Richard Coleman. on the subject of the date for the all important case management conference.
The date of 8 May was first suggested but due to prior commitments for Lawrence Rabinowitz and several other bank Qcs, the 22 May was offered.

Both these dates seemed to be less than attractive to the OFT, citing the ‘’unavailability’’ of their counsel. In the end the judge decided on the 22nd .

The OFT appeared to be keen on securing the furthest date possible and reading between the lines I got the impression that Brian Doctor would no longer be representing the OFT and that the regulator was playing for time to appoint and brief his replacement. I got the impression that Doctor’s non-appearance and apparent exclusion from the forthcoming CMC was a very recent development

Although listed to last all day, the entire event lasted no more than an hour.



Awards

Worst dressed attendee: Martin Lewis. Scruffy jeans and un-ironed shirt, hanging out.

Worst tie: I thought Justice Smith's choice of neck-wear was a touch on the bold side for such an occasion. But from where I was sitting I wasn't that sure if it was actualy a tie at all, or if he'd been sick.

Courtroom cutie: Blonde, blue-eyed Californian, Megan Murphy.

Most irritating lawyer: A non paticipating A&L legal representitive who, despite the clear and strict rules on using mobiles and internet devices in court, thought it perfectly acceptable to spend the entire time on her blackberry.

[Amethyst]

Re: OFT Test Case - as it happens

9,10,11,12 - DIARY of the OFT Test Case - as it happens - EXC - Legal Beagles


DAY 13 - Legal Beagles

[Amethyst]

Re: OFT Test Case - as it happens

Days 6,7 and 8 now added DIARY of the OFT Test Case - as it happens - EXC - Legal Beagles

[scoobydoo]

Re: OFT Test Case - as it happens

gosh day 8 sounds not so good! I hope the OFT have not hired a "donut" All could depend on his handling this case.

But I still do not understand why the banks did not pull out all the stops months ago. Why wait till now when forced to.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Jan

[Amethyst]

Re: Day 1 - OFT Test Case - as it happens

DAY 5 OFT test case - Legal Beagles

[Tools]

Re: Day 1 - OFT Test Case - as it happens

DIARY of the OFT Test Case - as it happens - EXC

Day 4 - OFT Test Case report - Legal Beagles

[agnes]

Re: Day 1 - OFT Test Case - as it happens

[quote=EXC;40389] Certainly Rabinowitz who clearly is co-ordinating the whole defence hasn't drawn any distinction between the charges of particular banks

Now this point has always interested me, I know it is another issue altogether, but how come no one has ever questioned the banks collusion from the beginning of these £30, £35 charges, when did it take place?