Post Office using Herbert Smith Freehills Law Firm
Dear Post Office Limited,Can you say in what year Post Office Ltd first used this law firm?From 2012 to 2020 were there any years they were not used?If this did occur what years were they?
Yours faithfully,
john o'sullivan
Our ref: FOI2023/00229
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 26th
April. Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
The Act requires that a response must be given promptly, and in any event
within 20 working days. We will therefore reply at the latest by 26th May.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Regards,
Information Rights Team
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Please find the attached response relating to your Freedom of Information
request.
Regards,
Information Rights Team
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ
Dear [email address],Thank you for a reply.Can you say what work FSH carried out for you in 2017?In April 27 2023 UKGI told Sir Wyn". UKGI provided the Secretary
of State with an update on the current state of the
litigation on 12 April 2019, including the fact that
following intervention by the Chair and the Shareholder
NED, the Post Office had refreshed its legal team
including internally reorganising
its legal team and replacing its general counsel and
employing a new firm of solicitors, HSF, to revisit the
approach to the litigation."Is this HSF that UKGI was told is a new firm of solicitors the same HSF used in 2017?
Yours sincerely,
john o'sullivan
Our ref: FOI2023/00290
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 28th May.
Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
The Act requires that a response must be given promptly, and in any event
within 20 working days. We will therefore reply at the latest by 26th
June.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Regards,
Information Rights Team
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Please find the response attached relating to your Freedom of Information
request.
Regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear [email address],Thank you for a reply.What date were HSF engaged in April 2019 and when did POL first contact them to discuss strategy and options for the role they then played?Jan,Feb or March that year-these were complex instructions and must have taken some time?Can you supply documents you have leading up to instruction with HSF thank you,
Yours sincerely,
john o'sullivan
Our ref: FOI2023/00368
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 26th
June. Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
The Act requires that a response must be given promptly, and in any event
within 20 working days. We will therefore reply at the latest by 25th
July.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear John O'Sullivan
We are writing in respect of your information request, FOI2023/00368. As
we previously stated in our response to FOI2023/00229, a matter with
Herbert Smith Freehills was opened for the purposes of the Group
Litigation on 15 April 2019.
With regards to the rest of your information request, our view is that
your request falls within the scope of the qualified exemption at section
42 of the Freedom of Information Act (" FOIA"), relating to legal
professional privilege.
As permitted by section 10 of the FOIA, Post Office Limited (" Post
Office") requires further time to consider the public interest test in
relation to this exemption. An extension is permitted until such time as
is reasonable in the circumstances. Having considered the FOIA Code of
Practice, Post Office considers that an extension of 20 working days is
appropriate in this instance and will therefore aim to respond to you by
23rd August.
With kind regards
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
[1][email address]
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information
about how we do this can be found on our website at
www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear John O'Sullivan
Further to our email of 25 July, we are once again writing to you in
respect of your information request, FOI2023/00368. As we previously
stated, our view is that your request falls within the scope of the
qualified exemption at section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act ("
FOIA"), relating to legal professional privilege.
As permitted by section 10 of the FOIA, Post Office Limited (" Post
Office") requires further time to consider the public interest test in
relation to this exemption and we believe 20 working days is appropriate
in this instance. We will therefore aim to respond to you by 21st
September, although we hope to do this far sooner.
With kind regards
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
[1][email address]
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information
about how we do this can be found on our website at
www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Post Office Limited,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Post Office Limited's handling of my FOI request 'Post Office using Herbert Smith Freehills Law Firm'.
[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]You seem to be paying a homage to your senior managers who agonize and pause in an effort to recall what they should remember and what they should forget.You will have a file of all correspondence with HSF-simply release the documents..In case you need reminding this Inquiry is trying to stop the affront to the public happening again,not defend careers and decisions.The man on the Clapham omnibus would think you lost the right to legal professional privilege when you accused Justice Fraser of bias-so please release the documents to confirm HSF were always involved and shoulkd have no part in compensation claims,deciding if you guys earned bonuses etc.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Yours faithfully,
john o'sullivan
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Please find the response attached relating to your Freedom of Information
request.
Regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear [email address],Thank you for a reply.Can you confirm that you are saying that POL started talking to HSF with a view to using them to run the Group Litigation on April 2nd 2019 and by April 15th 2019 all matters were agreed and instruction given?In a previous reply you stated"In relation to UKGI’s statement on 12 April 2019, HSF were engaged in April 2019
as a new legal adviser in respect of the Group Litigation. "The UKGI statement precedes the date you claim HSF were instructed..Can you clear up the confusion over start of negotiations and instruction placed?
Yours sincerely,
john o'sullivan
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Thank you for your email.
In our response letter sent on 7 September, we confirmed that the "earliest record of Post Office contact with HSF in relation to possibly assisting with the Group Litigation, was on 2 April 2019" and that "a matter with Herbert Smith Freehills ("HSF") was opened for the purposes of the Group Litigation on 15 April 2019."
If you have any further information requests, please be clear about what you are asking.
Kind regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
Dear information.rights,The irony of POL demanding precision in a search term!Bravo. UKGI provided the Secretary
of State with an update on the current state of the
litigation on 12 April 2019, including the fact that
following intervention by the Chair and the Shareholder
NED, the Post Office had
employed a new firm of solicitors, HSF, to revisit the
approach to the litigation."This was an earlier date than you have provided.What might explain the disagreement?You say 15th this suggest by the 12th they were being used?
Yours sincerely,
john o'sullivan
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