How should a lawyer respond when the hottest of potatoes lands on their desk? That’s the issue posed by Simon Clarke’s advice to the PO in July 2013. Nick Wallis published it yesterday. I tweeted out a query to GCs and others. How would you deal with this? Ben White at Crafty Counsel has been doing similar on LinkedIn. Here’s one response which boils things down powerfully.
On receipt of this, the key thing the GC/IHL has to do is move fast. Brief CEO, Chair, CFO, Senior NED. But do it fast. While it is fresh, everyone can get behind “we acted as soon as we were made aware”. Leave it even a month and the organisational tendency to dispute it will start to gain its own logic. I would want to get it into at least two centres of organisational power and get everyone onto the life raft of “we acted”. I don’t know what happened to this doc in the PO. What a mess they made of it and what a terrible cost for those SPMRs.
Well, quite.
Hi Richard, I have been thinking about this a lot since the advice was made public. You frame this blog as "when the unexploded bomb lands" and I suspect this and the fact that there is a lot of concern around the Scandal will mean you get a lot of replies that all support the very powerful contribution you have shared above. However many views in hindsight will not help anyone facing situation in real time. This therefore would be my guidance (as a mentor, rather than as a former GC)
Give yourself time to think. Cancel intrusions and unimportant meetings. Make space urgently.
Call your counsel. Rehearse your first reactions with him or her and make sure you have not misunderstood anything or that you are putting too much or too little emphasis on any single point.
Write down your thoughts and what you believe you should do. Then go for a walk for half an hour and clear your head.
When you come back to your desk see if your thoughts still resonate and capture how you feel about what must be done.
Now call for meetings with your CEO, your boss if not your CEO and the company chair. Brief them on what you now know AND on what you believe must now happen. The chances are they will push back to some extent and ask if you are sure. This is your moment to step into the full extent of your duty.
From here you need to trust your judgement, but be surrounded as well with good advice. From here you know literally anything said or written will be scrutinised at some point. Act so your mum and dad will be proud of you. Act like your job matters less than your reputation.
And as always look after yourself too. This might get lonely, have someone in your corner who cares about you.
Take care. Paul