M
E M 0 R A N D U M
13
May 1992
To:
All Members of the Management
Committee
FROM:
Dorothy Venables
At
Management Committee on 7 May we
needed to make a swift decision
on the trust continuing to
under-write Roger's legal costs,
in a long-standing action for
serious slander against him in
the course of his duties. Because
we did not have all the
information the Management
Committee delegated the decision
to be a taken by a sub-group.
Thus
Martin, Richard, Philip and I
have now agreed to extend the
underwriting limits, from the
£4,000 granted in 1987 to the
£30,000 which is now expected to
suffice. We felt that the delay
and the burgeoning of the legal
costs did not alter the principle
of the initial decision. This was
that NKAT ought to defend the
professional repute of the staff,
if it comes under serious attack
in the course of their work and
without cause.
A
slander action can only be
brought by an individual, not by
the Trust but the lawyers had
advised that we could under-write
Roger's costs. Those who were
around at the time will remember
that the Management Committee
enquired very closely into the
events, and concluded that the
accusations being made against
Roger were without foundation.
The
Management Committee agreed that
all Trustees should now be
informed, giving you 24 hours to
contact me please, if you dissent
from this decision to continue
under-writing the costs of the
case.
The
lawyers have just advised me that
we have a 65-70% chance of
winning, with a good chance of
collecting the costs as he
apparently holds a short lease on
a local business and residential
property, and has recently sold a
house. If Roger loses, the
lawyers gauge that that will only
incur at most, further costs of
£5,000 nett approximately.