Day 070 - 20 Dec 94 - Page 59
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2 MR. MORRIS: There is also Mr. Fairgrieve outstanding. He may
3 be the last advertising ----
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5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Fairgrieve is really largely concerned,
6 is he not, with the extent to which, if at all, McDonald's
7 meals may influence diet?
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9 MR. MORRIS: Yes. I am not saying he has to be first. I am
10 just saying we did not want to leave him out. I think it
11 is very important for us to have preparation time. What
12 generally happens is that unless there is a specific order
13 from the judge, then if we are not careful we get very
14 little because of the over-running of witnesses.
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16 That is just something we are saying to the Plaintiffs
17 through you, that if they are going to draft up a schedule
18 it is important to build in overlapping time for witnesses.
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20 The other thing I wanted to say is that it is very useful
21 to have legal days such as this one, I think, every so
22 often. Maybe we could, I do not know if we will all need
23 one around the time of 31st January.
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25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think if you feel one is either necessary
26 or helpful, you must raise the question in advance and we
27 can decide about that.
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29 MR. MORRIS: The other thing on the schedule I want to raise is
30 about closing speeches. We would like to request that our
31 closing speeches come after the Plaintiffs' closing speech
32 for a couple of main reasons. First of all, we have
33 absolutely no idea how to do one and, like everything else
34 in this case, we are learning from Mr. Rampton on how to
35 conduct the case.
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37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You really must leave that for the time
38 being. Unless Mr. Rampton were to agree to it, I think
39 I must follow the normal procedure which is that the
40 Defendants, even where there is a Counterclaim as well as a
41 Claim go first, and then the Plaintiff finishes. In this
42 case I might well be persuaded to do it in a less clear-cut
43 way, that we, essentially, follow that form but you have an
44 opportunity then to say anything in reply and Mr. Rampton
45 can come back. Someone has to have the last word. Our
46 system even when there is a Counterclaim, is that, for
47 better or worse, it is the Plaintiff.
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49 Do not worry at the moment about the way you prepare your
50 final speeches. I will give you some help about that.
51 I can say that I think the Lord Chief Justice is going to
52 give a practice direction on 24th January which gives some
53 help about advance notice of contents of final speeches in
54 complicated cases, among many other matters. So, you can
55 wait and see if that does happen and what it contains, if
56 it does. Before we go away for the period which I will
57 give you to prepare for final speeches, I will answer any
58 queries you raise about their form. If you want me to make
59 some suggestions to you about the structure and approach,
60 I will do that as well.
