The relationship with the Inquiry Legal Team (ILT): the bedrock of your Public Inquiry experience

If you’re lucky, you’ll be ahead of the curve and have identified early that you or your client is likely to be involved in a public inquiry. In that case, one of the very earliest tasks you will need to complete is to get in touch with the Inquiry Legal Team, or ILT. If you’re less lucky, and your or your client’s involvement in an inquiry comes as a delightful surprise, then the first you hear may be a letter from them, possibly containing something ominously titled ‘Rule 9 Request’. Or, less formally, you may receive a phone call or email from the ILT, introducing themselves and asking if they can arrange a meeting. At any of those points, you will have to start considering what kind of relationship you want with the ILT, and how to build it.

What does the ILT do?

The relationship with the ILT is fundamental for any Core Participant – CP – or Material Provider – MP – in a public inquiry. It is the ILT that drives the process forwards on the Chair’s behalf, obtaining, analysing and disclosing documents and witness statements, timetabling and planning hearings, and, ultimately, carrying out the bulk of the advocacy at those hearings, both in questioning witnesses and in submissions. The submissions and advice they provide to the Chair, on virtually every issue, will often be the default position to which other CPs or MPs will respond – and the ILT’s view will, more often than not, end up being the Chair’s view too. By virtue of their close and direct relationship with the Chair, they have substantial power and a broad ability to set the tone of any public inquiry. For all those reasons, you want to stay on their good side. A difficult or confrontational relationship between you or your client and the ILT is likely to make the Inquiry process very much harder – primarily for you rather than them.

Building a relationship with the ILT

What does staying on the ILT’s good side involve? The key to a positive relationship with the ILT is that they inevitably appreciate and value a CP/MP who approaches the Inquiry with respect and a constructive attitude, who responds to correspondence promptly and carefully, who engages sensibly with rule 9 requests for documents or witness statements, and who supports the Inquiry and the ILT in their difficult task. Each ILT will have its own ways of doing things, whether that is receiving and providing disclosure, handling communications, or managing relationships between you and other CPs/MPs. Recognising and responding to that will be noticed. As always, both courtesy and candour go a long way: it may well be that the deadline in their latest request is utterly unachievable, or an element of their witness protocol or plans for disclosure crosses red lines for your client, but raising this early, politely, and with clear reasons why that is the case will often result in a course adjustment. That is easier, of course, when there is some credit in the bank from earlier positive interactions, hence the importance of establishing a good working relationship from the start.

ILTs are not monolithic – they will typically include the Solicitors to the Inquiry as well as Counsel to the Inquiry. They can be large or small, and where an Inquiry has distinct modules or themes, it is likely that responsibility will be divided between different members of the solicitor and counsel teams. It will obviously be important to identify who is dealing with the issues affecting your client, and to ensure that you have a positive relationship with them personally, as well as the ILT as a whole. There is often good sense in arranging regular meetings with those members of the ILT from a very early stage, or perhaps parallel meetings at solicitor and counsel level.

The benefits of developing a relationship with the ILT

While it’s part of the role of an ILT to see into the future and anticipate every bump in the road, inevitably things come up at short notice, especially during hearings. That is when a firm relationship of mutual trust between you and the ILT will really pay dividends, enabling you to advance your client’s interests as best as possible in what may be a difficult and urgent situation. But that can only be achieved through careful engagement throughout the life of the Inquiry – it cannot be generated on the spot. The kind of relationship you have with the ILT will be fundamental to your experience of the Inquiry and, more importantly, to the view the Inquiry, including the Chair, takes of your client. Setting the right tone and approach from the get-go is therefore vital.

John is a specialist in public inquiries and inquests, and is ranked as a Leading Junior for Inquests & Inquiries by Chambers UK. He acts for CPs/MPs in the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan, the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, and the Omagh Bombing Inquiry. He previously acted in the Grenfell Tower and the Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiries.

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Authors

John Goss

Call 2015

Related areas

Public Inquiries

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