|
|
Richard Max Wiseman QC. Shell's head lawyer, solicitor/barrister Richard Max Wiseman, led a department of more than 20 lawyers. Wiseman fronted Shell's replies and other correspondence in this matter from 1998 until Shell appointed ‘media lawyers’; D J Freeman stepped in. The Group's legal head's role was somewhat perplexing, for as he became increasingly aware of my nuclear reactor dumping evidence, he became keen to inform me, John Dyer, that he had passed my letter to 'Shell's defence committee'. D J Freeman D J Freeman's Marcus Rutherford responded to correspondence regarding Shell's nuclear dumping since 11 August 2000. Rutherford serves as the senior litigation partner in Freeman's media and communications department. In my view, his appointment is intended to leverage his media connections*, if necessary, to deter media scrutiny. The first letter I received from him contained elements of threat, discourtesy, and apparent urgency. Marcus Rutherford has declined to clarify whether he is or was a member of Shell's defence committee, or when he was initially appointed by Shell. Subsequently *”Besides his commitment to claimant work, the commercial litigator, who has over 36 years’ experience, also has an astute understanding of how the media works — an insight he obtained in his previous role at Channel 4.” “Rutherford works across a range of cases, extending from defamation to corporate litigation. One significant case was the controversial Guinness/United Distillers takeover, where he later represented Ernest Saunders, who had initially been convicted in that case. He then helped Saunders manage the publicity around his recovery from Alzheimer’s that was popularly dubbed ‘miraculous’.”  |