International Law

Milbank Is the Latest BigLaw Firm to Open a New Office in Brazil

Milbank Tweed Hadley McCloy has become the latest well-known American law firm to open an office in Brazil, luring the former head of Shearman & Sterling’s practice to oversee its new Sao Paulo outpost. Joining Andrew Janszky there will be another Shearman & Sterling attorney, Tobias Stirnberg, Bloomberg reports. Brazil,…

Apr 21, 2010 8:54 PM CDT

3 Lawyers Beat Rap re $6.5M Ransom Allegedly Sought for Stolen Leonardo da Vinci Masterpiece

Three lawyers have been acquitted in an alleged conspiracy attempt concerning a $6.5 million ransom sought from one of the United Kingdom’s richest peers, in exchange for the return of a stolen Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece valued at perhaps $75 million. A jury at the high court in Edinburgh, Scotland,…

Apr 21, 2010 7:54 PM CDT

Paul Weiss Is Bringing In DOJ Ace to Build Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Group

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison essentially planted its flag in a new practice area with the announcement Friday that it is bringing in as a partner a prominent federal prosecutor described by the Washington Post as the top catch for law firms seeking to attract Foreign Corrupt Practices Act…

Apr 19, 2010 4:46 PM CDT

IG Says SEC Largely Ignored Likely Allen Stanford Ponzi Scheme for a Decade

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission suspected as early as 1997 that R. Allen Stanford was running a Ponzi scheme, and its examiners concluded four times between 1997 and 2004 that his businesses were fraudulent, the federal regulatory watchdog didn’t pursue Stanford seriously until around the time that Bernard Madoff’s…

Apr 17, 2010 1:47 AM CDT

Former Blackwater Gen’l Counsel, 4 Other Ex-Execs Indicted in Weapons Case

Five former executives of a private security company that made headlines over its involvement in a 2007 Baghdad shooting incident that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead are now under indictment, facing apparently unrelated charges that they illegally stockpiled automatic weapons at Blackwater Worldwide’s headquarters in North Carolina and filed false…

Apr 17, 2010 12:06 AM CDT

Retired Lawyer Must Serve Time for Holding $30M in Art Stolen By Client, 1st Circuit Says

It was reportedly the biggest art theft in Massachusetts state history, and Robert Mardirosian’s client committed it. When David Colvin brought the paintings—including a Cezanne still life which eventually sold at auction years later for nearly $30 million—to Mardirosian shortly after the 1978 heist, the lawyer initially held them for…

Apr 16, 2010 12:28 AM CDT

Science Writer Wins Libel Case After Fair Comment Right Is Recognized

In a blow against United Kingdom libel laws that some observers see as too heavily weighted in favor of plaintiffs, a science writer has essentially won a libel case in which he was sued by chiropractors for questioning the accuracy of treatment claims. The British Chiropractic Association today dropped its…

Apr 15, 2010 9:49 PM CDT

Inspired by Richard Susskind, Lawyers Form ‘No-Staff, Paperless’ Firm

Renowned for big bills, the legal profession is changing in response to technology and pressure from clients to cut costs. One of the latest examples is Temple Bright, a United Kingdom law firm established by three attorneys described by the Law Society Gazette as a trio who have “trained and…

Apr 14, 2010 11:53 PM CDT

Nomination for New US Cyberwar Chief to Explore Internet Issues

A confirmation hearing that begins tomorrow for the new United States Cyber Command post is expected to detail what the nominee himself a “mismatch between our technical capabilities to conduct operations and the governing laws and policies.” Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander made that assessment in written material he provided in…

Apr 14, 2010 9:23 PM CDT

Was Same Gun Used to Kill Judge, Human Rights Attorney & Journalist?

The same handgun that was used to kill a Russian judge outside his Moscow home this week also was the weapon used to murder a human rights attorney and a journalist last year, a lawyer contends. The latest slaying reportedly could be a contract hit related to Moscow City Court…

Apr 14, 2010 5:11 PM CDT

Reed Smith Adds 10 Lawyers in Paris and Munich

In a move that exponentially expanded its Paris employment practice, Reed Smith has added seven attorneys there from Courtois Lebel, a French firm. The group is headed by partners Nicolas Sauvage and Caroline Masson, who joined the firm on April 1 along with four associates and a counsel, reports Legal…

Apr 13, 2010 7:06 PM CDT

Adoption Experts See Possible Criminal Violations in Mom’s Return of Boy to Russia

Adoption experts see possible criminal and civil violations in a decision by an adoptive mother in Tennessee to return her 7-year-old son to Russia. Torry Hansen, a 33-year-old unmarried nurse from Shelbyville, put the boy on a plane to Moscow last week with a note saying she no longer wants…

Apr 13, 2010 1:13 PM CDT

Russian Judge Shot to Death at Home in Possible Contract Hit Over His Work

A Russian judge was shot to death today on the stairwell of his Moscow apartment in what authorities are saying was a killing apparently linked to his work on the bench. Moscow City Court Judge Eduard Chuvashov, 47, had just last week finished imposing 10- to 20-year sentences on the…

Apr 12, 2010 4:54 PM CDT

7 Homeowners Awarded $2.6M in Chinese Drywall Suit

In a ruling that is expected to provide guidance for determining potential damages in more than 2,000 similar federal lawsuits filed by other homeowners, a federal judge in New Orleans today awarded $2.6 million to seven homeowners who alleged that their houses were damaged by the installation of drywall manufactured…

Apr 8, 2010 6:14 PM CDT

Another Hogan & Hartson Office Exits Lovells Merger, Will Join Akin Gump

Following the lead of colleagues in two other European offices, the entire seven-lawyer Geneva contingent of Hogan & Hartson is exiting prior to the firm’s planned May 1 merger with Lovells. They will join Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, establishing a third European office for their firm, which already…

Apr 7, 2010 7:52 PM CDT