International Law

False Rumors Hit U.K. Bank’s Stock Hard; Officials Pursue ‘Market Abuse’

Updated: Seeking to profit from the current climate of financial uncertainty, unscrupulous traders have allegedly spread false rumors that banks in the United Kingdom are in trouble and then profited from short sales of their stock on the London market in a “trash ‘n cash” scheme. A false rumor yesterday…

Mar 20, 2008 4:20 PM CDT

Legal Assistant Spent $1.4M of Firm Trust Money on Herself

A former legal assistant with a major Canadian law firm reportedly stole $1.4 million from firm trust accounts over a three-and-a-half-year period by forging attorney signatures and creating falsified checks and requisition forms, among other methods. When bank statements arrived at Bennett Jones, in Calgary, Penny Marcy Myslichuk would remove…

Mar 19, 2008 4:19 PM CDT

Bad Hair Day Creates Sleek New Style for McCartney’s Divorce Lawyer

Despite her post-courtroom claims of being pleased with the not quite $50 million divorce settlement she was awarded, Heather Mills doused lawyer Fiona Shackleton, who represents her estranged husband, Paul McCartney, with a glass of water immediately after the ruling was announced yesterday, the London Times reports. Yet the bad…

Mar 18, 2008 6:09 PM CDT

Why Heather Mills Got Merely $50M from Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney

Excepts from a ruling in the divorce case of former Beatle Paul McCartney help show why his estranged wife, Heather Mills, got a little under $50 million. She had reportedly been seeking $125 million from the top pop singing star, who was found by the judge to have a net…

Mar 18, 2008 3:59 PM CDT

Snake’s Alive! India Law Firm Opens London Office

An Indian law firm has created a stir by opening an office in London. “FoxMandal Little has become the first major Indian law house to set up a practice in the U.K. and in the process created quite a splash in the local legal community,” reports the Economic Times. Hundreds…

Mar 17, 2008 3:52 PM CDT

Secretly Held Al-Qaida Suspect Transferred By CIA to Gitmo

A high-level al-Qaida operative who allegedly helped Osama bin Laden escape from Afghanistan has been secretly held and interrogated since last summer at an undisclosed location, the Pentagon revealed today. The CIA turned over suspect Mohammad Rahim this week to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, reports the…

Mar 14, 2008 9:44 PM CDT

Despite Layoffs, Outlook Good for Major Law Firms

Despite well-publicized layoffs at several major law firms lately and a struggling economy, law firms in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom can expect to do just fine in the future, albeit not quite as well as in recent boom years. “Junior lawyers may have to start taking the…

Mar 14, 2008 7:24 PM CDT

6 Slain at Mexican Law Firm, 7th Victim Dies Later

Updated: In what may be a drug-related killing, six people, including at least three lawyers, were reportedly murdered yesterday at a law firm in Guadalajara, Mexico. Two women were seriously injured, and one of them died later. The five men and one woman slain at the law office were found…

Mar 14, 2008 7:06 PM CDT

Record $26M for Bullied U.K. Lawyer

A London lawyer who was harassed and bullied by her colleagues at an asset management firm has won a record judgment of a little over $26 million to cover her lost income and benefits, psychiatric care and damage to her future prospects. It is reportedly more than twice the previous…

Mar 13, 2008 6:50 PM CDT

Securities Suit Filed Against SocGen Cites ‘Culture of Risk’

A securities suit has been filed against Société Générale over the French bank’s disclosures about its subprime mortgage holdings and the internal controls that failed to prevent a reported loss of more than $7 billion attributed to a single rogue trader. Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll says it has sued…

Mar 12, 2008 6:04 PM CDT

Under Unusual Montana Marriage Law, Some Couples Say ‘I Do’ a Lot

Montana may be the only state in the country that allows couples to get married without actually being present. As a result, the thrill is gone for the proxies who get married again and again, on behalf of others. Nonetheless, these absentee marriages serve an important purpose for some faraway…

Mar 11, 2008 11:17 PM CDT

Lisa Marie Presley Sues Paper: I Was Pregnant, Not Fat

Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of famed rock-and-roll singer Elvis Presley, has sued a British newspaper, contending that her privacy was invaded when it falsely claimed that she was fat. Rather than simply “piling on the pounds,” as the Daily Mail initially reported in an article criticizing her allegedly unhealthy…

Mar 11, 2008 8:05 PM CDT

Vatican Supplements 7 Sins List

Updated: While serious sins used to be a matter of individual misbehavior, in a global world they are often more political in nature and thus can affect large numbers of people, a top Vatican official says. Among the misconduct that Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti denounces as “violations of the fundamental rights…

Mar 10, 2008 6:58 PM CDT

Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Freed, Warned About Speaking Out

A Chinese human rights lawyer is free after spending 41 hours in government custody. Teng Biao said officers from the Beijing Public Security Bureau warned him about recent articles he had posted on the Internet and told him he should not speak out, the New York Times reports. Teng said…

Mar 10, 2008 5:39 PM CDT

No Associates at This Law Firm, Just Consultants

A Canadian law firm says it has never has a problem with associates over billable hours requirements. That’s because it has no associates. Instead, Thackray Burgess has “consultants” who hire desk space from the 34-attorney business firm at a cost of $800 per month, and do as much or as…

Mar 10, 2008 3:14 PM CDT