International Law

Thousands of lawyers protest ‘unnecessary and crippling’ UK legal aid cuts, boycott court hearings

Up to 1,000 lawyers or more protested outside Parliament in London on Friday over what one bar association called “unnecessary and crippling” legal aid cuts, as thousands more boycotted crown court hearings in major cities throughout the United Kingdom. At issue is a 215 million-pound cut to the country’s annual…

Mar 7, 2014 6:40 PM CST

Disbarred lawyer charged with client insurance settlement theft is jailed after return from Taiwan

A now-disbarred lawyer charged in December with stealing a significant portion of a client’s $500,000 insurance settlement has returned from Taiwan to defend the case. Edward Joseph Callow, 39, fled to that country before he was charged on Dec. 12, along with a Nationwide insurance claims adjuster. Callow returned after…

Mar 7, 2014 5:05 PM CST

Thefts of $470M in bitcoins spur lawsuits, calls for regulation; a ‘bitcoin paradox,’ law prof says

Following recently discovered thefts of some $470 million in virtual currency that shut down the world’s largest bitcoin exchange and a Canadian bitcoin bank, hundreds of investors who lost assets are looking to seek redress in class actions. But observers are wondering how it will be possible to solve crimes…

Mar 5, 2014 11:30 PM CST

SCOTUS rules against dad seeking return of his daughter in international child abduction case

A father in the United Kingdom seeking the return of his daughter from the United States has lost his U.S. Supreme Court bid to delay a one-year deadline. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction generally requires the return of children who are abducted and taken…

Mar 5, 2014 4:05 PM CST

Federal judge rules for Chevron in civil-racketeer case, bans collection of $9B enviro award in US

In the latest blow to the plaintiffs and their lawyers in hard-fought litigation against Chevron Corp. over environmental damage in Ecuador, a federal district court judge in New York has issued a blistering ruling in an unusual civil racketeering case. It blocks their ability to collect, here in the U.S.,…

Mar 4, 2014 9:41 PM CST

3 slain in attacks at 2 German law firms; suspect, a former client, is in custody

Apparently angry over an adverse ruling in an employment case which he had unsuccessfully sought to appeal, a 48-year-old man fatally attacked three people, including at least two lawyers, and set fire to two German law firms on Friday, authorities say. Authorities say Yanqing T. stabbed attorney Ulrike F. to…

Mar 3, 2014 5:30 PM CST

New website provides searchable database of constitutions

If you find yourself drafting a constitution anytime soon and need ideas, you’re in luck. A new searchable database of 189 constitutions from around the world is now online. Constitutional scholars Zachary Elkins of the University of Texas, Tom Ginsburg of the University of Chicago Law School and James Melton…

Mar 1, 2014 10:39 AM CST

States keep mum on where lethal injection drugs are made

Like other states with the death penalty, Missouri is facing a shortage of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital, primarily because its Danish manufacturer won’t allow it to be used in executions. So when the state initially set an execution date for convicted serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin, officials announced that…

Mar 1, 2014 10:19 AM CST

UK spies stored Yahoo webcam images from around the world (some explicit): Does NSA have copies?

A British spy agency collected and stored images from 1.8 million Yahoo webcam video chats during a six-month period in 2008. And it wasn’t just faces that were captured and saved by the Optic Nerve program, according to the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) and Reuters. “Unfortunately … it would…

Feb 27, 2014 9:20 PM CST

City’s ‘comfort women’ memorial interferes with US right to conduct foreign policy, suit contends

A lawsuit claims the city of Glendale, Calif., is violating the Constitution by erecting a statue in a public park that honors “comfort women” coerced into working as prostitutes in Japanese military brothels during World War II. The suit (PDF) claims the statue “exceeds the power of Glendale, infringes upon…

Feb 27, 2014 2:37 PM CST

Heavy metal frontman charged with manslaughter during concert film, creating ‘searing’ legal drama

The plan was to create a concert film focusing on fans as heavy metal band Lamb of God toured Europe in 2012. But then, when the group reached the Czech Republic, frontman Randy Blythe was arrested, charged with manslaughter and jailed for over a month before his lawyer could obtain…

Feb 26, 2014 10:55 PM CST

Law firm chief executive lacked law degree

A former chief executive of an intellectual property law firm in New Zealand has admitted he never earned the law degree reportedly included on the curriculum vitae he submitted to apply for the position at Baldwins in 2011. However, Michael Vukcevic says he never meant to mislead anyone and has…

Feb 26, 2014 5:05 PM CST

Seized cellphones led to capture of ‘most wanted’ Mexican drug trafficker, authorities say

The U.S. will seek extradition of the claimed leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, who was captured over the weekend sleeping in a condo in a Mexican beach resort town in an early-morning raid backed by the American government. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, 56, said to be the “most wanted”…

Feb 24, 2014 6:30 PM CST

ABA asks NSA to explain how intelligence agency deals with attorney-client privilege

Following news reports that a foreign ally of a U.S. intelligence agency may have spied on a BigLaw firm, the American Bar Association has asked the director of the National Security Agency and its general counsel for an explanation of how it deals with attorney-client privilege. In a Thursday letter…

Feb 21, 2014 6:32 PM CST

Are Bitcoin ATMs legal? Las Vegas company will take a flyer on gray-area regulatory question

Despite the popular success of Bitcoin, dubious U.S. regulators worried about possible money-laundering have put the brakes on efforts to make the virtual global currency more widely available. The federal investigation of Bitcoin exchange operators who authorities say provided funds for anonymous drug purchases on the now-shuttered Silk Road website,…

Feb 18, 2014 9:45 PM CST