International Law

Jones Day opens new office in Miami, its first in Florida

Jones Day has opened a new office in Miami, its first in Florida, in a move that is expected to expand its Latin American practice. Bankruptcy partner Pedro A. Jimenez, who is a native of the city. will head the office, which the the 16th in the U.S. and the…

May 9, 2013 4:05 PM CDT

Lawyer is among 33 people arrested over Hollywood-style $50M diamond heist at Brussels airport

Updated: A lawyer is reportedly among 33 suspects, aged 30 to 50, arrested in three countries within the past day or so over their alleged conduct related to a daring 3-minute raid at a Belgian airport earlier this year. Diamonds worth some $50 million were stolen. Eight suspects were detained…

May 8, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Australia’s publicly traded Slater & Gordon raising $64M to buy more UK personal injury firms

In its continuing drive to dominate the global personal injury and consumer legal market, Slater & Gordon is raising $63.9 million to expand its British personal injury practice. The plaintiff megafirm has struck deals to buy three United Kingdom law firms at a total cost of about $35 million, according…

May 7, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

With $1B fee unpaid, plaintiff lawyer who won $18B enviro case is now pro se against Chevron

Attorney Steven Donziger could earn $1 billion, his opposing counsel says, if an $18 billion foreign judgment against Chevron Corp. concerning environmental damage in Ecuador is upheld. Meanwhile, Donziger is unable to afford to pay his own counsel as Chevron continues with a bruising U.S. district court counterattack against the…

May 6, 2013 8:15 PM CDT

Guilty plea ends record $38M fraud case that doubled assessments for British Columbia lawyers

After nearly five years of legal battle, a former real estate developer pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in a Vancouver, B.C., court Friday, putting an end to a record $38.4 million Canadian lawyer-fraud case that doubled the client-compensation assessment payments for attorneys in the Law Society of British…

May 6, 2013 6:35 PM CDT

Obama is using drone strikes to replace Gitmo detentions, says ex-Bush administration lawyer

A former Bush administration lawyer claims President Barack Obama is relying on drone strikes to kill terrorists because he doesn’t want to capture them and send them to Guantanamo Bay. Lawyer John Bellinger made the accusation at a conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday discussing the legality of drone killings,…

May 6, 2013 11:00 AM CDT

‘Wicked and selfish’ mom pushed teen daughter to get pregnant so she could raise baby, judge says

Thwarted when she tried, as a single mother, to adopt a fourth child, a “domineering” American woman living in Great Britain tried another approach. She used her influence on her then-14-year-old daughter to persuade the teen to get pregnant and provide the baby she wanted, so she could raise it…

Apr 29, 2013 6:24 PM CDT

Law grad’s espionage indictment revealed; treaty thwarts extradition

A newly unsealed 2004 indictment accuses a Georgetown law grad of conspiracy to commit espionage by recruiting a woman to spy for the Cuban Intelligence Service. Marta Rita Velazquez, 55, remains free in Sweden, report Reuters, the Washington Post and a press release. She cannot be extradited because espionage is…

Apr 26, 2013 2:17 PM CDT

Picking up stones on beach gets American tourist criminally prosecuted in Turkey

In the latest example of the pitfalls that can potentially await a foreign tourist unfamiliar with the laws of the land he or she is visiting, an American tourist who says he indulged his hobby of pocketing stones on the beach while traveling with his wife in Turkey is now…

Apr 17, 2013 8:22 PM CDT

Human rights groups condemn Supreme Court decision tossing Alien Tort suit by Nigerian nationals

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a group of Nigerians living in the United States who sought to hold oil companies accountable for alleged human rights violations in Nigeria through a lawsuit in U.S. courts. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the majority opinion (PDF) upholding dismissal of…

Apr 17, 2013 4:02 PM CDT

53 dead in suicide attack on Afghan court intended to free 15 Taliban prisoners headed to trial

At least 53 people died Wednesday in an attack by suicide bombers on a court in Western Afghanistan. They reportedly sought to free 15 suspected members of the Taliban who were headed to trial in the Farah courthouse, according to Al Jazeera and the BBC News. It isn’t clear whether…

Apr 3, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Slavery continues to haunt the modern world, but efforts to eradicate it are growing

Maria watched the expensive car roll into her small town in Honduras. Two well-dressed men stepped out of the vehicle. They walked toward Maria, 15, and two friends who were with her. The men said they were recruiting people to work in a textile factory in the United States. It…

Apr 1, 2013 10:00 AM CDT

Cloudy opinions: Online activities are still in the Wild West of regulation

Experts warned that cloud computing would trigger countless stormy disputes, and a body of case law is already beginning to emerge. The verdict, according to a panel at LegalTech New York 2013? Laws, regulations and policies are being written to protect businesses, but the efficacy of those tools has been…

Apr 1, 2013 7:40 AM CDT

Arab Spring brings no thaw for women’s rights

The overthrow of several regimes in the Middle East over the past two years hasn’t produced much progress toward achieving equality for women, according to former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. And if women and girls in the region do not gain basic rights, Hutchison told lawyers gathered for the…

Apr 1, 2013 6:10 AM CDT

Doc charged in 7 murders may have slain 300 to free up hospital beds, Brazilian investigator says

A doctor has been charged in what authorities are calling seven murders of terminally ill patients at a hospital in Brazil and could be responsible for as many as 300 deaths, an investigator says. Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza is charged with seven counts of aggravated first-degree murder. She is…

Mar 28, 2013 6:40 PM CDT