China’s King & Wood Never Had Founders by Those Names

Beijing-based King & Wood has almost 1,000 lawyers in 15 offices—but it never had lawyers with the surnames King or Wood as founding partners. Mark Schaub, who according to King & Wood’s website came to the firm in 2000 and was the first foreign lawyer to join, told Reuters that…

Feb 9, 2012 5:29 PM CST

More than 9,000 Lawyers Boycott Pakistan Courts to Protest Senior Attorney’s Murder

Thousands of lawyers boycotted court proceedings in Pakistan’s major cities today in protest of a senior attorney’s slaying outside his home in Lahore. More than 9,000 attorneys complied with a call by the Supreme Court Bar Association and other lawyer groups to boycott courts throughout the country after the murder…

Jan 11, 2012 12:03 AM CST

‘Talaq’ Text Is Valid for Divorce, Imam Says; But Bombay High Court Demands More in Different Case

An Islamic imam who oversees a mosque in Ghaziabad, India, has declared a marriage void on the basis of a text message a man sent to his wife stating “talaq” three times. The couple were married three months ago, but the wife returned to her parents’ home early on and…

Dec 15, 2011 6:19 PM CST

Afghan Woman Is Pardoned and Freed After Rape Report Put Her in Prison for Adultery

An Afghan woman imprisoned after reporting she had been raped has been released from jail, thanks to intervention by President Hamid Karzai. The woman, who has been identified only as Gulnaz, is staying at a women’s shelter in Kabul, CNN reports. She had been sent to prison for adultery after…

Dec 14, 2011 2:53 PM CST

US Citizen Gets 2.5 Years for Translating Yale Press Bio of King Into Thai, While Living in Colo.

Several years ago, while living in Colorado, a U.S. citizen who was born in Thailand translated excerpts of an unauthorized biography of the country’s king, which had been published by Yale University Press, into Thai and posted them on a blog. Now Joe Gordon, a 55-year-old car salesman, is paying…

Dec 8, 2011 11:05 PM CST

Crowell Client Asked in July re Use of Trust Account By Ex-Counsel Now Accused of Stealing

Accused in September of mishandling millions in client trust money, a now-former counsel of Crowell & Moring traveled to Hong Kong and, at last report, was awaiting extradition back to the United States. But a CEO of another Crowell & Moring client says he sent an email to the firm’s…

Dec 2, 2011 7:16 PM CST

A Former Solicitor Costs Her Soon-to-Be Ex-Husband $157M in a Divorce Case

After eight years of marriage, a former solicitor has won a monster divorce award from Hong Kong’s high court. Florence Tsang Chiu-win, 38, was granted assets worth some $157 million in U.S. dollars, according to the Sun and the Telegraph. The total cost of the judgment to her ex-husband, real…

Dec 2, 2011 4:44 PM CST

Partners of Australia’s Mallesons OK Game-Changing Combination with China’s Largest Law Firm

Partners of one of Australia’s top law firms voted today to approve a merger-like combination with the biggest law firm in China. Partners of King & Wood are expected to vote tomorrow on the potential tie-up with 170-partner Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Legal Week reports. If approved, the melding of the…

Nov 23, 2011 8:05 PM CST

Judge Rebukes Lawyers for Rowdy Conduct in Controversial Case, Questions Safety of Courtroom Chairs

A judge in Sri Lanka expressed shock over the rowdy behavior of some lawyers in a packed courtroom last week after an unpopular ruling, saying that their proper remedy was an appeal rather than taking out their frustration on courthouse chairs. Colombo High Court Judge Deepali Wijesundera also urged attorneys…

Nov 22, 2011 8:56 PM CST

Why Quinn Emanuel Nixed Hong Kong: Litigators There Make Less Than $1M

Despite the seeming appeal of a sizzling Hong Kong legal market, one well-known law firm has nixed the possibility of opening an office there. Asked to explain why, managing partner John Quinn of Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan had a succinct answer: Not a single litigator there, he…

Nov 1, 2011 11:16 PM CDT

Despite Globalization, Lawyers Find New Barriers to Practicing Abroad

Lisa A. Alfaro joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1995 after receiving her JD from Stanford Law School. Now she is partner in charge of the firm’s São Paulo office in Brazil, and she co-chairs the Latin America practice group. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, and she is…

Nov 1, 2011 10:19 AM CDT

Cotton Price Free Fall Puts Trade Group Arbitration at Center of Arguable Force Majeure Situation

Updated: Earlier this year, cotton was $2.15 a pound on the wholesale market. Now it’s down 54 percent from that high, to less than $1 a pound for December delivery. As a result of the precipitous price drop, some buyers are reneging on earlier contracts. That has led to a…

Oct 25, 2011 12:01 AM CDT

Bringing Mediation to Pakistan

Oct 1, 2011 9:10 AM CDT

Red-Flagging China: Regulators Eye Chinese Companies Using Reverse Mergers to Enter US

Oct 1, 2011 8:40 AM CDT

Client Sues Crowell & Moring, Claims Law Firm Can’t Account for $5.5M in Escrow Money

A real estate management company represented by Crowell & Moring sued the law firm today in New York state court. The Manhattan Supreme Court complaint (PDF) contends that Crowell & Moring can’t account for some $5.5 million being held in escrow on behalf of Regal Real Estate and other plaintiffs…

Sep 24, 2011 1:04 AM CDT