Asia

Lawyer-Led Protests Prevail in Pakistan: Musharraf is Expected to Step Down

After more than a year of lawyer-led protests over the breakdown of the rule of law helped force parliamentary elections that brought opposing parties to power, the president of Pakistan reportedly has agreed, or will soon agree, to step down. Sources say President Pervez Musharraf probably will announce his decision…

Aug 14, 2008 9:34 PM CDT

Georgia Sues Russia in World Court

Unable to win a five-day war that Russia has waged, Georgia is seeking help from the World Court, as the International Court of Justice, at the United Nations in The Hague is informally known. It has no power of enforcement, but Georgia filed suit there yesterday seeking a ruling that…

Aug 13, 2008 9:04 PM CDT

As Big Banks Send Work to India, World Financial Centers Lose Steam

In a trend that obviously has significant implications for law firms and their clients, banks increasing are arranging for much of their work to be done outside world financial centers and, often, offshore. As they cut costs in a struggling economy, banks are also cutting jobs in New York, London…

Aug 12, 2008 7:54 PM CDT

Big UK Firms Hire Support Staff in India

Updated: Eversheds is among the major United Kingdom law firms outsourcing low-end legal work to India. Known for its willingness to take a creative approach to legal fees in its representation of Tyco International, the law firm is now outsourcing low-end legal business to India, according to Legal Week. “The…

Aug 11, 2008 3:59 PM CDT

Ex-ABA Prez Mathis Takes Break to Become CEELI Institute Exec

Former ABA President Karen Mathis is taking a one-year sabbatical from her law firm partnership in order to serve as CEO and executive director of the CEELI Institute in Prague. Starting Sept. 1, she will be in the Czech Republic, working in her new role. Her clients at McElroy, Deutsch,…

Aug 6, 2008 6:38 PM CDT

U.S. Lawyers Go for the Gold!

See related story “Best Be Behavin’ in Beijing.” Kelly Crabb made his first Olympics at the 2002 Salt Lake City winter games. Now he’s a member of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics team. And though he has no shot at making Vancouver in 2010, he’s pushing to be a part…

Aug 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Best Be Behavin’ in Beijing

See related feature “U.S. Lawyers Go for the Gold!” China’s human rights record has prompted concerns for both Olympic participants and spectators, including people who plan to protest the policies of the Chinese government. Though many organizations are strategizing how to protect visitors to China, none can confidently predict how…

Aug 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Japan Seeks to Add Lawyers and Dispatch Them Beyond Cities

Japan has a goal of licensing 3,000 new lawyers a year and sending some of its law graduates to underserved rural areas to practice. Toward that end, the country opened 74 new law schools in the last four years and reformed the bar exam, the New York Times reports. The…

Jul 29, 2008 3:50 PM CDT

86 Indicted, Including Lawyers, in Alleged Plot to Overthrow Turkish Gov’t

In a 2,455-page indictment submitted to a Turkish court today, the government has charged 86 alleged members of a militant secular group with plotting to overthrow the country’s Islamist government. “The accused, who were not named, are charged with plotting to overthrow the government, inciting armed rebellion, and carrying out…

Jul 14, 2008 4:42 PM CDT

Attack Today on US Consulate in Istanbul May Have Involved al-Qaida

A terrorist attack early today on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, that left six dead has reportedly been linked to al-Qaida. However, the gunfire aimed by occupants of a car at police and other security at the entrance to the consulate, according to a witness, has not been definitively…

Jul 9, 2008 4:20 PM CDT

Claimed China Hack Attack Targets: US Gov’t, Business and Utilities

After news that China may have secretly copied information in the U.S. commerce secretary’s laptop last year, a Congressman says that’s far from the only intrusion for which computer hackers there may be responsible. China also seems to have been hacking into computers in Congressional offices, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.)…

Jun 11, 2008 7:19 PM CDT

Akin Gump Will Close at Least One Office Due to Loss of IP Rainmaker

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has closed its Taiwan office and is re-evaluating its Silicon Valley office after the loss of rainmaker Yitai Hu. Akin Gump chairman R. Bruce McLean told the Recorder that Hu kept both offices busy with patent work since he opened them in 2005. Among…

Jun 11, 2008 2:51 PM CDT

Pakistan Lawyers’ ‘Long March’ Seeks Return of Appellate Judges to Bench

For a while, it looked like a coalition of newly elected leaders of Pakistan’s parliament would restore to office this spring dozens of appellate judges removed from the bench late last year after the country’s president, Pervez Musharraf, imposed emergency rule Nov. 3. But disagreement among political factions has led…

Jun 10, 2008 6:41 PM CDT

Weil Gotshal Will Open Another Office in China

Weil Gotshal & Manges has announced that it is opening an office in Beijing. The office will be the firm’s 20th internationally. It will be headed by Steven Xiang, who presently is in charge of the firm’s China practice and works in its Shanghai office, reports Legal Week. The new…

Jun 6, 2008 6:19 PM CDT

Chinese Law School Plans to Seek Accreditation from ABA

A new law school in China has announced its intent to seek accreditation from the American Bar Association, so graduates could potentially practice law in the U.S. (States commonly require a degree from an ABA-accredited law school as a prerequisite for taking the bar exam.) Peking University School of Transnational…

Jun 6, 2008 12:19 AM CDT