Europe

Egads! Will US Law Firms Go Public?

Of course it can’t happen yet. But senior partners at big U.S. law firms are talking about the possibility that they will one day be allowed to be have nonattorney shareholders, as Australia already permits and the United Kingdom is expected to allow within a few years. Otherwise, major American…

Aug 13, 2007 10:25 PM CDT

Russian Man Facing Trial for 49 Murders

Accused of being one of Russia’s most prolific serial killers, Alexander Pichushkin is to face trial in a month in 49 murders reportedly committed between 1992 and 2006. The 33-year-old is accused of murdering many of his alleged victims, who are mostly men, by plying them with alcohol and then…

Aug 13, 2007 9:47 PM CDT

Quelle Crime! Teen Held for Potter Book Posted en Français

A 16-year-old has been arrested and briefly jailed for allegedly translating the entire 759-page book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into French and posting it on the Internet within days of its July 21 release. The teen, a high school student from Aix-en-Provence in southern France, is not named…

Aug 8, 2007 7:27 PM CDT

Freshfields Partner Fined

A partner with London-based Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will pay a 9,000 pound fine and 50,000 pounds in court costs for a client conflict. Barry O’Brien was fined yesterday for representing entrepreneur Philip Green in his offer to buy Marks & Spencer even though the law firm also represented the British…

Aug 3, 2007 10:49 AM CDT

CA Museum Returns Allegedly Stolen Art

Ending a long-standing dispute over the ownership of some of the most prized art works in its collection, the J.P. Getty Museum has agreed to return to the Italian government 40 antiquities illegally excavated and exported from that country. The draft agreement is still being finalized, but will return to…

Aug 1, 2007 5:42 PM CDT

Canine Bites Dog Doc, Owner Prosecuted

Sent to a canine psychologist for treatment of the “anxiety issues” that had led him to attack four children and two adults, a German Shepard promptly bit the professional, too. The dog will now be euthanized, but his 58-year-old British owner—who spent $20,000 pounds trying to help him become a…

Jul 26, 2007 7:51 PM CDT

UK Terrorism Measures Proposed

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told Parliament today that the 28-day limit on questioning of terrorism suspects is too short. British police have to charge or release suspects by the end of the 28-day period. Brown did not specifically say how he would change the law, but said one option…

Jul 25, 2007 5:50 PM CDT

U.S. Firms Make European Inroads

U.S. law firms are merging with European firms or snagging their top lawyers, creating tensions as the overseas firms struggle to adjust. Spurring the firm merger mania is increasing legal work available because of the boom in corporate mergers and acquisitions, the New York Times reports. The newspaper mentions several…

Jul 25, 2007 2:02 PM CDT

Will U.S. Class Actions Invade Europe?

American lawyers and European politicians have discovered they have a common interest in opening the door to class action litigation. Such mass tort suits require changes in the law, to permit plaintiffs with similar claims to band together. But some politicians are interested in enacting legislation to allow European class…

Jul 24, 2007 6:30 PM CDT

Abbott Drops Cyber Attack Suit

Abbott Laboratories has withdrawn its controversial lawsuit against AIDS activists who launched a cyber attack against its Web site in April. Abbott said it would drop the suit after meeting with members of Act-Up Paris and reaching an agreement about access to its AIDS drugs, the Wall Street Journal (sub.…

Jul 24, 2007 6:03 PM CDT

Jailed Libyan Medical Workers Free

Five nurses and a doctor who had been convicted of deliberately infecting Libyan children with the HIV virus are now free. The group was flown from Libya to Bulgaria, where they were pardoned today by the president, Associated Press reports. They had served more than eight years in prison. The…

Jul 24, 2007 2:10 PM CDT

New Death Sentence for UK Holy Cow

Spared from slaughter by a court ruling last week, a holy bull revered by a Hindu community in Wales received a new death sentence today from an appellate panel. The case has pitted religious rights recognized by the European Union against concerns that Shambo, as the sacred bull is known,…

Jul 23, 2007 9:02 PM CDT

U.K. Firms Outpace U.S. Rivals

The United Kingdom’s top 50 law firms are outpacing their U.S. rivals in revenue growth. Legal Week reports that fees of the top 50 U.K. law firms grew by 14 percent in 2006-07 while revenue grew only 12 percent for top U.S. law firms. “The U.S. firms are quite surprised,”…

Jul 20, 2007 1:22 PM CDT

Facebook Helps Oxford U Enforce Rules

So-called trashings aren’t cricket, under Oxford University rules. But neither is the method the renowned British college is now using to discipline its students for dousing others with champagne, flour and worse in celebration of completing exams, some believe. Disciplinary officials known as proctors have been surfing the Internet, looking…

Jul 17, 2007 8:40 PM CDT

Holy Cow! Sacred Bull Spared in UK Case

At least for the moment, Shambo is safe from the butcher’s knife. Revered by the Hindu Skanda Vale Community in West Wales, the 6-year-old Friesian bull had tested positive for bovine tuberculosis and been ordered slaughtered by the Welsh Assembly. But a High Court judge in Cardiff ruled today in…

Jul 17, 2007 12:09 AM CDT