Europe

Slater and Gordon could be on the brink after reporting huge losses in the second half of 2015

The first law firm to go public may be on the verge of collapse after reporting a loss of nearly $700 million during the second half of 2015. On Monday, the Herald Sun (sub. req.) reported that Australia-based firm Slater and Gordon must present a plan to several banks in…

Feb 29, 2016 12:05 PM CST

2 brothers got no time in drug case until they mocked judge in crude Facebook posts after sentencing

Two brothers initially got no jail time in a British drug case, because the judge suspended their two-year sentences when their lawyers said they were remorseful about the crime. But after they mocked the trial judge in Facebook posts within two hours of exiting a Feb. 3 hearing at Burnley…

Feb 26, 2016 10:10 AM CST

Squire Patton to acquire 50-lawyer California firm with international expertise

Squire Patton Boggs announced Monday that the 1,500-attorney firm is merging with a 50-lawyer boutique headquartered in California. Though Carroll Burdick & McDonough is U.S.-based, three of its five offices of are located overseas. On its website, the firm prominently features its global litigation management and international expertise—its attorneys speak…

Feb 22, 2016 12:10 PM CST

As Canada’s Gowlings completes 1,400-attorney merger with UK firm, more growth is already planned

With Monday’s announcement of the completed merger of equivalent Canadian and United Kingdom law firms, the nearly 1,400-attorney combination is already looking for more merger prospects. “It’s an exciting time for us at Gowling WLG, and this is only just the beginning,” said Peter Lukasiewicz, who serves as chief executive…

Feb 22, 2016 10:10 AM CST

Court rejects effort to trademark shape of KitKat candy bar

If the KitKat name wasn’t printed on the four connected “fingers” of a well-known candy bar, would customers know it was a KitKat without seeing the wrapper? The answer to that question in the United Kingdom is no, according to a Wednesday ruling by the High Court of Justice of…

Jan 21, 2016 11:45 AM CST

Spelling error sparks police terrorism investigation of schoolboy, 10

A 10-year-old British schoolboy meant to say in an English class exercise that he lived in a “terraced” house. But he misspelled the word as “terrorist,” and teachers, not realizing that it was a simple spelling mistake, notified authorities under the 2015 Counter-Terrorism and Security Act. It requires educators to…

Jan 20, 2016 12:00 PM CST

Hackers are stealing closing funds by intercepting lawyer-client email, experts say

Hackers are intercepting email between lawyers and clients, as well as real estate agents and their clients, in an effort to steal closing funds. The scheme has been successful in at least 91 cases involving the theft of an average of 112,000 pounds, a British newspaper reports. And a San…

Jan 11, 2016 4:15 PM CST

IMF chief Christine Lagarde faces surprise prosecution over her previous work as finance minister

Now in charge of the International Monetary Fund, a former chair of Baker & McKenzie is facing a surprise prosecution over her role in a 2008 compensation award of more than 400 million euros to a French businessman. Christine Lagarde, 59, was the finance minister for French president Nicolas Sarkozy…

Dec 17, 2015 3:20 PM CST

LegalZoom is acquiring a UK law firm

LegalZoom has already been approved in the United Kingdom as an alternative business structure. But its expansion plans don’t end there. The online legal document company announced plans on Thursday to acquire a U.K. law firm, Beaumont Legal, report Legal Futures, the Law Society Gazette, the Los Angeles Business Journal…

Dec 8, 2015 10:52 AM CST

Northern Ireland’s abortion prohibitions violate human rights, Belfast judge rules

A judge on the Belfast High Court in Northern Ireland ruled Monday that the region’s prohibition of abortions in cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormality violates the human rights of women, Reuters reports. Judge Mark Horner upheld arguments by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission that the prohibition went…

Nov 30, 2015 12:55 PM CST

UK approves its first deferred prosecution agreement in bank’s bribery case

A judge on the High Court of Justice of England and Wales today approved the United Kingdom’s first deferred prosecution agreement, under which the ICBC Standard Bank will avoid criminal charges and instead receive other sanctions, Reuters and Bloomberg Business report. The DPA statute enacted in February 2014 is stricter…

Nov 30, 2015 12:05 PM CST

Will first law firm to go public face a shareholder suit? Stock prices seesaw with whiplash plan

Share prices of the world’s first publicly owned law firm lost 65 percent of their value last Thursday and Friday, but prices partially recovered this week. The share price for Australian personal injury firm Slater & Gordon fell after the United Kingdom announced a crackdown on whiplash fraud, report the…

Nov 30, 2015 7:32 AM CST

This law firm is the world’s oldest

A law firm in the United Kingdom is the world’s oldest operating law firm, according to Guinness World Records. The Kent law firm, Thomson Snell & Passmore, traces its roots to 1570, when a clergyman began work as a “scrivener and drafter of documents,” including wills and property bonds, Kent…

Nov 30, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Belgium authorities ask for Internet silence on police ops; Twitterverse responds with cat memes

Concerned that social media messages could alert suspects in Brussels, where police have been conducting sweeps for possible terrorists linked to recent Paris attacks, authorities in Belgium asked the country’s citizens and news media to refrain from tweets and Internet posts about raids. Over the weekend, defense minister Steven Vandeput…

Nov 23, 2015 4:05 PM CST

‘Hand-wringing’ over digital surveillance is obstacle in terrorism fight, CIA director says

CIA director John Brennan said on Monday that public “hand-wringing” and leaks involving digital surveillance have made it harder to identify “murderous sociopaths” of ISIS. Speaking at conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Brennan said he hoped the Paris terrorist attacks would be a “wake-up call.” The Washington Post and…

Nov 17, 2015 7:20 AM CST