Europe

25% of Surveyed UK Law Firms Misplaced PDAs with Confidential Data

Nearly a quarter of British law firms responding to a survey reported misplacing at least one mobile device containing confidential information. Credant Technology is using the survey of 100 law firms to point out the danger of disclosing sensitive data, even on devices that are password-protected, Legal Blog Watch reports.…

Oct 29, 2008 11:23 AM CDT

Nixon Hires 25 Lawyers from Taylor Wessing, Possibly 60 More from Thelen

Nixon Peabody appears to be in an expansion mode after failed merger talks with two law firms. Nixon Peabody is hiring 25 lawyers from the Paris office of Taylor Wessing, the American Lawyer reports, and may acquire another 60 lawyers from the crumbling law firm Thelen, according to a story…

Oct 29, 2008 10:54 AM CDT

BigLaw Seeks ‘Globally Minded’ Attorneys

When Natasha Hsieh sought a summer associate position at DLA Piper, she found that her experience growing up in Taiwan, as well as California, was a big advantage for her in applying to the major international law firm. “They specifically were looking for people willing to go abroad, especially Asia,…

Oct 28, 2008 6:55 PM CDT

French Police Say Mercury Spill in Car of Russian Lawyer was Accidental

A Russian human rights lawyer wasn’t intentionally poisoned, French police have concluded. Investigators believe that mercury found in the car of lawyer Karinna Moskalenko was from a thermometer that broke accidentally, the New York Times reports. The spill occurred before Moskalenko bought the car. Moskalenko had told a Russian radio…

Oct 28, 2008 4:48 PM CDT

Buyer’s Negative Feedback on eBay Sparks Threat of Seller Libel Lawsuit

A buyer’s complaint that a cell phone he purchased on eBay was damaged and not the advertised model has sparked a threatened libel lawsuit by the seller. Although Joel Jones gave Chris Read a refund, he says the negative feedback that Read publicly posted on the auction website has damaged…

Oct 27, 2008 4:14 PM CDT

UK Court: US Should Release Documents Relating to Detainee’s Torture Claim

The British High Court is criticizing the United States for refusing to release documents related to claims of torture by a Guantanamo detainee. The detainee, Binyam Mohamed, is a British resident who says he was secretly tortured in Pakistan before the United States transferred him to Morocco, where he was…

Oct 23, 2008 5:12 PM CDT

Legal Market Predictions: Double the Extreme

After a week in London, home of four of the world’s six largest law firms, the founder of the social networking company Legal OnRamp brought home his observations and predictions about the U.S. legal market in the context of a financial crisis. Drawing from lessons that arguably can be learned…

Oct 22, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

UK’s Top Magic Circle Law Firms Raised Partner Rates 6% in ‘08

Despite a gloomy global economic forecast, revenue at London’s elite magic circle law firms is being helped by a substantial increase in fees. Partners are now charging an average of 750 pounds per hour in 2008, up about 6 percent from last year. And, at the upper end of the…

Oct 17, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

Biggest-Bucks Divorce in UK History? Madonna and Guy Ritchie Split

It’s apparently all over between Madonna and Guy Ritchie, who have reportedly separated in a split that is likely to cost the material girl big bucks. Depending on whether the divorce case goes forward in the United Kingdom or the United States, the British film director can expect as much…

Oct 15, 2008 11:29 PM CDT

Divorce American-Style Works Better, Says UK Judge

A fledgling idea in the United Kingdom five years ago, American-style collaborative divorce works better than the traditional, often acrimonious, court battle, a senior United Kingdom family judge says. Speaking at a legal conference, Mr Justice Coleridge of the High Court said there are now some 1,250 lawyers in the…

Oct 15, 2008 4:32 PM CDT

Latham Stuns Magic Circle’s A&O With 7-Partner Hong Kong Raid

Latham & Watkins has raided one of London’s biggest and best-known law firms, luring seven partners away from the Hong Kong office of Allen & Overy. Their move to the Los Angeles-based international firm “represents one of the most significant departures ever seen from the foreign network of a magic…

Oct 13, 2008 10:19 PM CDT

Big Brother’s View Expands in UK

George Orwell was right, at least as far as residents in metropolitan areas of the United Kingdom are concerned: Big Brother is watching. Surveillance cameras are seeking not only to spot terrorists but to see whether dog-walkers are properly picking up after their pets, reports Bloomberg. A London Times article…

Oct 10, 2008 6:26 PM CDT

Lightening Gloomy Mood, Law Firm Hosts Poetic Breakfast Meeting

Lightening the mood on another day of economic gloom, a London law firm co-hosted a breakfast meeting yesterday featuring a poet and edible words on frosted cupcakes. The Bates Wells & Braithwaite event, in anticipation of National Poetry Day today in Great Britain, was a good fit for the firm,…

Oct 9, 2008 7:42 PM CDT

Growing as Planned, Sonnenschein Opens New Office in Switzerland

Taking another step towards its previously announced plan for a bigger global footprint, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has opened a new office in Switzerland. To do so, Sonnenschein has acquired a Zurich boutique run by partners Heinz Bloch and Robert Schlup that is known for its hotel-related practice, the firm…

Oct 6, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

UK Judges Lose Their Wigs

Most British judges gave up their wigs and elaborate robes on Oct. 1, and now sport simplified robes and their own hair (or lack thereof). And that’s a sorry state of affairs, writes Christopher Breward, the acting head of research at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in an op-ed in…

Oct 3, 2008 4:45 PM CDT