Does a country have a legal duty to reduce its carbon footprint? Dutch court to decide landmark case

Concerned that the Netherlands isn’t doing enough to reduce its carbon footprint, a group of nearly 900 citizens filed a highly unusual lawsuit against the Dutch government in 2013. Asserting violations of human rights and tort law, the class action (PDF) seeks a court ruling requiring the government to cut…

May 4, 2015 10:50 AM CDT

Trial set to begin for former SS guard charged as accessory to 300,000 murders in World War II

In what could be the first case to test an innovative German government approach to prosecuting concentration camp guards for the deaths of Jewish prisoners during World War II, a 93-year-old man is scheduled to start trial on Tuesday in Lueneburg. Oskar Groening is charged with being an accessory to…

Apr 20, 2015 10:55 AM CDT

Lawyer says his restitution for dodging thousands in train fares should reflect weekly pass rate

A prominent British attorney with star credentials who once worked for one of London’s most profitable law firms is now making headines for a different reason. Peter Barnett, 43, is accused of bilking Chiltern Railways of 23,000 pounds in unpaid train fares, by pretending over a period of more than…

Apr 10, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

Germanwings co-pilot’s browser showed research on suicide and cockpit door security

The co-pilot who intentionally crashed a Germanwings plane into the French Alps last week, killing all 150 aboard, had researched suicide and cockpit door security beforehand, prosecutors say. Andreas Lubitz, who apparently locked the pilot out of the cabin when the senior officer took a restroom break, had also concealed…

Apr 2, 2015 10:55 AM CDT

This D.C. lawyer coordinated a massive pro bono effort on behalf of Holocaust victims

On Nov. 5, 1942, a young Jewish man named Leo Bretholz was herded into a French state-owned railway car bound for Auschwitz. Between 1942 and 1944, the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français transported approximately 76,000 Jews and "undesirables" to Nazi death camps. Fewer than 3 percent survived. Bretholz…

Apr 1, 2015 6:04 AM CDT

April 11, 1961: Adolf Eichmann on trial

Apr 1, 2015 12:30 AM CDT

Turkish prosecutor taken hostage by terror group dies after courthouse shootout

Updated: A Turkish prosecutor died after two gunmen disguised as lawyers took him hostage in an Istanbul courthouse on Tuesday. The members of a terrorist group threatened to kill him if an investigation was not handled to their satisfaction, authorities said. Both gunmen were killed following a shootout with special…

Mar 31, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

Prosecutor: Co-pilot intentionally crashed plane into French Alps, killing 150

The crash of a Germanwings flight in the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people aboard, was no accident, a French prosecutor said at a Thursday news conference. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, 28, locked the pilot out of the cockpit when he left to use the restroom and intentionally put…

Mar 26, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

Lawyer for doctor who helped US track down and kill Osama bin Laden is assassinated in Pakistan

A lawyer for a Pakistani physician who helped U.S. military forces track down and kill Osama bin Laden in 2011 has himself been killed in a vehicle ambush in Pakistan. Attorney Samiullah Afridi died of his injuries while being treated at a hospital in Peshawar after the Tuesday shooting, according…

Mar 17, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Colorado lawyer wins $150K libel award against UK Internet troll who criticized his law firm

Angry and upset by an online attack that seemed to be coming from a disgruntled client, Colorado lawyer Timothy Bussey retained counsel to find out who was behind the criticism of his law firm on a Google page. The answer, a U.K. High Court judge ruled, was Jason “Jay” Page,…

Mar 6, 2015 1:55 PM CST

Captain guilty in Costa Concordia shipwreck that killed 32; gets 16 years

The captain of a cruise liner that capsized in 2012, resulting in the drowning deaths of 32 people, was sentenced Wednesday in an Italian manslaughter trial to 16 years in prison. Captain Francesco Schettino, 54, was not present when the judges’ verdict was read in the theater being used as…

Feb 11, 2015 3:45 PM CST

Verdict looms for Costa Concordia captain accused of manslaughter in shipwreck deaths of 32

The captain of the Costa Concordia caused a 2012 shipwreck of the massive ocean liner by steering it too close to the small Italian island of Giglio, in the nautical equivalent of a fly-by. Then, compounding his “monstrously gross negligence,” Italian prosecutors contend, he didn’t immediately drop anchor and issue…

Feb 10, 2015 12:40 PM CST

The most dangerous job in law

Feb 1, 2015 6:20 AM CST

Author tells tangled tale of the $19B verdict against Chevron in ‘Law of the Jungle’ (podcast)

In 2011, an Ecuadoran court found the Chevron Corporation liable for environmental damage caused by oil drilling in the 1970s-80s. Chevron was ordered to pay $19 billion to the plaintiffs who brought the suit, a collection of small farmers and indigenous peoples. Although it is tempting to fit this into a simple narrative-either "victory for oppressed people against an evil corporation" or "responsible corporation preyed upon by voracious plaintiffs attorneys"--the truth just isn't that simple.

Jan 28, 2015 9:15 AM CST

Paris mayor vows to sue Fox News over false reports of Muslim ‘no-go’ zones

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo vowed to sue Fox News for erroneously reporting that parts of the French capital are considered “no-go” zones that are off-limits to non-Muslims. Hidalgo, in an interview with CNN Tuesday, said the network had “insulted” the city. “When we’re insulted, and when we’ve had an image,…

Jan 21, 2015 3:55 PM CST