International Courts/Tribunals

Legal Ethics Trial of Canadian Judge Could Be Doomed By ‘Incontestable’ Bias of Tribunal Counsel

A controversial legal ethics trial concerning a prominent Manitoba judge has taken an unusual turn. A call Thursday by the judge’s lawyer for the inquiry to be terminated, due to claimed bias on the part of an attorney who is supposed to serve as an impartial advisor to the Canadian…

Jul 26, 2012 9:55 PM CDT

Canadian Appeals Court Dismisses Law Partner’s Age Discrimination Case, Says He’s Not an Employee

Calling a lower court’s decision that a longtime partner of a prominent law firm was its employee, for the purpose of applying age-discrimination rules, “legally insupportable,” a Canadian appeals court has dismissed John Michael McCormick’s case against Fasken Martineau DuMoulin for lack of jurisdiction. “There can be no doubt that…

Jul 19, 2012 9:06 PM CDT

Mistrial Declared in First-Degree Murder Case Over Juror’s Facebook Comments a Year Ago

Corrected: An unusual mistrial declared in a high-profile murder case this week, over comments made by a juror on a Facebook page roughly a year ago, offer a cautionary example about how far-reaching potential pitfalls concerning social media use can be. The comments were found on Tuesday by family members…

Jul 19, 2012 7:44 PM CDT

Apple Ordered to Say on Its UK Site, in British Papers That Samsung Didn’t Copy iPad; Appeal Planned

Unhappy about the prospect of having to post material on its own United Kingdom website and in newspapers there saying that a competitor didn’t copy its iPad design, Apple Inc. is planning to appeal a British judge’s ruling that imposes the penalty, for a six-month period, in a copyright infringement…

Jul 18, 2012 7:48 PM CDT

Rejected Twice After Condo Board Battle, Stellar Law Grad Tries Again for Bar Admission

Despite graduating in the top 10 percent of his class and working for top legal firms as a summer associate, a 30-year-old graduate of prestigious Osgoode Hall Law School has twice been rejected for bar membership over a 2008 battle with fellow members of his condo board. But Ryan Manilla…

Jul 16, 2012 10:55 PM CDT

UK Solicitor Shot at Desk in Law Office Is In Critical Condition

An unusual attack on a lawyer working at his desk in a British market town left other residents stunned and solicitor James Ward, who was shot in the head and airlifted to a Bristol hospital, in critical condition fighting for his life. A 62-year-old builder who lost an expensive case…

Jul 5, 2012 4:30 PM CDT

Judge Faces Disciplinary Hearing Over Photos Posted by Attorney Husband on the Internet

The husband of a Queen’s Bench judge in Manitoba says that she knew nothing of the explicit photos of her he uploaded onto the Internet years ago. It also appears that Justice Lori Douglas may not have known at the time that her husband, who is also an attorney, had…

Jun 25, 2012 5:28 PM CDT

Ecuador Says It’s Mulling Asylum Request by WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

Former computer hacker and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, facing likely extradition to Sweden—where he is wanted for questioning concerning claimed sex crimes against two volunteers for his organization—has holed up in the Ecuador’s embassy in London and is seeking political asylum in the South American country. Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino…

Jun 19, 2012 8:30 PM CDT

Court Rep: Judge Seen Playing Computer Solitaire During Mass Murder Trial Still Listens Closely

One of five judges hearing a high-profile case against an accused mass murderer in Norway caught by a news photographer playing computer solitaire during trial on Monday. Ernst Henning Eielsen playing the virtual card game for up to 16 minutes as a witness was testifying, reports the Mirror, relying on…

Jun 5, 2012 3:58 PM CDT

Partner in $2M Hogan Lovells Expense Fraud ‘Lost All Reason,’ Spent $1M on Mistress, His Lawyer Says

A then-partner of Hogan Lovells “lost all reason” after falling for a Lebanese woman living in New York, spending well over $1 million on her during the course of an 18-month affair, his counsel told a British court before Christopher Grierson was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison The…

May 30, 2012 4:40 PM CDT

Judge: Lawyer Not ‘Unjustifiably Abused, Belittled, Humiliated, Threatened, Undermined or Bullied’

Describing a “regrettable” email exchange between two Melbourne law firm colleagues and friends as “a classic storm in a teacup,” an Australian judge has nixed a seven-figure damages claim by a former partner who said she was undermined, humiliated and harassed after she went on maternity leave. Partner Fiona Brown,…

May 18, 2012 9:05 PM CDT

Captain Who Argued re Coast Guard Order to Reboard Grounded Concordia Liner Found Unfit to Command

The captain who made international headlines after a recording of a conversation in which he argued over and apparently refused a coast guard command to reboard the grounded Costa Concordia cruise ship went viral has been found unfit to command. The ruling Wednesday by Italy’s top appellate tribunal, the Court…

May 16, 2012 10:18 PM CDT

Iranian Lawyer Gets 9 Years for Defending Clients on Death Row

An Iranian lawyer has been sentenced to nine years in prison for defending clients facing the death penalty. In a telephone interview from Tehran, attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah told the British newspaper the Guardian that he has also been banned from practicing law or teaching at universities for another 10…

May 9, 2012 8:25 PM CDT

Hang Glider Allegedly Swallowed Memory Chip After Fatal Accident; Expert Says Device May Still Work

A lawyer for a Canadian man accused of swallowing his camera’s memory chip after a fatal hang gliding accident last week says the device has been recovered. William Jonathan Orders, 50, is now scheduled for a Friday bail hearing in Chilliwack provincial court, where he is facing an obstruction of…

May 4, 2012 9:02 PM CDT

Judge Blasts Prosecutor for Not Viewing YouTube Video of Claimed Crime in Progress

A Canadian judge released on minimal bail Wednesday a taxi driver accused in a hit-and-run incident involving a passenger and blasted a prosecutor for admittedly not reviewing a cellphone video of the incident that has been posted to YouTube, the National Post reports. “All of Quebec has seen it on…

May 3, 2012 7:10 PM CDT