Top UK Court OKs Tweets and Live-Texting Under Most Circumstances

Journalists, legal teams and the public are all permitted to use Twitter to send live tweets from the United Kingdom’s highest court, according to guidance provided today. Because its proceedings don’t involve jurors or witnesses, says the U.K. Supreme Court in a press release (PDF) concerning “live text based communications,”…

Feb 3, 2011 6:24 PM CST

Oxford Grad Blames UK Law School for Failing NY Bar Exam, Sues for $162K

A graduate of Oriel College at the renowned University of Oxford blames her law school for her failure to pass both the New York state bar exam and comparable tests in the United Kingdom that would have qualified her to work as a solicitor there, the Daily Mail reported. Now…

Feb 2, 2011 10:58 AM CST

Jury Acquits Suspended Top Cop Accused of Framing BigLaw Litigation Chief for Car Arson

A jury has acquitted a suspended top cop accused of torching his own car to get the insurance money and framing his lover’s husband—who happens to head the litigation department of a major London-based law firm—for the crime. Chief Superintendent Jim Trotman of the Thames Valley Police was accused due…

Feb 1, 2011 6:30 PM CST

A Long-Forgotten Film on the Nuremberg Trials Helps Rekindle Interest in the Holocaust

Feb 1, 2011 10:10 AM CST

Wife’s Alleged Affair with Top Cop Puts BigLaw Partner on Witness Seat in High-Profile Arson Case

Oct. 21, 2009 clearly was not a good day for Ian Gray. Arriving home from a business trip, the Eversheds litigation head was told by his wife that she was having an affair, and that her lover had been receiving threatening e-mails from an “iangray666,” according to the Daily Mail…

Jan 20, 2011 1:51 AM CST

‘Free’ Office Mgr Allegedly Helped Husband Steal Over $2M from Law Firm

A ‘free’ office manager helped her husband steal over $2 million from a British law firm that funded the couple’s lavish lifestyle, reports the BBC News. A Leeds Crown Court jury found Simon Morgan, 50, guilty of six theft counts. His wife, Ann, 55, wasn’t fit to stand trial for…

Jan 13, 2011 1:12 AM CST

ABA Prez Condemns ‘Unfair’ Trial of Iranian Civil Rights Lawyer Sentenced to 11 Years

Sentenced to 11 years in prison and barred from practicing law or leaving the country for 20 years, an Iranian civil rights attorney known for her representation of women and children is being punished for expressing her views to the media, some supporters say. Convicted of “activities against national security”…

Jan 13, 2011 12:28 AM CST

Given Choice of ‘Silver or Lead,’ Lawyer Serving as Mayor of Mexican City, Like Many Others, Is Dead

A successful, idealistic Mexican lawyer who was elected to serve as mayor of Santiago in November 2009 didn’t last a year in office before he was kidnapped and killed, allegedly with the help of the town’s police force. Like many other politicians caught in the country’s violent drug war, Edelmiro…

Jan 10, 2011 11:58 PM CST

US Aid Worker Who Spent Xmas in Haitian Jail Has Been Released, in Latest Child-Kidnap Case

After spending Chrismas in jail, an American who sold his Massachusetts contracting business and went to Haiti to help with relief efforts after the earthquake there early this year has been released. Accused by a Haitian man of taking his young son after the boy was brought to a hospital…

Dec 30, 2010 4:14 PM CST

Convicted of Rape, Former Israel Prez Faces Likely Prison Term

In what a prosecutor called a “badge of honor for Israeli democracy,” a former president of the country has been convicted of rape by a three-judge panel of a Tel Aviv court and faces a likely prison term. Convicted of raping an employee in the 1990s while serving as minister…

Dec 30, 2010 2:43 PM CST

Is Web Shame Game Too Tough on Some Defendants?

Internationally vilified for tossing a cat into a trash can, in an act captured by a surveillance camera–and then identified after footage was posted online–a British woman was fined about $400 in the animal cruelty case in October. The subject of death threats as well as a multitude of critical…

Dec 28, 2010 4:53 PM CST

Fla. Prosecutor’s Next Career Move is to Afghanistan

After five years as a prosecutor, it isn’t unusual to make a career move. But it is a rare step to head to Afghanistan to do so. Moin Kahn isn’t venturing out alone, however. The 33-year-old Florida lawyer follows his wife, who left her job with the Pinellas County Public…

Dec 28, 2010 2:30 PM CST

Doc Film Helped Chevron Subpoena Plaintiffs’ US Legal Files in $113B Ecuador Enviro Case

A documentary film encouraged by the lead plaintiff’s lawyer in a $113 billion case concerning alleged damage to a South American rain forest apparently didn’t achieve the result attorney Steve Donziger anticipated. Lawyers for Chevron Corp. used the documentary, Crude, to persuade a federal judge in New York both to…

Dec 23, 2010 9:09 PM CST

Lawyers for WikiLeaks Founder Outraged as Documents Leak About His Own Accusers

Lawyers for the founder of the secret-revealing WikiLeaks website are expressing outrage about a new development in the Swedish sex case in which their client–who has not been charged–is being sought for questioning. One of the same newspapers that earlier published a stash of confidential United States diplomatic cables obtained…

Dec 20, 2010 11:07 PM CST

Top UK Judge OKs Reporters’ Use of Twitter, Texts & E-Mail in Court

Journalists should routinely be allowed to use Twitter and send texts and e-mail from smart phones from courtrooms while covering legal news, the most senior judge in the United Kingdom said today in a note providing guidance to others. The action by Igor Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England…

Dec 20, 2010 7:29 PM CST