International Courts/Tribunals

Law Firm Founder Flees Russia, Says He Feared Suffering Same Fate as Dead Colleague

A New York attorney who co-founded a Russian law firm in 1993 has fled the country, saying he fears he will suffer the same fate as a dead colleague if he continues practicing there. Jamison Firestone, who went to the United Kingdom for a seeming Christmas vacation and never returned,…

Feb 18, 2010 1:19 AM CST

Haitian Judge Frees 8 of 10 Americans in Child-Kidnapping Case

Today a judge freed eight of the 10 American missionaries being held in Haiti in a child-kidnapping case in which they were accused of trying to take 33 children out of the earthquake-ravaged country without proper paperwork. Still being held are Charisa Coulter and group leader Laura Silsby as an…

Feb 18, 2010 12:08 AM CST

UK Court-Ordered Release of CIA Docs Summary Supports Torture Claim

An appeals court in the United Kingdom has required the British government to release an unredacted version of a seven-paragraph document summarizing U.S. intelligence information about the 2002 interrogation of a terrorism suspect subsequently detained by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay and released last year. The release of the…

Feb 10, 2010 11:15 PM CST

ISP Not Liable for Customers’ Illegally Downloaded Movies, Court Rules

In a movie-downloading case that observers say could help set global industry policy, an Internet service provider in Australia has been held not liable for the activities of its customers even though the court found there was illegal file-sharing on a “large scale.” Top Hollywood studios had sought to win…

Feb 4, 2010 9:17 PM CST

Rush to Court & Wrong Jacket Led to Rock Singer’s Heroin Arrest, His Lawyer Says

Rushing to appear in court in a traffic case last month, Pete Doherty of Babyshambles grabbed the wrong jacket. And then he failed to check the pockets. That led to the rock singer’s arrest for dropping a bag containing heroin when he walked out of court after his traffic hearing,…

Jan 27, 2010 6:21 PM CST

Chinese Official Says Missing Human Rights Lawyer Is ‘Where He Should Be’

A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry says a missing human rights lawyer “is where he should be” following a judicial proceeding. The missing lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, has taken on cases advocating reform and involving the banned Falun Gong spiritual group, the Associated Press reports. A memoir describes his past torture…

Jan 22, 2010 3:56 PM CST

Haiti Quake Shakes Up Adoptions

After 38 months, the paperwork was finally complete Monday on an Arizona couple’s planned adoption of a 7-year-old boy from Haiti. But Tuesday the courthouse crumbled in the country’s massive earthquake. The adoption decree is somewhere in the rubble. And, worse, Heather and Jason Goracke weren’t even sure that their…

Jan 16, 2010 1:42 AM CST

Surviving Law School Buddy Gets 39-Month Term in $9M Insider-Trading Scheme

Stanko Grmovsek began his stock-trading career while he was still in law school, prosecutors say, turning a $30,000 student loan into $300,000. Then, in what he called “the worst decision in my life” in a court statement, he and a former roommate at Osgoode Hall School of Law began operating…

Jan 7, 2010 6:01 PM CST

Rothstein Faces New Malpractice Suit; Auction at Replica Law Office Planned

For those who weren’t included in an unusual media tour of Scott Rothstein’s office as his former South Florida law firm was imploding this fall over an alleged $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme: There will be a second chance to see the office more or less as it was at that…

Dec 17, 2009 9:06 PM CST

Kremlin Fires Prison Head, 19 Staff, After Death of Jailed Lawyer

After an investigation into the sudden death last month of a 37-year-old Russian lawyer jailed on tax evasion charges after pointing the finger at claimed government corruption, the Kremlin has fired the head of the Moscow prison system. In a Dec. 4 decree reported by Russian media today, President Dmitry…

Dec 11, 2009 7:15 PM CST

Publication Ban No Proof That Nude Pix of Tiger Woods Exist, His Counsel Says

A British court has banned the publication in Britain of photos or videos showing professional golfer Tiger Woods in the nude or having sex. But, in a letter accompanying a copy of the injunction granted yesterday by the High Court in London, the Schillings law firm representing Woods says that…

Dec 11, 2009 6:35 PM CST

Lawyer Tears Up in Emotional Closing to 10-Month Amanda Knox Trial

The sensational trial of a Seattle native and foreign exchange student Amanda Knox came to an emotional close Wednesday when her lawyer broke down in tears during his closing. Luciano Ghirga apologized for the display of emotion during his closing argument in an Italian court. He’d been pleading with the…

Dec 2, 2009 9:24 PM CST

The Long Dubai

Even in the business-friendliest Mideast, arbitration can take forever

Dec 2, 2009 3:19 AM CST

Beautician Wins Major Property Case for Mom, Gets Law School Scholarship

A 23-year-old beautician with no legal training who made headlines by defeating a big British property developer in a High Court case earlier this month is now headed to law school, with the help of a scholarship. Young, blond and apparently underestimated, Georgina Blackwell saved her mother’s home and business…

Nov 30, 2009 10:40 PM CST

Judge: ‘At Any Time I Can Get Killed’

Being threatened with assassination is a routine part of the job for 70 judges in the northern Iraq city of Mosul. In addition to the death threats that regularly slide under the door, gunshots inside the courthouse and a growing list of deceased colleagues emphasize the daily reality of the…

Nov 30, 2009 8:30 PM CST