International

Fan May Face IP Claim Over Dr. Who Knitting Patterns

A 26-year-old British fan of the BBC’s classic Doctor Who television show is facing a potential intellectual property claim over the knitting patterns she invented and distributed over the Internet for free, so fellow fans could create their own homemade versions of the show’s characters. Technically, it seems that the…

May 14, 2008 5:14 PM CDT

Toronto Abuzz About Partner Fired From Local Dorsey & Whitney Office

Lawyers from Dorsey & Whitney will be scrambling to try to make up lost ground as the firm copes with an embarrassing situation in its small Toronto office, a Canadian publication predicts. The city’s legal community is still buzzing over Gil Cornblum, a partner fired by the firm last week…

May 14, 2008 4:39 PM CDT

Denver Lawyer’s Retirement Job: Renovating Paris Apartments

A Denver lawyer has found an innovative way to keep busy during his “retirement” and, when his project is complete, vacation in a lovely Paris apartment with his wife at a cost of roughly $55 a night. His unusual avocation: renovating Paris apartments for eventual sale, via American corporate ownership,…

May 14, 2008 12:10 AM CDT

Thumbs Up to Web Code of Conduct, Thumbs Down to Facebook Ban

Almost half of all Web users would support an Internet code of conduct for bloggers and other Internet commentators, according to a survey by an international megafirm. But a growing number of observers question whether employer attempts to ban workers from using social networking sites like Facebook make sense. “A…

May 13, 2008 10:02 PM CDT

Colombia Extradites 14 Warlords to Face US Drug Charges

Updated: In an unexpected move this morning, Colombia extradited what a Florida newspaper describes as 14 notorious paramilitary warlords to face cocaine-trafficking charges in the United States. The 14 were put on planes to New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami, reports the Miami Herald. They include: Hernán Giraldo (aka “Pablo…

May 13, 2008 6:28 PM CDT

Shearman Left Out of ‘Sweet Sixteen’

Sixteen law firms are part of an elite international group that has been highly successful both in New York and in London. But not among the “Sweet Sixteen” honored by the Lawyer is Shearman & Sterling, because of a series of missteps that have canceled out the benefit of the…

May 13, 2008 3:35 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Cuts Food Costs But Raises Associate Pay

In an ongoing effort to streamline internal costs, one of the world’s biggest law firms is now focusing on what it pays to help feed lawyers and staff while they are at work. Clifford Chance has announced that it plans to reduce the hours that its headquarters London restaurant is…

May 9, 2008 6:00 PM CDT

Dorsey & Whitney Fires Partner as Insider Trading Probe Continues

A Canadian partner of Dorsey & Whitney has reportedly been fired by the Minneapolis-based law firm, as an insider trading probe to which the lawyer has been linked continues. Gil Cornblum, the fired partner, was a law school colleague of business consultant Stan Grmovsek, one of three individuals who reportedly…

May 9, 2008 5:20 PM CDT

Chinese Arbitration Concerns Some U.S. Companies

Some U.S. companies and their lawyers are concerned about arbitration of business disputes in China. In one high-profile case, an arbitrator who sided with PepsiCo Inc. against a Chinese bottler was detained in 2006 on charges of committing financial improprieties within the arbitration organization that hired him, a Chinese-sponsored group…

May 9, 2008 3:57 PM CDT

Police Snipers Shot London Barrister in Unusual Armed Response

Neighbors of London barrister Mark Saunders reportedly ran for cover Tuesday night as they realized he was firing a shotgun from his $4.5 million home and some 30 responding law enforcement officers began taking positions from which they could return fire. Saunders, who was killed after a five-hour standoff, was…

May 8, 2008 6:26 PM CDT

Prof Promotes Latin American Legal Rights With CDs, Fashion Shows

An assistant dean at California Western law school in San Diego is trying to improve Latin American legal systems with innovative and offbeat projects. James Cooper says he worked for 15 months at Baker & McKenzie before he tired of “making the world safe for McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Levis,” he…

May 8, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

Suspect in Insider Trading Probe Had ‘Connection’ to Lawyer

Canadian and U.S. securities regulators are investigating possible insider trading in a probe focused on 11 Canadian takeovers during the past two years and a Minneapolis-based law firm that advised companies involved in each deal, a Canadian newspaper says. According to Ontario Superior Court documents, the Ontario Securities Commission is…

May 8, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

Released Guantanamo Detainee Became Suicide Bomber

A Kuwaiti detainee released from Guantanamo Bay became a suicide bomber in one of three suicide attacks last month in the Iraqi city of Mosul, according to the U.S. military. Officials identified the man as Abdullah Salim Ali al-Ajmi, released in 2005 after spending three years at Guantanamo, the New…

May 8, 2008 1:57 PM CDT

Prominent London Lawyer Killed in Police Shootout

Updated: An alcohol-fueled argument between two married London divorce lawyers may have led to a police shootout last night in which one was killed in their home in the expensive Chelsea neighborhood, stunning fellow practitioners. Complete details aren’t available, but barrister Mark Saunders is dead, and “it is believed Saunders…

May 7, 2008 4:26 PM CDT

Associates in the UK Foresee a Less Lucrative Future

A likely slowdown in associate pay increases in the U.K. may offer some signposts to help their U.S. law firm counterparts steer a course in challenging economic times. Although a few firms in the United Kingdom recently decided to increase salaries substantially for associate lawyers, most expect pay raises to…

May 2, 2008 11:30 PM CDT