International

Sexual Assault Still a Taboo Subject, Often Not Reported

An Australian woman who wrote last year about the experience of fighting off a stranger who attacked her on the street says doing so has been enlightening. Dozens of victims of sexual assault have spoken to her about their own experiences as a result; some were people she knew but…

Mar 26, 2008 3:33 PM CDT

Pakistan Judges Freed by New Prime Minister

In his first act as Pakistan’s new prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani today freed the country’s deposed supreme court chief justice and some 60 other jurists from the house arrest under which they have been held since November. “This is a historic moment, ushering in an era of democracy that…

Mar 24, 2008 8:36 PM CDT

Nixon Peabody Opens China Office

Already active in Chinese legal matters, Rochester, N.Y.-based Nixon Peabody has decided to open its first Chinese office. The Shanghai shop will be the 700-lawyer firm’s second international office (the first was in London), and its 18th office overall. For now, it will be staffed by rotating U.S. lawyers, but…

Mar 24, 2008 5:09 PM CDT

Most Top London Law Firms Seek Investor Funding for Lawsuits

Once unheard-of, third-party funding is now a standard option for clients bringing suit with the help of London’s top 10 law firms. And, with an expected increase in litigation on the horizon already, this could help swell a practice-area surge into something more like a tsunami. Eight of the top…

Mar 21, 2008 9:21 PM CDT

False Rumors Hit U.K. Bank’s Stock Hard; Officials Pursue ‘Market Abuse’

Updated: Seeking to profit from the current climate of financial uncertainty, unscrupulous traders have allegedly spread false rumors that banks in the United Kingdom are in trouble and then profited from short sales of their stock on the London market in a “trash ‘n cash” scheme. A false rumor yesterday…

Mar 20, 2008 4:20 PM CDT

Legal Assistant Spent $1.4M of Firm Trust Money on Herself

A former legal assistant with a major Canadian law firm reportedly stole $1.4 million from firm trust accounts over a three-and-a-half-year period by forging attorney signatures and creating falsified checks and requisition forms, among other methods. When bank statements arrived at Bennett Jones, in Calgary, Penny Marcy Myslichuk would remove…

Mar 19, 2008 4:19 PM CDT

Bad Hair Day Creates Sleek New Style for McCartney’s Divorce Lawyer

Despite her post-courtroom claims of being pleased with the not quite $50 million divorce settlement she was awarded, Heather Mills doused lawyer Fiona Shackleton, who represents her estranged husband, Paul McCartney, with a glass of water immediately after the ruling was announced yesterday, the London Times reports. Yet the bad…

Mar 18, 2008 6:09 PM CDT

Why Heather Mills Got Merely $50M from Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney

Excepts from a ruling in the divorce case of former Beatle Paul McCartney help show why his estranged wife, Heather Mills, got a little under $50 million. She had reportedly been seeking $125 million from the top pop singing star, who was found by the judge to have a net…

Mar 18, 2008 3:59 PM CDT

Supreme Court Accepts African Prison Guard’s Asylum Appeal

A former prison camp guard who says he was forced to persecute others in Africa will get a chance to press his case for asylum with the U.S. Supreme Court. Daniel Girmai Negusie was denied asylum because he helped operate a prison camp in Eritrea during a war with Ethiopia,…

Mar 17, 2008 5:11 PM CDT

Rogue Trader in $7B SocGen Case Says Boss Watched

Jerome Kerviel says he used his manager’s computer at least one occasion as he racked up more than $7 billion in losses for French bank Société Générale. And, as he traded, he contends, his boss and colleagues sometimes watched, according to the London Times and Agence France-Presse. Kerviel also told…

Mar 17, 2008 4:36 PM CDT

Snake’s Alive! India Law Firm Opens London Office

An Indian law firm has created a stir by opening an office in London. “FoxMandal Little has become the first major Indian law house to set up a practice in the U.K. and in the process created quite a splash in the local legal community,” reports the Economic Times. Hundreds…

Mar 17, 2008 3:52 PM CDT

McCartney Ordered to Pay Ex $48.6M

Paul McCartney’s ex-wife, Heather Mills, will get $48.6 million in a divorce settlement. Mills is already holding assets worth $15.6 million, and she’ll get the rest of the award in a lump sum payment of $33 million, the Associated Press reports. She will also get $70,000 a year in child…

Mar 17, 2008 2:41 PM CDT

Record $26M for Bullied U.K. Lawyer

A London lawyer who was harassed and bullied by her colleagues at an asset management firm has won a record judgment of a little over $26 million to cover her lost income and benefits, psychiatric care and damage to her future prospects. It is reportedly more than twice the previous…

Mar 13, 2008 6:50 PM CDT

McDermott Denies Slow Payouts to Departing Partners, With Two Exceptions

McDermott Will & Emery, hit with a wave of defections at its London office, is now responding to claims that it has been late in repaying capital contributions to outgoing partners. McDermott acknowledges a dispute with one former partner over the repayment of capital and says it was late in…

Mar 13, 2008 4:54 PM CDT

Lisa Marie Presley Sues Paper: I Was Pregnant, Not Fat

Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of famed rock-and-roll singer Elvis Presley, has sued a British newspaper, contending that her privacy was invaded when it falsely claimed that she was fat. Rather than simply “piling on the pounds,” as the Daily Mail initially reported in an article criticizing her allegedly unhealthy…

Mar 11, 2008 8:05 PM CDT