International

Baker Forms New Practice Group, Cites International Antitrust Concerns

Baker & McKenzie has formed an antitrust practice group in its Tokyo office in advance of a likely broadening of Japanese antitrust rules. The firm’s Tokyo managing partner, Jeremy Pitts, said the new group was created in response to the likely rule changes and the need to apply antitrust rules…

Jan 24, 2008 1:29 PM CST

Debevoise Probe of Siemens Hits Roadblocks

Debevoise & Plimpton’s internal corporate probe of misconduct at Siemens AG has been hindered by uncooperative employees and prosecutors. The investigation into allegations of bribes for business was proceeding so slowly last summer that some board members questioned whether the law firm should have been hired, according to the Wall…

Jan 23, 2008 8:11 PM CST

Paralegals Sue Over Regulation By Canadian Bar Association

A group of paralegals in Ontario, Canada, has filed a court challenge to a new regulatory scheme that puts them under the authority of a bar association. While the paralegals welcome regulation, they believe they, like lawyers, should be under the authority of a group in which they are full-fledged…

Jan 23, 2008 6:15 PM CST

Allen & Overy Fields New Trial Management Team

One of London’s biggest and best-known law firms has restructured its litigation management team, adding a steering group of international partners and a newly created firmwide general counsel to help the global head of litigation oversee the magic circle firm’s worldwide operations. As part of this change in focus, the…

Jan 23, 2008 5:53 PM CST

Author Put Dad in Prison for Child Abuse, But Still Loves Him

A British author who says she was sexually abused by her father since age 8 has written a book about the experience—and the strong emotional bond she still has with both of her parents, as an adult, despite their failure to protect her as she was growing up. After she…

Jan 23, 2008 5:35 PM CST

Canadian Senator, a Lawyer, Investigated for Alleged Overbilling

A Canadian senator representing British Columbia is under investigation for allegedly overbilling one of her legal clients, a Catholic missionary order. In one instance Sen. Mobina Jaffer is suspected of charging for 30 hours of work in a single day, CBC News reports. The Law Society of British Columbia is…

Jan 23, 2008 11:34 AM CST

Which Lawyers Love Their Jobs?

Young lawyers who love their work practice in a variety of areas. But one thing many have in common is that they wanted to be attorneys from a young age, according to the London Times. “I always wanted to be a lawyer. I was always thinking about it and looking…

Jan 22, 2008 5:51 PM CST

Deposed Pakistan Chief Justice Still Under House Arrest

More than 10 weeks after the president of Pakistan suspended the country’s constitution and declared what many considered martial law, the chief justice of the country’s supreme court remains under house arrest with his family. Nearly half of the not quite 100 top judges in Pakistan lost their jobs in…

Jan 19, 2008 12:53 AM CST

Insurer Says It’s Not Responsible for TB Lawyer Tort Claims

The company that provided homeowners’ insurance for Andrew Speaker, the Atlanta lawyer who traveled despite a tuberculosis diagnosis, claims in a lawsuit it is not responsible for tort claims against him. USAA Insurance asserts in a petition for declaratory judgment that it has no responsibility for damages in a Canadian…

Jan 18, 2008 4:30 PM CST

Retention Rates for Trainee Lawyers High at Top U.K. Law Firms

Retention of trainee lawyers is high at many of the top British law firms. Eighteen out of London’s top 25 law firms retained more than 90 percent of their trainee lawyers hired in March, Legal Week reports. Six firms held on to all of their trainees. The firms that made…

Jan 18, 2008 1:31 PM CST

Lawyers Can Trade Vacation Days at Allen & Overy

Seeking to address work-life balance issues, the U.K. law firm Allen & Overy is allowing lawyers to trade vacation days. Lawyers and staffers can sell part of their vacation time back to the firm or can buy extra days. The number of days that can be traded is based on…

Jan 18, 2008 1:18 PM CST

Big U.K. Firm Breaks With Tradition, Takes Case Against Bank

In a tradition-breaking move that could soon be copied by other renowned “magic circle” law firms in London, Linklaters is helping a longtime client file suit against another financial institution. It is advising Barclays Capital in a major dispute with the U.S.-based Bear Stearns investment bank, with Lawrence Byrne, co-managing…

Jan 17, 2008 11:07 PM CST

US Jury Consultants Help U.K. Lawyers

It’s a relatively common practice in the United States for trial lawyers to seek help from jury consultants when preparing arguments and selecting jurors. But the idea is still a bit unusual in Britain. Now, however, an increasing number of lawyers in the U.K. are looking to consultants from the…

Jan 16, 2008 6:22 PM CST

New ‘Big Brother’ Software Will Monitor Workers’ Facial Expressions

Privacy advocates, rev your engines: Microsoft is developing what a British newspaper describes as “Big Brother” software that will allow employers remotely to monitor their workers’ productivity, competence and physical well-being to a degree never before seen. Among other data, wireless sensors will provide employers with workers’ heart rates and…

Jan 16, 2008 4:41 PM CST

Congress Briefed on Legal Obstacles to Blackwater Shooting Prosecution

The Justice Department has told congressional staffers that legal obstacles could hinder prosecutions of Blackwater security guards who shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in September. Justice officials told staffers of two potential problems, but said neither are insurmountable, the New York Times reports. A federal grand jury is weighing…

Jan 16, 2008 12:58 PM CST