International

Japanese Justice System May Change

Criticized for its almost 100 percent conviction rate, Japan’s legal system is in need of an overhaul, many believe. Among the critics is the country’s bar association, which condemned the execution of three inmates last week and called for a death penalty moratorium until the fairness of the justice system…

Aug 27, 2007 9:52 PM CDT

Top Drug Dog to Help Smugglers?

One of Mexico’s most skilled drug-detection dogs was stolen from his shipping kennel at an airport, leading to fears that he could be collaborating with criminals. Trained to sniff out drugs, Rex IV may now be used to help drug-dealers figure out how to smuggle their wares without detection, authorities…

Aug 27, 2007 9:33 PM CDT

Few Magic Circle Firms in DC

London’s top five “Magic Circle” law firms have offices throughout the world, but they appear reluctant to enter the U.S. capital. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has only about 20 lawyers in Washington, D.C., and Clifford Chance has about 60, Legal Times reports. Other firms have stayed away. Giles Rubens, a consultant…

Aug 27, 2007 11:25 AM CDT

Pakistan Court Opens Presidential Race

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that exile Nawaz Sharif may return to run for president. Sharif is a longtime enemy to the current president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the New York Times (reg. req.) reports. He was a popular prime minister in the 1990s, although he repressed civil liberties and cracked…

Aug 24, 2007 3:38 PM CDT

Watch Out, UK Wireless Thieves

Those who see nothing wrong with piggybacking on someone else’s wireless Internet service may want to think twice about doing so in and around London. British authorities have arrested a 39-year-old man seen using his laptop on the street, charging him with what the London Times describes as suspicion of…

Aug 23, 2007 4:47 PM CDT

Aging Nazi Victims Seek Home-Care Funds from Germany

Although World War II ended more 60 years ago, the horrors of the Nazi era are still alive in the minds of many Jewish survivors and others who were targets of Third Reich. As they aged, traumatic experiences they successfully suppressed for decades have come back to haunt them. Some…

Aug 23, 2007 3:41 PM CDT

Court Case Cited in Pakistani’s Release

The lawyer for an al-Qaida suspect says his release may be because of the Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to review his detention without charges. Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan had been held without charges since July 2004 when he was arrested in a joint Pakistani-British operation, the New York Times reports.…

Aug 22, 2007 1:12 PM CDT

Mexico, US Lawyers Trade Offices

In a new program at O’Melveny & Myers, an associate from the mega-firm has traded places for three months with a counterpart from a 22-lawyer Mexico City firm with an impressive client list. Although the imported lawyer won’t practice law in Los Angeles, he is learning about American culture and…

Aug 21, 2007 9:18 PM CDT

Facebook Costs, Benefits Firms

Employees surfing the Internet at work are nothing new. But Facebook is particularly tempting, a recent study finds, because the social networking site is so addictive. Workers checking their Facebook profile pages and seeing what’s happening in real-time in online social networks account for billions of dollars worth of lost…

Aug 21, 2007 8:23 PM CDT

New Norm: Sending Legal Work Abroad

Once upon a time, U.S.-based corporations routinely hired American law firms to do virtually all of their legal work. But today, using cheap foreign lawyers—or even American lawyers in lower-paid parts of the country—to do routine tasks such as document review and conducting due diligence on merger partners is becoming…

Aug 21, 2007 3:31 PM CDT

Lawyer Helps Free Ex-Classmate

A lawyer from DLA Piper in Washington, D.C., has helped free a former Harvard classmate from a Chinese prison. Jared Genser works on behalf of imprisoned dissidents through a boutique law firm he founded called Freedom Now, American Lawyer reports. Thanks in large part to his efforts, the man who…

Aug 21, 2007 12:11 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Settles Sexual Pref Case

In a precedent-setting case in the United Kingdom, a London-based megafirm has reportedly reached a settlement with a former partner who claimed he was discriminated against because of his sexual preference. The agreement, between famed “magic circle” firm Clifford Chance and former partner Michael Bryceland, is for an undisclosed amount.…

Aug 20, 2007 7:30 PM CDT

UK Lawyer Jailed for False Client Alibi

A Scottish lawyer who gave a client accused of abduction and extortion a false alibi has now himself been sentenced to prison. In a hearing before the High Court in Glasgow, Shahid Pervez, 39, a conveyancing solicitor, “claimed he agreed to the false alibi after threats were made,” reports the…

Aug 20, 2007 4:49 PM CDT

Cops Plead in Apartheid Underpants Case

A top cop, three other police officers and the former South Africa justice minister have pleaded guilty to poisoning a prominent black activist’s underpants in an attempted murder in 1989 that nearly succeeded. Under a plea bargain, they received suspended sentences of between five and 10 years. The controversial case…

Aug 17, 2007 10:51 PM CDT

World’s 25 Oddest Laws List Includes US

Think you’ve heard it all? Even seasoned practitioners may not be aware of what a British newspaper lists as the world’s 25 oddest laws. For example, a French pig may not legally be named Napoleon (item 22 on the list), reports the London Times. Nor may an unmarried woman parachute…

Aug 16, 2007 10:59 PM CDT