United Kingdom

Clifford Chance to Open 1st Office in Africa; Move Follows Similar Announcement By A&O

Clifford Chance has announced that it is opening its first office in Africa. The London-based megafirm plans to plant its flag in Morocco by the end of the year, reports Legal Week. Mustapha Mourahib, a Paris-based partner who is a Moroccan national, will move there to establish the firm’s African…

Jul 26, 2011 4:49 PM CDT

Did News of the World Reporters Pay Police to Track Media Targets via Cellphone ‘Pings’?

Authorities in London are looking into allegations that a now-defunct British tabloid not only hacked into the telephone voicemail accounts of individuals in the news but paid corrupt police officers to help target their subjects’ geographic locations by tracking their cellphone signals, the Associated Press reports. The practice, known as…

Jul 21, 2011 7:30 PM CDT

ABC News Says DOJ to Expand FBI Probe of News of the World; Possible FCPA Violations at Issue

Relying on unidentified sources, ABC News says the U.S. Department of Justice is going to look at whether the British tabloid News of the World routinely paid bribes to police. If so, that could implicate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, potentially leading to a larger–and expensive–U.S. probe of the newspaper,…

Jul 19, 2011 11:32 PM CDT

Obama Motorcade Fined $200 for Not Paying $16 London Congestion Fee; US Embassy Claims Immunity

After allegedly ignoring a $16 congestion fee that President Barack Obama’s motorcade should have paid for traveling through London, the White House has been hit with a $200 fine. But while the president’s office is apparently expected to ante up after what London’s mayor describes as a very friendly conversation…

Jul 19, 2011 11:02 PM CDT

Voted Into Milbank Partnership, SJ Berwin Competition Chief & 2nd Partner Opt Not to Make the Leap

Voted in as partners of New York’s Milbank Tweed  Hadley & McCloy, two SJ Berwin competition lawyers changed their minds and rescinded their resignations from the London-based law firm, reports Legal Week. Competition chief Stephen Kon and fellow partner and practitioner Cameron Firth declined to comment, as did SJ Berwin.…

Jul 18, 2011 9:12 PM CDT

Conflicts Questions Raised About Law Firm that Found No Widespread Hacking at Tabloid

Updated: Did the law firm that found no evidence of widespread hacking at the News of the World tabloid have a conflict of interest? ABC News put the conflicts question to Harbottle & Lewis, which declined an interview with the network. According to ABC, Harbottle & Lewis represented Prince William…

Jul 18, 2011 12:47 PM CDT

Law Classmate: I Learned My Lover Was Married When I Read of His Wife’s Murder in the Legal News

Testifying in a law school classmate’s murder trial, a former Sidley Austin attorney told the court yesterday she had no idea he was married until she read in a legal trade publication that he had been charged with his wife’s murder. Richard Davies Jones, 31, is accused of stabbing his…

Jul 14, 2011 10:17 PM CDT

Probe of UK Tabloid’s Phone-Hacking Expands; FBI is Looking at Claims 9/11 Victims Were Targeted

It isn’t just on the other side of the pond that a British tabloid newspaper is being investigated for alleged widespread telephone hacking. The FBI has now opened a preliminary inquiry into claims that News Corp.’s News of the World may have illegally sought access to the phone records of…

Jul 14, 2011 8:06 PM CDT

Law Firm’s iPhone App Helps Employers Calculate Unfair Dismissal Costs

A Scottish law firm is providing its human resources clients with an iPhone app to help answer questions about employment law. The HR Advisor app calculates unfair dismissal costs, provides answers to questions about topics such as maternity and paternity leave and links to helpful government websites, reports the BBC…

Jul 12, 2011 5:49 PM CDT

High-Up Cop ‘Like Clouseau’ as ‘06 News of World Probe Fizzled; Was Ex-Prime Minister Hacked?

Multiple police leaders in charge of a botched 2006 investigation of alleged widespread telephone hacking by the News of the World were grilled today by members of a British Parliamentary committee. But one in particular was on the hot seat. Former Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman of the Metropolitan Police Service…

Jul 12, 2011 5:21 PM CDT

Influenced by US Lawyers, UK Attorneys Relax Dress Rules, Experiment with Skinny Ties, Bright Socks

Influenced by United States law firm casual dress trends, British attorneys are starting to loosen up on their traditional suit-and-tie-at-all-times attire. But they are far from adopting the attorney “beachwear” accepted at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, where a founding partner recently told the careerist that the firm…

Jul 8, 2011 2:18 PM CDT

Growing LeClairRyan Acquires 14-Lawyer Euro-Focused NY Boutique

A growing Atlantic and Northeast regional law firm is expanding the attorney roster at its New York office by more than 50 percent with the acquisition of a 14-lawyer boutique there. Based in Richmond, Va., LeClairRyan will have about 350 lawyers on its roster and 40 in its New York…

Jul 7, 2011 9:17 PM CDT

Lawyer Says UK Tabloid May Have Hacked His Phone Messages for Princess Di Info

The list of people whose phones may have been hacked by a British tabloid is growing. The latest addition to the list is Michael Mansfield, a lawyer who represented the family of Princess Di’s boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, at the inquest into her death, according to the Associated Press and the…

Jul 7, 2011 3:32 PM CDT

Allen & Overy ‘Quite Pleased’ with $1.87B Revenue Record

Boosted by a new Australia practice, London-based Allen & Overy saw its gross revenue rise to a record $1.87 billion in the fiscal year that ended at the end of April 2011. The magic circle firm is “quite pleased” with the year’s financial results, managing partner Wim Dejonghe tells the…

Jul 5, 2011 11:39 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Revenue Rises 2 Percent, Partner Profit Jumps 8 Percent to $1.6M

Clifford Chance has announced its 2010-11 financial results, which included a 2 percent increase in law firm revenue and an 8 percent rise in average profit per equity partner. It is now just over 1 million pounds, after a 25 percent PEP leap to 933,000 pounds in the prior fiscal…

Jul 5, 2011 7:11 PM CDT