Law Firms

Lawyers representing Michael Jackson have asked the judge in the singer’s child sex abuse case to declare a mistrial. They say they have evidence that witnesses have discussed their testimony outside the courtroom, in violation of court rules. Earlier on Friday, jurors heard for the first time about previous claims of child abuse against the […]

The case, which is expected to last until Christmas, is likely to have a significant impact on the accountancy profession, the role of non-executive directors and Equitable’s policyholders. Vanni Treves, chairman of Equitable Life, is understood to have made an attempt to get the troubled life insurer’s former auditors to enter into talks about settling

A judge refused to bring an early end to the corporate fraud trial of Richard Scrushy on Thursday, rejecting defense requests to throw out key charges that the fired HealthSouth Corp. chief directed a huge accounting scheme. The decision by U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre — who did dismiss one of three other counts accusing

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider whether the government can withhold federal funds from colleges that bar military recruiters, wading into a dispute over campus free speech rights. The justices will review in their next term beginning in October a ruling allowing law schools to restrict recruiters as a way of protesting the

Plans to cut the amount of money spent on legal aid and stop criminal trials over-running in England and Wales are to be unveiled by the Lord Chancellor. Under the proposals, lawyers would bid for legal aid contracts and they would have to foot the bill if a criminal case lasted longer than expected. Since

A British mother awarded £3m after divorcing her wealthy American husband in London has had her claim struck out by a New York court in a ruling that is expected to be seized on by spouses trying to avoid expensive divorce settlements in this country. The case was seen by US divorce lawyers as a

The Christian legal association involved in the Terry Schiavo case has taken up the fight over a castle-in-the-sky mural at a Napa school that some students have complained is too religious. Napa High School students launched a petition drive last month to stop classmate Kyle Trudelle from painting his mural on a school wall. Students

HealthSouth, the scandal-plagued healthcare services group, said on Wednesday it agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims brought against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC sued HealthSouth in March 2003, accusing the firm of overstating profits. The settlement pact resolves that litigation only, said HealthSouth, which is involved in several other

Even in a city accustomed to wel- coming immigrants, they are a breed apart: law firms that leave their home markets, where they often dominate, to open offices in New York, where they struggle for a foothold. But come they have-and do-inexorably, for the last 25 years. By our count, 94 out-of-town firms in The

A high court judge who is leaving the bench to join a firm of solicitors because he is bored with judging took fellow judges by surprise yesterday. Mr Justice Laddie has risked the disapproval of the legal establishment by breaking the unwritten convention that the bench is a life sentence ended only by retirement or