Law Firms

Federal prosecutors in New York have asked a judge to sentence former WorldCom Inc. chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers to spend the rest of his life in prison for leading the largest accounting fraud in U.S. history. In a court filing unsealed yesterday, the government urged U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones to reject any […]

Charges against a wealthy California investor accused of taking kickbacks to file shareholder lawsuits show that federal prosecutors really want to go after securities law firm Milberg Weiss and its principals, the investor’s lawyer said on Monday. In a statement on Monday, the firm said that the fees it had paid were part of a

Last weekend over 110,000 music fans paid £125 ($228) each to attend the Glastonbury festival in Britain’s West Country and hear their favourite bands perform. In years gone by, many thousands more attended than paid, as less scrupulous festival-goers jumped the fence to watch the bands for free. The organisers stamped out the practice by

Public health groups, saying they lacked confidence in the government’s handling of the case, asked on Wednesday to intervene in the federal racketeering lawsuit against major tobacco companies. The six groups contended that prosecutors were no longer representing their interests after scaling down a proposed penalty. The filing to U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler asked

Federal prosecutors here have charged a retired Palm Springs, Calif., lawyer with taking kickbacks from a prominent New York law firm in exchange for serving as plaintiff in dozens of class-action and shareholder lawsuits that earned the firm $44 million over 20 years. The indictment against 78-year-old Seymour M. Lazar, unsealed Thursday, stems from a

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

An Italian judge has formally charged the founder of dairy giant Parmalat and 15 other executives over their role in the financial scandal that resulted in the company’s insolvency. Three financial institutions are also facing charges in the trial, which opens Sept. 28 in Milan. CEO and founder Calisto Tanzi has been ordered to stand

U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell isn’t the sort of judge you would call a weak-kneed, bleeding-heart, soft-on-crime liberal. From his clerkship with then-Appeals Court Judge Antonin Scalia, to his provocative articles as a University of Utah law professor, to his (unsuccessful) U.S. Supreme Court argument that police shouldn’t have to warn suspects they can remain

The ruling, which hinged on jurisdiction issues, may not put an end to the case, which began working it way through the courts in 1991. There are more than 11,000 claims pending and attorneys at Miami-based Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson expect to spend years getting all of the claims paid. “We expect

The collapse of one of Britain’s most expensive criminal prosecutions has left taxpayers footing an estimated bill of £65m. A judge finally called a halt to the complex fraud hearing after defence lawyers accused the prosecution of withholding vital evidence which had denied the defendants the chance of a fair trial. It is believed to