Law Firms

Federal prosecutors have indicted eight former executives of the accounting firm KPMG on charges of conspiring to defraud the government by selling questionable tax shelters that deprived it of billions of dollars in revenue. The indictment, made public today in United States District Court in Manhattan, is a major step in the Justice Department’s criminal […]

DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe have drawn up battle lines in China as the rival firms fight for control of Coudert Brothers’ esteemed Beijing practice. DLA Piper has swooped for the majority of the lawyers in Coudert’s Beijing office, despite the fact that Orrick had paid Coudert’s New York management

Bankruptcy filings in the past few weeks have spiked to record highs as consumers rushed to file before a new, more stringent bankruptcy law takes effect on Monday, Oct. 17. For the week ending Oct. 8, bankruptcy courts reported a total of 102,863 filings, up from the previous record high of 68,387 the week before,

After almost five years on the run, the conman who stole the most valuable domain name in the world, sex.com, was today handed over to US authorities. The arrest of Stephen Cohen, 57, is the latest twist in the most extraordinary legal epic from the dot.com boom: a virtual tug-of-war which became a multi-million dollar

The latest claims — which are being brought against the firm by intranet projects manager Shazia Wahab — were reaching the close of an employment tribunal. Wahab has made two separate claims against the firm for discrimination covering sex and race, and discrimination against her as a part-time employee. The Department of Trade & Industry

In Indonesia’s latest bombing incident, at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, accusatory fingers are once again pointed at Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the terror network allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. The trail pointed to JI even before the smoke from the rubble had settled. This is because in past weeks Indonesian police have arrested suspected JI members.

The move highlights the difficulties that the large accountancy firms face in trying to retain tax work revenues following last year’s clampdown on the non-audit services they can offer audit clients. Regulators and politicians became concerned in the wave of corporate scandal that the independence of audits was being jeopardised by accountancy firms gaining lucrative

Rationalisation and consolidation have been the hallmarks of the year in New Zealand, as the drift of corporate head offices to Australia has forced practices to meet the challenge of ever increasing competition within a shrinking domestic market. “I’d say the market in New Zealand has been a lot more competitive for a lot longer

Hammonds’ average profits per partner have slumped 18 per cent from £330,000 to £272,000. Turnover for 2003-2004 is down 1 per cent to £136m, which includes a £7.1m loss of revenue due to the departure of the entire commercial insurance team at the beginning of the last financial year. Senior partner Richard Burns said: “We