Law Firms

A military judge Wednesday threw out Pfc. Lynndie England’s guilty plea to prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, saying that he was not convinced that she knew that her actions were wrong at the time. Col. James Pohl entered a plea of not guilty for England to a charge of conspiring with Pvt. Charles Graner Jr. […]

Though few U.S. law firms stock vegemite or serve flat white coffee in their cafeterias, they have embraced Australian lawyers in almost every other way. They may soon embrace many more. On Wednesday, Congress passed legislation approving a separate visa category for Australian professionals. The E-3 visa program provides the country with 10,500 slots annually,

Jay Leno, the host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” testified today that the young accuser in the Michael Jackson child molesting trial called him several times to say he was a big fan of the talk show host, but that he never asked him for any money. Mr. Leno’s testimony did not bolster the strategy

Lawyers in Michael Jackson’s child abuse trial are making their closing arguments as the long-running trial inches towards a conclusion. Prosecution and defence teams will have one final say, after trial judge Rodney Melville spent Wednesday issuing instructions to jurors. The jury may start deliberations on Friday into claims the singer abused a 13-year-old cancer

A gay senior associate in the Los Angeles office of New York’s White & Case has sued the firm for sexual harassment and sex discrimination, claiming two male partners created a “intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment” through inappropriate comments and behavior. In a suit filed June 2 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Christopher

Last year, Tsan Abrahamson jumped from her post as worldwide IP and licensing counsel at LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. to start her own firm focused on sweepstakes and trademark law. Now she’s getting reinforcements. Katherine Spelman, a partner at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, joined the firm last week, along with Deborah Davis Han, a former

In the fast-growing, highly lucrative arena of real estate investment trusts, competition among law firms for established REIT practices is cutthroat — and turnabout is fair play. Six weeks after its REIT practice was decimated by the departure of a 10-lawyer team from its Raleigh office, Alston & Bird early this month attempted to raid

Merck & Co. must pay more than $253 million to the family of a Texas man who died after taking the company’s Vioxx painkiller, a jury ruled in the first personal-injury case over the drug to come to trial. Jurors deliberated more than 10 hours in Angleton, Texas, before awarding $24.4 million in actual damages

Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, like Sandra Day O’Connor, is polished and popular, with a warm plainspoken style and surprising pluck. When it comes to substance, however, the two have differences that will nudge the divided court to the right if, as expected, Roberts is confirmed to succeed the retiring O’Connor. The differences have been

To understand what makes Skip Brittenham one of the most powerful entertainment attorneys in the country, picture him fly-fishing. Standing thigh-deep in one of his favorite roaring rivers, he knows just how to gauge where the biggest trout will be and which fly will catch its attention. Most important, he knows precisely when to strike.