W. John Brennan, 57, chief judge of state district court in Albuquerque, appeared to be “extremely intoxicated” when he was pulled over just after midnight, police spokesman Trish Ahrensfield said. Officers also found what they believed to be cocaine in his vehicle, she said. Ahrensfield said officers stopped Brennan after he tried to avoid a […]

In the American justice system, trial by a jury of one’s peers is a constitutional right having iconic significance. But two recent white-collar criminal trials in New York have cast doubt on the integrity of jury verdicts. Martha Stewart was convicted of lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission about a questionable stock trade and

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

A trial in the case could start as soon as September 13, the date that Judge Rodney Melville set during a hearing in Santa Maria on Friday. During the court proceedings, Jackson’s lead attorney, Thomas Meserau, said Michael Jackson’s $3 million bail amount is excessive. However, prosecutors argue $3 million is a fraction of Jackson’s

Trevor Kennedy’s relationship with disgraced stockbroker Rene Rivkin has cast his name in infamy. Rivkin’s assertion in an interview with a Swiss district attorney that Kennedy held part of a mystery parcel of shares in the controversial Offset Alpine has jeopardised everything. In the public imagination, Kennedy is inextricably linked to Rivkin’s calamitous and bizarre

Mr. Rosenbaum is a lawyer and a professor at Fordham Law School, but his aim here is to burn down his own house. He proposes a sort of talking cure for the legal system. There is, he says, too much emphasis on money in civil cases and on punishment in criminal ones. The system should

By Robert Joffe Presiding Partner, Cravath Fifteen years ago a walk on the west side of New York City would have been considered wild. And that statement might be polite. Today, the west side of Manhattan is one of the most vibrant neighbourhood’s in one the World’s most exciting city. The latest showcase: The new

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have emerged as the main lawyers on the long-awaited flotation of US search engine Google. Wilson Sonsini’s chairman and chief executive Larry Sonsini and corporate partner David Segre are acting for established client Google on the $2.7bn IPO. While Palo Alto-based corporate partner William Hinman

The results of Legal Week’s 2003 US financial rankings show that the top 50 firms by revenue averaged growth in fees of 10.3% — pushing annual revenues for ranked firms to $28.84bn while average profits per partner were up 10.2%. The results, which look certain to comprehensively outpace those of their European counterparts, confirm that

One Essex Court head Lord Grabiner QC is set to earn £3 million while his arch rival, Essex Court Chambers Gordon Pollock QC, is tied up in the ongoing BCCI trial. Pollock, who is devoted to representing BCCI’s liquidators against the Bank of England until at least 2005, has commanded a £3m brief fee, putting