Legal News

Plea bargaining: not perfect, but it works

Posted on March 05, 2008
Wherever you stand on the plea bargain debate, this week’s pictures of Conrad Black reporting to a Florida jail remind us that they work. But while the US steams ahead in calling serious fraudsters to account, alarming reports suggest the UK is still dragging its feet.

FSA gets tough in fight against insider trading

Posted on March 05, 2008
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is becoming increasingly aggressive in its battle against insider trading and market abuse, adopting techniques such as cold calling and demanding comprehensive records of traders’ activities.

Battle for disturbed tycoon’s £10m leaves Tories with huge legal bill

Posted on March 05, 2008
The Tories are facing a £700,000 legal bill for trying to hold on to a £10 million bequest from a mentally unfit tycoon who believed Margaret Thatcher could save the world from Satan.

Chancellor Alistair Darling to close loophole in finance deals based on Sharia

Posted on March 04, 2008
The Chancellor is expected next week to close a loophole in Sharia finance rules that have allowed commercial property investors to avoid paying stamp duty on more than £1 billion of deals, <i>The Times</i> has learnt.

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Ferrari refuse to stretch a point

Posted on March 04, 2008
The owner of the world’s fastest limousine — a Ferrari that can travel at speeds of up to 166mph — is facing legal action for infringing the Ferrari trademark.

‘Bribe’ for foreign prisoners to return home triples to £3,000

Posted on March 04, 2008
A “bribe” to persuade foreign prisoners to leave Britain has been more than tripled to £3,000 per offender by the Government as part of its drive to tackle prison overcrowding.

Mortgage fraud is funding terrorism, say police

Posted on March 04, 2008
Terrorists and criminals are conning British banks out of £700 million a year to help to finance their illegal activities, a police report has revealed.

Kirkland & Ellis loses buy-out star McKeeve

Posted on March 04, 2008
Raymond McKeeve, one of two high-profile private equity lawyers that left Linklaters for Kirkland & Ellis in 2006, has quit the US firm to pursue opportunities outside of law.

Lords of the 'magic circle': where are they now?

Posted on March 04, 2008
<b>Allen & Overy</b>

Balbir Singh is highest-paid legal aid barrister

Posted on March 04, 2008
A Birmingham lawyer was the highest-paid legal aid criminal barrister for the second year running, official figures revealed today.

Retirement? I’m far, far too young

Posted on March 03, 2008
<a href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article3475446.ece">Lords of the 'magic circle': where are they now?</a>

Conrad Black defiant as he is jailed in Florida

Posted on March 03, 2008
Conrad Black, the disgraced British peer and media tycoon, declared with typical defiance yesterday that it was “not the end of the world” as he swapped his champagne lifestyle for a prison cell in Florida.

Non-doms: round up those woolly thinkers at the Treasury

Posted on March 03, 2008
What is it about the British Establishment — Church and State alike — that renders it incapable of clarity in expression? Early last month it was the Archbishop of Canterbury wriggling out of the row over Sharia by putting the blame on “unclarity”...

Legal Moves

Posted on March 03, 2008
* <b>David Morley</b> has been elected to succeed Guy Beringer as senior partner of <b>Allen & Overy</b> (A&O).

Lawyer of the Week: Amber Melville-Brown

Posted on March 03, 2008
Amber Melville-Brown, a consultant at David Price Solicitors & Advocates, acts for Robert Brown, who claims that he may be the son of the late Princess Margaret and has won a Court of Appeal ruling reinstating his application to inspect the wills of the Princess and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

In the City: March 4

Posted on March 03, 2008
<b>Jamming session</b>

Teenager wins age discrimination claim

Posted on March 03, 2008
A 19-year-old woman who claimed that she was sacked for being too young has been awarded more than £16,000 in compensation after winning a ground-breaking case against her former employer.

Surgeon says Diana ended their affair after holiday with Fayeds

Posted on March 03, 2008
It was Diana, Princess of Wales, who ended her two-year affair with a Pakistani heart surgeon shortly before she died, and not the other way round, her inquest was told yesterday.

The way he was: Conrad Black in pictures

Posted on March 03, 2008
Lord Black of Crossharbour, the disgraced media mogul, has begun his 6½ year sentence for fraud. The former chairman of Hollinger, the world's third-largest newspaper group, was convicted in July 2007.

Archbishops have 'serious reservations' about blasphemy repeal

Posted on February 29, 2008
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have warned the Government that they have “serious reservations” about the abolition of the blasphemy laws.

Lawyers: the OFT flexes its muscles, but will it work?

Posted on February 29, 2008
The OFT’s plans to offer up to £100,000 for information leading to the break-up of cartels is an aggressive move from a regulator on a bit of a roll. Recent successes including the £121.5 million fine against British Airways for price-fixing on fuel surcharges with Virgin Atlantic (which was given immunity), fines totalling £120 million in the supermarkets price-fixing probe and the arrest of three British executives involved in a marine hoses cartel have given the OFT a new wave of confidence.

New York passes law against 'libel tourists'

Posted on February 29, 2008
Politicians in New York have acted to protect the state’s writers and publishers from so-called libel tourism after an English libel judgment went against an American author.

Top law firms in cartel defence

Posted on February 29, 2008
Cartel defence, a sub-section of European and Competition law, has been a major growth area for UK law firms over the past five to ten years, with competition experts transformed from a supporting role to the frontline.

UBS retaliates with counter-claim against HSH Nordbank

Posted on February 29, 2008
UBS, the Swiss investment banking group hit with a $500 million ($£252 million) sub-prime lawsuit by disgruntled client HSH Nordbank, has filed a counter claim in London insisting it is not to blame for the German bank’s losses.

OFT offers whistle-blowers £100,000 reward

Posted on February 29, 2008
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to offer whistle-blowers up to £100,000 to inform on illegal cartels.

Weird Cases: judges' attire

Posted on February 29, 2008
<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/system/topicRoot/Weird_Cases/">Read more Weird Cases</a>

Chris Saul: 'It will be a challenge'

Posted on February 29, 2008
<a href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article3204938.ece">Christopher Saul</a>, head of corporate at Slaughter and May, will take over as the firm's senior partner when Tim Clark steps down at the end of April...

European judges thwart attempts to deport foreign terrorist suspects

Posted on February 28, 2008
Britain’s efforts to deport terrorist suspects including the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada were dealt a serious blow by the European Court of Human Rights yesterday.

The Law Explored: consent

Posted on February 28, 2008
The ruling body of the Australian Football League is planning to release an educational DVD designed to help players with their attitudes to women. The interactive film was made after a series of sex scandals hit the sport. Some of the scenarios in the film involve alcohol and sex...

Attack on non-doms has lawyers in a flap

Posted on February 28, 2008
Property lawyers may enjoy a short-term boost while their wealthier clients sell off their London homes, but new tax plans aimed at rich individuals who are not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes — non-doms, in other words — have received a resounding thumbs down from the British legal profession.

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