Law Humor

Foreign Lawyers Banned In India?

Posted on December 17, 2009
Well they can take a holiday there but foreign firms may not be able to practice law in India. That seems to be the position after international firms Ashurst, Chadbourne & Parke and White & Case lost their long-running case against the Lawyers’ Collective...

A Collection of the Legally Odd

Posted on December 17, 2009
Here are some of the stranger legal oddities we have come across this week. *Is a sign for this really necessary? (Failblog via Law is Cool ) * In Holland, a man has complained to the police that his collection of ecstasy pills has been stolen. His explanation: ?I?ve tried it before but didn?t like it...

US Associates Get Festive Surprise

Posted on December 17, 2009
Some lucky US associates will be enjoying an unexpected extension to their Christmas break; others might be facing a less prosperous new year… Like a lot of law firms, Nixon Peabody took the conservative approach to recruitment this year by deferring new starters...

Lovells and Hogan & Hartson Confirm Transatlantic Tie-Up

Posted on December 16, 2009
Will this be the first of many? For Lovells and Hogan it should represent a strong strategic opportunity, cue their press statment: ?Hogan Lovells presents a compelling proposition to our clients and to the market more generally. ?The new firm will have unrivalled global capability and distinctive strengths in dispute resolution, regulatory, antitrust, corporate, finance, intellectual property [...

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Lehman Fees Pass Half Billion Dollar Mark

Posted on December 16, 2009
Christmas celebrations for insolvency specialists. Recent estimates have suggested that fees could reach a record $1.4 billion (£860m) for lawyers, accountants and other professionals working on the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy. The latest bankruptcy report filed by Weil Gotshal & Manges shows that a significant milestone has been blown away as insolvency professionals swept [...

One For Family Lawyers

Posted on December 16, 2009
In keeping with the festive spirit, something lighthearted to help the countdown to Christmas. Of particular interest to those specialising in divorce. Tenuous but funny. Via Family Lore (published by a specialist divorce lawyer)

Goldmans Faces Lawsuit Over Bonuses

Posted on December 15, 2009
Banks, bonuses and supertaxes are making the festive season a little less festive than they might normally. Goldman Sachs has become the international whipping boy on this issue and that trend doesn’t seem to be falling out of fashion just yet. Reuters reports : Goldman Sachs Group Inc is being sued by an institutional investor [...

Freshfields Warns of Hedge Fund Exit from Europe

Posted on December 15, 2009
It’s not just the bankers getting hit by a nasty Christmas surprise. Accountants and law firms are fielding criticism as details emerge of the fees they’ve generated from collapsing businesses. And Hedge funds are also getting it in the neck...

Law Student Seeks Study Break

Posted on December 15, 2009
Subtle it’s not. Law Student Seeks Study Break - m4w - 27 Date: 2009-12-05, 1:30PM EST Reply To This Post I’ll be blunt. It’s finals time and I’m pent up. I am tall, handsome, and will be a lawyer in 1 year. Looking for a date and some sexual reprieve...

The big freeze - slashed salaries and chopped bonus payouts; get used to them

Posted on December 14, 2009
If there were any wannabee lawyers or junior lawyers that were labouring under the illusion that 2010 was going to a cracker compared to the turmoil of 2008 and 09, bear this in mind. Associate Pay Cuts Here to Stay, Say Firms, Analysts A growing number of managing partners and management consultants say recent cuts to [...

Law Firm Merger Mania

Posted on December 14, 2009
There has been a lot of flirting amongst the top 100 law firms this year. Even if hasn’t led to much action. A new piece of research shows that three-quarters of top-100 law firms have been approached by other firms with a view to merging this year reports the Gazette ...

Anonymous Assistant: Political Ambitions

Posted on December 14, 2009
Ascending the law firm ladder, this is the part that you don’t get taught in law school - the political skills required for smooth promotion. As with anything, political skill and ambition don’t always go hand in hand, from this week’s Anonymous Assistant - Political Ambitions Jane is still upset about being promoted...

The Week: Bankers Stealing All the Limelight from Lawyers

Posted on December 11, 2009
Pretty much everything has been overshadowed this week by the PBR and the poor persecuted bankers. If you are a lawyer and actually getting a bonus this year, then at least you won’t see it savaged like your contemporaries in banks (even if it wasn’t quite as big to begin with)...

City Work Experience Student Gets Jail for Insider Trading

Posted on December 11, 2009
Far from bolstering his CV and chances of getting a decent job, Matthew Uberoi, 24, was found guilty along with his dad of insider dealing during his time as an intern at a City broker. The pair have been made an example of by the Financial Services Authority which managed to secure a [...

University Rankings, A Universal Law

Posted on December 11, 2009
Arbitrary you say? Any internationally (U.S.) produced table will look like this too. For the UK equivalent just substitute Yale and Harvard for Oxford and Cambridge. Ranking made easy. From Courtoons

Solicitor Accused in ?Lord? Davenport Fraud Allegations

Posted on December 10, 2009
Solicitor David Layard Horsfall, 54, has been accused of involvement in frauds in which wealthy celebrity clients were allegedly duped by a self-styled Lord. The celebrities apparently included Princess Diana’s former dress designer, Elizabeth Emanuel reports the Mail...

Illuminating Cases: Trademarks, Underwear and Camels

Posted on December 10, 2009
Anyone that has seen Private Parts about the life of outrageous US dj Howard Stern will not be hugely surprised by the context of this intellectual property dispute. From Las Vegas Trade Mark Attorney : On November 10, 2009, Howard had two females guests on his satellite radio show discussing their competing women?s undergarment products [...

Herbies Associate Falls Out of Love in Paris

Posted on December 09, 2009
Herbies may have a problem in Paris. The firm is being targeted for an action before the Paris Criminal Court for allegedly illegally employing an associate reports the Lawyer: The action is being brought by sole practitioner and member of the Syndicat des Avocats de France (SAF) Avi Bitton on behalf of a former Herbert [...

Court Proceedings Follow Multi-million Pound Gifts From L?Oreal Heiress

Posted on December 09, 2009
L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, 87, has been giving rather generously in her old age. She has apparently doled out £90m to L’Oreal’s chairman and former chief exec, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones and another £910m to a French society photographer, Francois-Marie Banier, 62...

Mail not arrived? It must be stolen.

Posted on December 09, 2009
With our postal system, an unlikely assumption. Via Legal Antics

Redundancy Watch: DLA thins out Middle East offices

Posted on December 08, 2009
As Dubai’s debt problems evolve, further signs of the slowdown in the Middle East legal markets have emerged. Seven lawyers and 10 support staff face the axe at DLA Piper in a new round of job cuts. The majority of the layoffs are in Dubai and affected the construction, real estate, project finance and development [...

Gambler being sued after $127m losing streak

Posted on December 08, 2009
We don’t believe that the UK plans for supercasinos were sunk by the idea that that the rich needed to be protected from themselves but given the financial crisis, maybe there’s something in it. And for the anti-supercasino crowd this case will be grist to the mill...

Prisoner?s Illegal Christmas Tree

Posted on December 08, 2009
"Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime." So it went. Or not so tough perhaps. TV’s, Playstations, ready access to home comforts, all part of the modern prison system. And it may not be such a bad thing if it helps to rehabilitate some of our burgeoning prison population...

Redundancy Watch: CMS Moscow

Posted on December 07, 2009
Less diamonds and caviar in Moscow these days. CMS Moscow has laid off 30 employees with 10 lawyers amongst the leavers. The office was made up via a merger of the local offices of CMS Cameron McKenna French and German alliance firms earlier this year but has since seen a number of redundancies...

BPP Law School Under Fire

Posted on December 07, 2009
BPP has received some unwanted attention recently. First came the news in September that BPP had requested volunteers to leave its Bar Vocational Course (BVC) and take up places next year with a £2,000 incentive. Then reports emerged that Apollo Global, the American company that bought BPP for £303m earlier this year, is [...

Sacha Baron Cohen in £70m ?Bruno? Lawsuit

Posted on December 07, 2009
First Bruno pushed the boundaries of taste and humour. Now it might squeeze the boundaries of Sacha Baron Cohen’s wallet if this lawsuit gets anywhere. The Mail reports that: Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is being sued for £70million in libel damages over his film Bruno...

Stephenson Harwood, Michelmores and Outer Temple Chambers Amongst 2009 Legal Award Winners

Posted on December 07, 2009
Here are some of the winners of this year’s legal awards which took place towards the end of last week at Old Billingsgate Market in the City of London: Law Firm of the Year Stephenson Harwood Assistant Solicitor / Associate of the Year Ben Allgrove, Baker & McKenzie Young In-house Lawyer of the Year Helen Koerner, BASF Regional [...

The Week: A Smattering of Legal Actions

Posted on December 04, 2009
Proving that variety is the spice of life, this week has been particularly lively for lawyers with an interest in the criminal… Veronica Wilkinson, a Black Country solicitor, faces jail after stealing £90,000 from a blind widow and spending the money on luxury items including a pedigree ?teacup? chihuahua...

Slaughters Makes £32.9m out of Treasury

Posted on December 04, 2009
The City has had a feast of fees following the banking crisis. Slaughter and May is expected to receive a total of £32.9m for legal advice between September 2007 to next March, dwarfing any other law firm on this front. Elsewhere, £32.6m was shared between PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and BDO Stoy [...

Sexy and suave entertainment lawyer gets puntastic

Posted on December 04, 2009
Another lawyer classified showcasing what great wordsmiths lawyers can be… Examine my bar - m4w - 29 (Balboa Park) Date: 2009-11-20, 9:13PM PST Reply To This Post Sexy and suave entertainment lawyer looking for legally blonde bombshell with junk in the trunk...

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