Latest legal news

Hong Kong solicitors are to follow their English counterparts some 23 years later as they stand on the verge of being granted audience rights in the higher courts of the former British colony. | 13yrs

Law firms should accept marginal growth and recognise that the boom years are gone and are not coming back, two leading legal sector observers report today. | 13yrs

Lawyers in the Shanghai office of global law firm Hogan Lovells will be setting their alarms with added care after being scolded for not being at their desks early enough. | 13yrs

An investment arm of the personal business portfolio of Dubai's ruling sheikh has settled a multi-billion dollar law suit with a group of global bank creditors in a bid to restructure the struggling company. | 13yrs

On their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe, the Britpop extraordinaire band, Oasis, sang that when there is nothing worth working for all you need are cigarettes and alcohol. | 13yrs

Google will be forced to modify the way it displays results in European searches or face competition charges, a Brussels enforcer threatened yesterday. | 13yrs

British aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has appointed veteran lawyer and Conservative peer Lord Gold to head a review of its anti-corruption procedures amid allegations of bribery in overseas markets. | 13yrs

There were a record 26 UK law firm mergers last year, but 2013 is expected to see even more marriages, according leading legal sector consultancy. | 13yrs

One of the global legal profession's most senior figures has piled into the simmering debate over the UK's future role in Europe by publicly telling the country's prime minister that membership of the EU is vital for business. | 13yrs

Last year's global mergers and acquisitions activity posted almost identical results to 2011 despite heightening economic concerns, a study revealed today. | 13yrs

A Californian law firm has filed eight federal lawsuits on behalf of state municipalities and public entities following allegations that banks rigged a benchmark interest rate tied to trillions of dollars. | 13yrs

Washington DC-headquartered Covington & Burling opened in Shanghai yesterday, adding to the law firm's already established Asian practices in Beijing and Seoul. | 13yrs

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi launched a stinging attack on a panel of female judges this week, labelling them 'feminist and communist' for ruling that he owed his estranged wife €200,000 per day as part of a divorce settlement. | 13yrs

Concerns are mounting in Quebec over the state of the Canadian province's bench, with authorities investigating allegations that two judges have been involved in illegal drugs deals. | 13yrs

Market authorities in China are cracking down on the quality of stock exchange listings in the rapidly growing mainland jurisdiction, a report from Beijing indicates today. | 13yrs

The average New Zealand legal practitioner has 18 years' experience, a study by the Law Society of New Zealand revealed today. | 13yrs

A round-up of recent global deals and the lawyers who made them happen | 13yrs

Italy's chaotic political environment is crippling much-needed reforms to employment law. Companies and their advisers are hoping for a quick resolution in the forthcoming elections | 13yrs

Allen & Overy partner Michael Reynolds was yesterday named as president of the International Bar Association, succeeding leading Japanese lawyer Akira Kawamura. | 13yrs