Latest legal news

Regulators of England's legal profession exhibit a worrying lack of understanding of consumer needs, according to the umbrella watchdog in its first report into the sector. | 13yrs

US prosecutors have spent the last 24 hours defending their decision not to prosecute one of the world's biggest banks for money laundering after it was handed a record-breaking fine. | 13yrs

An in-house lawyer who billed a Canadian litigation specialist law firm for work designed to assess his suitability as a possible employee has lost a court bid to claim the fees. | 13yrs

US watchdogs see changes to their in-house teams, while a Connecticut technology company fills its top seat and a leading airline lawyer flies off into the sunset | 13yrs

Global law firm Jones Day has topped a US corporate client service survey for the eighth time in a dozen years. | 13yrs

Australian women lawyers are moving farther and more quickly up the corporate ladder than counterparts in other areas of their businesses, a survey released this week has found. | 13yrs

Staff numbers and budgets increased at nearly half of US corporate compliance departments last year, but a significant proportion of team chiefs claim to be under-resourced, research released this week reports. | 13yrs

A weekly round-up of who's moving up, down or out in global legal practice | 13yrs

Global law firm giant Clifford Chance has bumped up its Singapore offering by cutting a formal alliance deal with a local litigation niche practice, the two firms announced today. | 13yrs

Lawyers are predicting an increasingly robust approach from US financial services prosecutors following record-breaking settlements with two global banks over money laundering and sanctions busting. | 13yrs

Leading central and East European law firm Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is to launch in Prague after taking over a local practice. | 13yrs

Rows over legal aid systems around the world continued apace this week, with recent lawyer strikes in Scotland followed by disputes at opposite ends of the globe in Australia and Northern Ireland. | 13yrs

The chairman of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange is to take over the helm of an offshore boutique law firm. | 13yrs

International law firms with offices in the Cayman Islands could soon face a raft of pro bono requirements as the local authorities legislate to involve lawyers in the social fabric of the leading off-shore financial centre. | 13yrs

Debate over whether the British public is getting value for money from its legal aid system ratcheted up at the weekend, following reports that six top barristers hauled in more than half a million pounds each from the public purse last year. | 13yrs

Qatar's authorities moved last week to enhance the emirate's position in the global financial market by authorising measures to simplify rules and create a single umbrella regulator. | 13yrs

America's legal profession grew for the third straight month, US government figures released at the end of last week showed. | 13yrs

Zimbabwe's police and security officers are routinely intimidating, attacking and even abducting local lawyers, according to an open letter from human rights activists in the country. | 13yrs

English footballer Joey Barton has threatened legal action against Britain's Daily Mail newspaper after a column last week suggested he should 'come out as gay'. | 13yrs