Latest legal news

Diversity campaigners are to monitor the ethnic and gender composition of the US legal profession, in a move that follows a bid to prod bar leaders in the country to include the issue in guideline conduct rules. | 14yrs

London-based Linklaters has launched a scheme to boost the role of its women lawyers, the magic circle firm announced yesterday. | 14yrs

Offshore law firm Forbes Hare is to launch in London, the practice announced yesterday. | 14yrs

An HIV/AIDS discrimination claim is set to be the first of its kind to be heard before the European Court of Human Rights, following campaigning by specialists at University College London. | 14yrs

Leaders of Singapore's legal profession are embroiled in a row with a lawyer who claims they have maliciously conspired against him, forcing an extraordinary meeting of the island state's law society in a bid to resolve the dispute. | 14yrs

The Swaziland House of Assembly has called for the president of the country's law society, Titus Mlangeni, and his executive to be gaoled with no option of a fine. | 14yrs

The sedition charges against an Indian cartoonist that sparked a whirlwind of global protest were brought on the opinion of a legal officer despite his subsequent claim that his advice was not final, it was reported yesterday. | 14yrs

Equity partners at the top US law firms have benefited from inflation-busting increases to their drawings over the last two years despite many corporate clients still struggling in the fallout of the worst financial crisis for more than a generation. | 14yrs

UK telecommunications giant Vodafone has confirmed it is taking steps towards settling a $2.2 billion tax dispute in India. | 14yrs

The acting general counsel of an independent US government labour agency breached ethical standards, an internal watchdog has ruled. | 14yrs

New York-headquartered global cosmetic brand Avon has appointed Jeff Benjamin as its senior vice president and general counsel. | 14yrs

The former general counsel of faith-orientated television network Vision TV has been disbarred for professional misconduct after a series of indiscretions. | 14yrs

Sparky lawyer moves in London, international human resources business appoints a GC and the Unversity of Kentucky gets a new top lawyer | 14yrs

New York's Pillsbury is historically strong in energy and financial services - but few outside the US have ever heard of it. Chairman Jim Rishwain tells James Barnes how they are boosting its global image with a client-centric business model. | 14yrs

The South African Minister of Justice has criticised the lack of women in the judiciary and private practice. | 14yrs

Diversity commitments should be included in the American Bar Association's professional conduct rules to make the profession more inclusive, a campaigning group suggested this week. | 14yrs

Profits have tumbled at the US's biggest law firms despite an overall increase in revenue, according to figures released yesterday. | 14yrs

London-based global law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse has opened merger talks with as many as three other practices - including Osborne Clarke - in a move that could be worth up to £200 million, it was reported yesterday. | 14yrs

Law firms and lawyers across England and Wales have been named in an on-line public list of complaints published by the jurisdiction's Legal Ombudsman. | 14yrs