The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Friday that US courts have jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) to hear certain tort claims brought by apartheid victims against companies that allegedly collaborated with the South African government in the maintenance of the regime. A number of large corporations – from [...]

Brigid Leahy : "We are pleased with the outcome of the settlement in Menges, et al v. Blagojevich. Our concern has always been for the woman who needs her prescription for contraception filled. The settlement ensures that women in Illinois will continue to have their prescriptions filled without hassle or delay. As long as pharmacies [...]

Four Thai prosecutors traveled to London Friday to discuss the extradition of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on corruption charges , in order to discuss what evidence is necessary in UK courts to extradite Thaksin and his wife. The Thai lawyers said they would not file a request for Thaksin's extradition during the trip, [...]

The Sterling Heights Police and Fire Retirement System, a public Michigan pension fund, has filed a derivative action alleging misconduct by Mattel , including failing to report toy defects to federal regulators, and in the case of one current and three former directors, engaging in insider trading. The lawsuit claims that Mattel's board of directors [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that he would appoint Judge Mohamed Amin El Mahdi, Judge Erik Mose and Nicolas Michel to the selection panel that will recommend the judges and chief prosecutor for the new Special Tribunal for Lebanon . El Mahdi has served on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Mose [...]

Myanmar's military government Friday rejected a UN Security Council denunciation of its use of violence against peaceful demonstrators and its accompanying call on the government to release political prisoners and negotiate with the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi . The junta said September's actions against protesters were not [...]

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday designed to increase funding to legal aid representation for low-income residents of California. The new law, which will take effect in January 2008, will enable banks to invest money from lawyers' client trust funds (IOLTA accounts) in higher interest-yielding accounts than those currently used. Client trust accounts, [...]

The Taiwan High Court opened proceedings Friday in the corruption trial of Ma Ying-jeou , the opposition presidential candidate in the 2008 Taiwanese presidential election. Ma was acquitted of the corruption charges by the Taipei District Court, but the Taipei High Prosecutors Office appealed that decision to the High Court. Ma was indicted in February, [...]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday agreed to review a "reconciliation ordinance" that granted amnesty to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and paved the way for a power-sharing agreement between Bhutto and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf . The agreement reached between the two political rivals clears the way for Bhutto to return to [...]

Giovanni Di Stefano : "I have been asked on countless occasions by students at universities, fellow lawyers, colleagues, journalists my simple view on the current situation in Iraq. It is without doubt the consequences of all that is occurring in Iraq is strictly owing to the unprovoked and unlawful attack on Iraq by the US/UK. [...]