Legal
- ABA Technology Survey on Lawyer Websites 3 hours ago Media Law
In a post here last week, I wrote about findings on social networking from the 2010 Legal Technology Survey Report of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center. The six-volume survey looks at legal-technology trends in various aspects of law practice. Volume IV of the survey covers Web and communication technology. In this post, I’ll review some of [...]
- At Hearing in Boise, Plaintiffs? Lawyers Race Against Time 5 hours ago WSJ.com: Law Blog - WSJ.com
The clock was ticking today in Boise as more than 200 lawyers gathered to argue over the setting for the colossal litigation against BP for the Gulf oil spill. But only a handful would get to speak, and not for very long.
- Thailand court issues new arrest warrant for ex-PM 7 hours ago JURIST - Paper Chase
[JURIST] The criminal division of the Thai Supreme Court [GlobaLex backgrounder] on Thursday issued a new arrest warrant for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The warrant comes at the request of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) [official website], which charges that Thaksin did not report all of his assets to the commission after the February ruling of the Constitutional Court [official website, in Thai] seizing 46.4 billion baht (USD $1.4 billion) [JURIST report] in assets for abuses of power while in office. The Supreme Court also suspended proceedings against Thaksin [Bangkok Post report] until he...
- The Swamp and the Swamp Creature: Is the Law Too Complex? 8 hours ago WSJ.com: Law Blog - WSJ.com
Is the legal system too complicated? If so, what's to be done about it?
- ACLU urges Obama administration to repudiate Bush-era national security policies 8 hours ago JURIST - Paper Chase
[JURIST] The Obama administration is in danger of entrenching some of the most draconian aspects of the Bush administration's controversial national security policy, warns a new report, [text, PDF; press release] from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] [press release] released Thursday. The report, titled "Establishing a New Normal: National Security, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights Under the Obama Administration," concludes that the first 18 months of the Obama White House betray a civil rights record that is "mixed, at best." Though the group concedes that "the Obama administration inherited a legal and moral morass" and has had...
- France president announces new measures against illegal Roma 9 hours ago JURIST - Paper Chase
[JURIST] French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French] on Wednesday ordered measures [press release] against illegal Roma [JURIST news archive] communities in France and announced new legislation aimed at making their deportation easier. The announcement comes a week after riots by members of the Roma community sparked by the shooting of a young man, resulting in the deployment of 300 troops [DW report]. The government aims to dismantle half of illegal Roma camps in the country within three months and to immediately deport of all those found to have broken the law. In explaining the need for the measures,...
- Sri Lanka court holds first hearing in case against ex-army chief 10 hours ago JURIST - Paper Chase
[JURIST] The High Court of Sri Lanka [official website] on Thursday conducted the first hearing in the case against former army chief Sarath Fonseka [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who is accused of provoking violence and bringing disrepute to the government. The charges are in relation to statements made to the Sunday Leader [media website] newspaper, which suggested that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa [BBC profile] ordered the killing of surrendering rebel leaders during the Sri Lankan civil war [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. At the hearing, the court issued 20 summons [DPA report] for witnesses to appear at...
- Arizona Roundup: Will the Case Go All the Way Up?, More 11 hours ago WSJ.com: Law Blog - WSJ.com
The Law Blog rounds up the morning's news on Wednesday's big immigration ruling in Arizona.
- Spain judge orders arrest of US troops suspected of shooting journalist in Iraq 11 hours ago JURIST - Paper Chase
[JURIST] Spanish National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz issued an arrest warrant [text, in Spanish; PDF] Thursday for three US troops suspected of gunning down Spanish journalist Juse Couso [advocacy website, JURIST news archive] in Iraq. Couso, a television cameraman, was killed in 2003 when a US tank fired into the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. The 3rd Division infantrymen named in the warrant, Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip de Camp, maintain that they fired into the hotel at what they thought was an enemy combatant because they were being fired upon. A US military investigation has...
- Accused Somali pirates plead not guilty in US court 12 hours ago JURIST - Paper Chase
[JURIST] A group of suspected Somali pirates [JURIST news archive] pleaded not guilty Wednesday before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website]. The defendants, six Somali men alleged to have been involved in the April attack on the USS Ashland in the Gulf of Aden, pleaded not guilty to charges of piracy and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon. Attorneys for the men argue that they could not have committed piracy because they did not seize or plunder the ship [CP report]. The charge of piracy carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted....
