Posts on ‘November 23rd, 2008’

A radical — and to many, long overdue — overhaul of the United Kingdom’s bribery and corruption laws looks set to take place following a new report by the Law Commission of England and Wales. The existing U.K. anti-corruption regime, which is largely drawn from three statutes passed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, has been heavily criticized for having little impact in policing bribery and corruption at British companies.

A jury on Friday found four people who attempted to arrest former White House adviser Karl Rove during a fundraising appearance on July 25 in Iowa guilty of trespassing. In the citizen’s arrest complaint, the defendants accused Rove of felony murder, election fraud and conspiracy to commit offense or defraud the United States leading to the war in Iraq, as well as treason, sedition and subversive activities.

Lynn Loacker, a member of the policy committee at Heller Ehrman, which recently announced its dissolution, has joined Davis Wright Tremaine as a partner specializing in corporate finance and transactional work. In the past two months, Davis Wright Tremaine has recruited 30 lateral lawyers, including 20 from Heller Ehrman.

A Texas prosecutor who brought indictments last week against Vice President Dick Cheney and others pounded his fist and shouted at the judge Friday during a hearing, accusing the judge of giving the defendants special treatment. District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra asked the judge to recuse himself from the case, which alleges that Cheney’s personal investment in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies, gives him culpability in alleged prisoner abuse.

In its analysis of legal industry performance for the first three quarters of the year, the Law Firm Group at Citi Private Bank says it has detected some subtle but meaningful shifts — a few glimmers of sunshine. But there’s more pain ahead, say the experts, who describe some specific coping mechanisms for addressing the situation.