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International Edition

US-style plea bargains draw nearer as bill receives royal assent

Laws which will pave the way for deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) in England and Wales have been given Royal Assent. Schedule 16 of the Crime and Courts Bill, which was passed into law last week (25 April), contains provisions for a prosecutor and defendant to reach plea-bargaining type settlements widely used in the US.
2 minute read

International Edition

SFO opens criminal probe into mining giant amid Dechert corruption claims

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a criminal investigation into mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC), amid reports that its former law firm Dechert uncovered evidence of wrongdoing during an internal probe into corruption allegations at the FTSE 100 company. Dechert, which was removed as lead counsel on the investigation earlier this month, has reportedly sent an eight-page letter to ENRC detailing claims of payments to African presidents, misappropriated cash and document destruction at the mining company, according to a report in The Sunday Times. ENRC denies the allegations.
3 minute read

International Edition

Court of Appeal rejects challenge in €52m Commerzbank bonuses case

The Court of Appeal has upheld a €52m (£44m) judgment handed down last year in a case involving 104 Commerzbank employees who argued they had been promised bonuses in 2008. Commerzbank was granted an appeal in November against the €52m award in relation to bonuses to a London-based group of former Dresdner Kleinwort bankers, arguing the promise to pay was not binding in law.
2 minute read

International Edition

Legal Week Law - quarterly peer review

A round-up of the best legal briefings in Legal Week Law from the past three months
1 minute read

International Edition

Snapshot of the industry - Legal Week Law's top downloads in numbers

Jon Levene rounds up an action-packed three months since the beginning of 2013 with an overview of the best of Legal Week Law
1 minute read

International Edition

Consistency is key so pan-Europe patent court does not raise as many issues as it solves

After decades of false starts, European patent litigation is now set to enter the brave new world of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The UPC has been born from a commendable desire to reduce the cost of European patent coverage, simplify the complex web of enforcement via country-by-country litigation and achieve pan-European harmonisation. But the UPC's gestation has been highly controversial. Almost universally condemned in its detail by patent judges and patent bars across Europe, it has been driven forward as an uncompromising old-school grand European project.
6 minute read

International Edition

Resistance to criminal Bar reforms escalate as protests disrupt northern courts

The chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has appealed to the public to back protests against Government reforms of criminal advocacy, following an all-day meeting of Northern Circuit barristers this week that led to disruption at courts in the north of the UK. The Northern Circuit of the Bar met in Manchester on Monday (22 April, pictured top) to address the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) plans to introduce price-competitive tendering (PCT) for legal aid contracts, which could see criminal work awarded to the lowest bidder regardless of expertise.
4 minute read

International Edition

CPS begins search for new DPP as Starmer confirms end of tenure

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) director of public prosecutions (DPP) Keir Starmer QC is to step down from his role at the end of his five year term in October this year, it was announced today (24 April). The CPS said the search for a replacement would begin today, with the attorney general's office leading the recruitment process.
3 minute read

International Edition

New litigation boutique recruits former Blackstone head Beazley QC as partner

Former Blackstone Chambers head Thomas Beazley QC has left the set to join newly launched litigation boutique Hage Aaronson as a partner. Beazley, who will make the move this month, will become head of international litigation and the eighth partner since the firm was set up in March this year by former One Essex Court barrister Joe Hage.
2 minute read

International Edition

Former Dewey chief Davis settles for $500k over mismanagement claims

Steve Davis, the former chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf, has agreed to a half-a-million-dollar settlement with the firm's trustee and insurer over claims that bad management contributed to the US firm's high-profile collapse. Davis has agreed to pay $511,145 (£335,000) to resolve all claims, while XL Specialty Insurance, which issued Dewey's management liability insurance policy, said it would pay $19m (£12.4m) in the proposed settlement.
2 minute read

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