• Brief News

Spain confirms its labour reforms

The Spanish government has approved labor market reforms that make it cheaper and easier to lay off workers. A package of reforms designed to help shake up Spain's struggling economy were first agreed in June and have been in effect since then. They were in force as an emergency measure, which will now become permanent. Reformers believe the measure is essential in helping to bring down Spain's 20% unemployment rate. The International Monetary Fund has said the labor market reforms are "absolutely crucial". The country has the highest jobless count in the 16-nation eurozone and the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, had called the moves "vital". (Click here)

US slips in competitiveness poll

The United States has been overtaken by Sweden and Singapore in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) competitiveness survey for 2010-11. The change meant that the US slipped two places to fourth in the WEF's latest ranking. Switzerland, which overtook the US last year, remains the top ranked economy. Germany rose to fifth, and was the best placed eurozone country. The UK, after falling back in recent years, moved up one place to 12th position.

Fast-food deal on a fast track

3G Capital wants the Whopper now. The investment firm's acquisition agreement for Burger King provides for a novel dual-track process: 3G has agreed to begin a tender offer as its primary vehicle to acquire control of Burger King. While the tender offer is pending, the two sides have also agreed that Burger King will file a proxy statement and hold a meeting to approve the acquisition. Whichever is completed first will be how 3G acquires Burger King.

BP spreads blame over oil spill

A "sequence of failures involving a number of different parties" was to blame for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP says. An investigation carried out by BP said it was responsible in part for the disaster, but it also blamed two other companies working on the well. However both firms criticized the report. BP faces billions of dollars worth of legal claims for compensation over the spill, the worst in recent US history.

Google unveils 'instant' searches

Google has sped up its internet search engine by launching a product called Instant that displays results as soon as users type in queries. The service predicts a user's query and modifies the displayed results as more letters are typed into the search box.

Belgian church abuse raids ruled illegal

A Belgian court has ruled that recent raids by police investigating alleged child sex abuse by Catholic priests were illegal. The appeals court also said the documents seized in June's raids on several buildings of Belgium's Catholic Church cannot be used by prosecutors. The ruling could throw the long-running investigation into doubt.

Europe court rules Austria gambling monopoly breaches EU law

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Thursday that Austria's state gambling monopoly, which blocks foreign casino companies from the licensing process, is incompatible with EU law. The court held that allowing only domestic operators to apply for licenses constituted such a difference in treatment that it constituted discrimination on the basis of nationality. While Austria cited fighting crime as its reason for excluding operators hailing from other nations within the EU, the court stated that numerous less restrictive methods were available. This is the most recent in a series of cases in which the multi-billion euro industry is attempting to break the monopoly held by domestic "game of chance" agencies in many EU member states.

EU court strikes down Germany gambling restrictions

The EU Court of Justice (ECJ) on Wednesday delivered three judgments striking down gambling restrictions in Germany because the regulations were not designed to protect public interest. The suit was filed by several foreign betting companies attempting to break into the German gambling market. The court held that while monopolies are sometimes justified, Germany's "intense advertising" in its gaming operations cause the regulations to fall outside the intended scope of consumer protection. Due to the broad scope of the regulations, the court determined that the German gambling laws were not compatible with EU law on service provisions and games of chance. Lobbying firms for the gambling industry called the decision a landmark due to the recent trend of the ECJ upholding gambling restrictions in other EU nations. The ECJ will rule on a similar case challenging Austrian gambling restrictions on Thursday.

Somali piracy suspect pleads guilty in DC federal court

A Somali man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to piracy charges stemming from an attack on a Danish ship carrying cargo from a Texas-based company. Jama Idle Ibrahim pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to "conspiracy to commit piracy under the law of nations and conspiracy to use a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence." Ibrahim and other Somalis attacked the MV/CEC Future in the Gulf of Aden in November 2008. The group, armed with handguns, rocket propelled grenades and AK 47s, seized the ship and held the crew for ransom off of the Somalia coast for a total of 71 days until the ship's owner paid the ransom amount. The plea agreement states that the parties agree a 25-year prison sentence is appropriate, which is the maximum total penalty for the offenses—five years for conspiracy and 20 for firearm conspiracy. US Attorney Ronald Machen, Jr. said the charges should be viewed as a deterrent to others considering piracy attacks. "Violent acts of piracy on the high seas disrupt international trade and put human life at risk. These charges should serve as an unmistakable warning to others thinking of launching pirate attacks. Crimes on open waters in faraway oceans will be punished in an American courtroom." No sentencing date has been scheduled at this time. Ibrahim's plea marks the first plea for a piracy-related offense in the District of Columbia.

Tax code overhaul as tough as doing your 1040

There's broad agreement among economists that a new tax system should have few loopholes and relatively low tax rates. But that's where the consensus ends. Rewriting the tax code in Washington is tricky, and as one tax expert put it, right now there is no politically feasible fix.

Petrobras deal may both open and close doors for Brazil's lawyers

Brazil's state oil company Petrobras has retained Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados to advise on its share sale, whose value has been quoted as potentially worth much as US$75 billion. Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados will be working for the underwriters.

Ninth Circuit dismisses CIA rendition suit on state secrets grounds

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday affirmed a district court's dismissal of a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against a Boeing subsidiary in connection with its alleged role in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) extraordinary rendition program. The plaintiffs, Binyam Mohamed, Abou Elkassim Britel, Ahmed Agiza, Mohamed Farag Ahmaad Bashmilah and Bisher al-Rawi, alleged that San Diego-based Jeppesen Dataplan knowingly aided in the rendition and subsequent torture of terror suspects by the CIA. Before Jeppesen could file an answer to the original complaint, the Department of Justice (DOJ) intervened and asserted the state secrets privilege, arguing that fact-finding in the case could jeopardize national security. The district court dismissed the case and a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit overturned the ruling on appeal. The DOJ then asked the Ninth Circuit to reconsider the case with a full panel, and was granted an en banc rehearing.

SEC probing certain investment advisory firms

The U.S. securities regulator is investigating investment advisory firms that channel investors' money into hedge funds, the Wall Street Journal reported. The probe will investigate whether the firms are properly supervising client money and dealing with potential conflicts of interest,

Riding solo

There's no one more ordinary—or more inventive—than a solo practitioner. Half of the nation's lawyers in private practice are solos—419,000 in all. Most provide the core services of legal work: serving families, home buyers, the injured, criminal defendants and small businesses. And yet, as the recession that reached full flower two years ago this month grinds on, a growing number of solos are finding new ways of doing business. They're succeeding in practice areas normally associated with bigger firms, like energy law, international transactions and green-building law. And they're finding new ways of marketing their services, including virtual law practices or boosting their profiles through time-consuming bar association leadership posts that are normally filled by big-firm lawyers.

Fashion law

Fashion law is a little bit like a course in any other industry-specific area, like a health-law course or an art-law course or maybe a banking course — that is to say in fashion it's about the law that touches the garment at every point in its existence. There are consumer-protection issues, and also civil-rights issues, having to do with what you wear to work, or not, what you can wear to school, or not, as well as questions of really broad issues like banning the burka. The Fashion Law Iinstitute will — among other things — educate new lawyers in the academic fashion-law discipline and offer pro bono legal counseling to designers in need. The recently introduced bill, the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act, was lauded as a significant step forward for the American fashion industry.