Lawyer news

• UK surrogacy laws must be reformed urgently, says leading fertility lawyer - The Independent

  07-05-2015 22:54
  
  The Independent
  UK surrogacy laws must be reformed urgently, says leading fertility lawyer
  The Independent
  Britain's surrogacy laws are no longer good enough and must be reformed urgently to stop court battles wrecking people's lives, a leading fertility lawyer has said. Her comments follow a legal ruling where a woman who had a baby with a gay couple but ...en meer »
  
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• 3D-gun creator's lawsuit a battle to protect free speech, says legal team

  07-05-2015 22:45
  
  Cody Wilson suing government two years after he was instructed to take down online instructions – which lawyers say is simply code
  The man who first published plans for a 3D-printed gun has sued the State Department for threatening him into taking down the code – arguing that the government has violated his right to free speech online.
  In 2013, Cody Wilson fired the world’s first 3D-printed gun, a single-shot plastic handgun, on a remote ranch in his home state of Texas. Shortly afterward
  
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• 3D-gun creator's lawsuit a battle to protect free speech, says legal team

  07-05-2015 22:45
  
  Cody Wilson suing government two years after he was instructed to take down online instructions – which lawyers say is simply code
  The man who first published plans for a 3D-printed gun has sued the State Department for threatening him into taking down the code – arguing that the government has violated his right to free speech online.
  In 2013, Cody Wilson fired the world’s first 3D-printed gun, a single-shot plastic handgun, on a remote ranch in his home state of Texas. Shortly afterward
  
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• Of Snowden and the NSA, so far only the NSA has been found to have acted unlawfully

  07-05-2015 22:18
  
  With the NSA’s bulk surveillance ruled illegal, Congress should allow the decision to reinvigorate the debate on how to reform the Patriot Act – and in the process make it so Edward Snowden is free to join the conversation, in personOn 6 June 2013, the Guardian published a secret US court order against the phone company Verizon, ordering it on an “ongoing, daily basis” to hand over the call records of its millions of US customers to the NSA – just one of numerous orders enabling the go
  
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• Of Snowden and the NSA, only one has acted unlawfully – and it’s not Snowden

  07-05-2015 22:18
  
  With the NSA’s bulk surveillance ruled illegal, the debate on the Patriot Act should be reinvigorated – with Edward Snowden free to join inOn 6 June 2013, the Guardian published a secret US court order against the phone company Verizon, ordering it on an “ongoing, daily basis” to hand over the call records of its millions of US customers to the NSA – just one of numerous orders enabling the government’s highly secret domestic mass surveillance program. Just days later the world learn
  
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• Lawyer: Officers 'doing well' after shooting at contest - Yahoo News UK

  07-05-2015 22:09
  
  Lawyer: Officers 'doing well' after shooting at contest
  Yahoo News UK
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A lawyer for five police officers involved in a shooting at a provocative cartoon contest in Texas say they have yet to return to work but are "doing well." The officers killed two gunmen who had wounded a security guard at a ...en meer »
  
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• New app aims to help citizens record police brutality using cellphones

  07-05-2015 20:55
  
  The Mobile Justice app allows users to send video directly to the local ACLU chapter where it can be reviewed by lawyers and not confiscated by authoritiesIn an America engulfed in #BlackLivesMatter protests following the highly publicized deaths of black men and women at the hands of police officers throughout the last year, the battle for recording cameras is on. But the question of who should carry them – whether police officers or civilians – and why remains unresolved. A government rush
  
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• A network of law centres could provide justice for those who need legal aid | Letters

  07-05-2015 20:14
  
  As a retired solicitor who, for the last 40 years of the 20th century, headed a successful legal practice providing redress on legal aid across the board - from criminal defence to civil litigation, from family disputes to immigration – I naturally echo the cri de coeur from prominent ex-judges and civil libertarians (Letters, 2 May) deploring the cuts, which are gnawing at the very fabric of our democracy.But, rather than continuing to subsidise private practitioners, a few of whom are very h
  
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• The BBC censored a picture of a cute dog due to the UK's ridiculous election laws - Business Insider

  07-05-2015 19:16
  
  Business Insider
  The BBC censored a picture of a cute dog due to the UK's ridiculous election laws
  Business Insider
  There's only one time quitting your job with a cake is a good idea, and... The 22 most out-of-the-box outdoor ads this year · Twitter has a porn problem — and advertisers are starting to worry... The internet is torn between thinking McDonald's new ...en meer »
  
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• Chelsea Manning writes bill to protect journalism and curb Espionage Act

  07-05-2015 18:55
  
  The US soldier imprisoned for leaking state secrets in 2010 seeks to reform laws used to prosecute journalists and whistleblowers in the name of national securityChelsea Manning, the US soldier serving a 35-year sentence for leaking state secrets, has written a 31-page bill that would extend protections against prosecution to anyone engaging in journalism and rein in the Espionage Act that has been used by the Obama administration to prosecute whistleblowers.
  In a highly unusual move for an inma
  
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• Solicitor rebuked for 'significant shortfall' in client account

  07-05-2015 18:28 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Sole practitioner should have investigated improper withdrawal, SRA rules. 
  
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• France launches criminal inquiry into alleged sex abuse by peacekeepers

  07-05-2015 17:42
  
  Prosecutors announce investigation into claims French soldiers raped children on peacekeeping operation in Central African Republic
  French prosecutors have ordered a criminal investigation into allegations that French peacekeeping soldiers raped children and demanded sex for food in the Central African Republic.
  The decision follows revelations in the Guardian more than a week ago that a senior United Nations official had been suspended for leaking details of the alleged abuse to the French gove
  
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• NSA mass phone surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden ruled illegal

  07-05-2015 17:39
  
  Collection of millions of Americans’ phone records is ruled unlawful
  Landmark decision by appeals court clears way for full challenge against NSAThe US court of appeals has ruled that the bulk collection of telephone metadata is unlawful, in a landmark decision that clears the way for a full legal challenge against the National Security Agency.A panel of three federal judges for the second circuit overturned an earlier ruling that the controversial surveillance practice first revealed to the U
  
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• Licensing

  07-05-2015 17:03
  
  The full judgment in Simply Pleasure’s challenge to local authorities charging fees that could be used to pay for enforcing a regulatory regime.
  
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• IRA rape claims: review to be published after election

  07-05-2015 16:16
  
  Mairia Cahill claimed a senior IRA figure raped her as a teenager in 1997 and that the organisation hushed up the crimeA review of the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service’s handling of three cases linked to a rape allegedly carried out by a senior IRA figure and allegations that the terror group covered up the crime will be published after the election.
  Mairia Cahill’s claims that a west Belfast IRA activist raped her as a teenager in 1997 and that the organisation hushed up the sex
  
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• NSA bulk data collection ruled illegal – read the court document

  07-05-2015 16:11
  
  Court of appeals says NSA surveillance program is unlawful, as judges say: ‘The text of section 215 cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it’ Continue reading...
  
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• France launches criminal inquiry into alleged sex abuse by UN soldiers

  07-05-2015 16:06
  
  Prosecutors announce investigation into claims French soldiers raped children on peacekeeping operation in Central African Republic
  French prosecutors have ordered a criminial investigation into allegations that French peacekeeping soldiers raped children and demanded sex for food in the Central African Republic.
  The decision follows revelations in the Guardian more than a week ago that a senior United Nations official had been suspended for leaking details of alleged abuse to the French governm
  
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• First4Lawyers expands beyond personal injury claims

  07-05-2015 15:57 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  PI market not enough for claims management company and market leader.
  
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• NSA phone surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden ruled illegal

  07-05-2015 15:56
  
  Collection of millions of Americans’ phone records is ruled unlawful
  Landmark decision by appeals court clears way for full challenge against NSAThe US court of appeals has ruled that the bulk collection of telephone metadata is unlawful, in a landmark decision that clears that way for a full legal challenge against the National Security Agency.A panel of three federal judges for the second circuit overturned an earlier ruling that the controversial surveillance practice first revealed to the
  
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• NSA phone records program illegal, court rules

  07-05-2015 15:44
  
  Federal appeals court says NSA program that collected millions of Americans’ phone calls was not authorized by CongressThe US court of appeals has ruled that the bulk collection of telephone metadata is unlawful, in a landmark decision that clears that way for a full legal challenge against the National Security Agency.The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge erred in dismissing a lawsuit challenging the program’s constitutionality, and returned the case to the judge for
  
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• Student sues Oxford over handling of rape complaints

  07-05-2015 14:07
  
  Lawyers for Elizabeth Ramey say university policy allows it to avoid investigating allegations of serious sexual assaultA former Oxford student is launching a legal challenge against the university’s policy on investigating complaints of rape and sexual assault.Elizabeth Ramey, who has chosen to waive her right to anonymity, reported an alleged assault in 2011. There was a police investigation but no prosecution followed due to evidential problems. Continue reading...
  
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• Firm places 80 legal secretaries at risk of redundancy

  07-05-2015 13:47 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Parabis Group says services need to be centralised to ensure ‘maximum efficiency’.
  
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• Profits surge at smaller Scottish firms

  07-05-2015 13:46 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  PEP rises by £10,000 at practices with 2-4 partners, but the bigger firms have it tougher.
  
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• Legal Aid Agency ‘in denial’ over online billing system

  07-05-2015 12:44 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Association of Costs Lawyers publishes report detailing problems that need to be fixed before national rollout.
  
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• Queensland's magistrates sworn in on wrong oath for two years

  07-05-2015 08:02
  
  The attorney general, Yvette D’Ath, says since April 2013 magistrates have taken oath from a repealed act but parliament is rushing laws to correct oversightQueensland’s parliament is rushing through new laws to correct an administrative oversight that casts doubt on the authority of some of the state’s newest magistrates.The attorney general, Yvette D’Ath, said magistrates who had been sworn in over the past two years have been taking the wrong oath, and at least one did not take an oat
  
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• Western lawyers go back in time to repair Liberia's broken legal system

  07-05-2015 08:00
  
  Former president Charles Taylor left behind a judicial system in chaos, but now volunteers for Lawyers Without Borders have painstakingly indexed precedents set by cases dating back to 1861 to help restore justiceRestoring the rule of law requires exacting sacrifices. Compiling an index of antique court reports takes years of dedication. For Liberia, however, it has been legally liberating.Since 2009, lawyers in London and Washington have been summarising thousands of cases from the west African
  
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• Law chief blasts 'cop hater' Dogg - Belfast Telegraph

  07-05-2015 04:25
  
  Belfast Telegraph
  Law chief blasts 'cop hater' Dogg
  Belfast Telegraph
  The late Bob Monkhouse once said: "I enjoy making love at 75. I live at 76 so... In my day: We quiz Michaela Chambers on the time of her life. Q. What was your... Back then: Norman's parting shot a fine memorial. Publisher Norman Johnston knew he was ...en meer »
  
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• Canada passes law expanding spy agency powers, reach - Yahoo News UK

  07-05-2015 02:49
  
  Yahoo News UK
  Canada passes law expanding spy agency powers, reach
  Yahoo News UK
  Lawmakers passed a new anti-terror law Wednesday dramatically expanding the powers and reach of Canada's spy agency, allowing it to operate overseas for the first time. The act was written in response to attacks on Canadian soil last October, when a ...en meer »
  
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