Dentons plans to achieve world first
Dentons is aiming to become the first global law firm with offices in Central America by combining with a newly established local firm.
If partners from both law firms agree, Dentons will combine with Munoz Global which is headquartered in Costa Rica and has offices in Panama and Nicaragua.
“Since our launch in Mexico and Colombia earlier this year, cross-border work into and out of the region has grown rapidly,” said Elliott Portnoy, Dentons’ Global CEO. “Given the interconnectedness of the economies of Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, we see real opportunities to serve clients further through more intra-region work as well.”
Both firms will seek approval from their partners before the end of 2016.
Aussie lawyer says Assange investigations should be closed
The US criminal investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be ended along with a probe in Sweden over sex allegations which have been denied, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
Speaking following an interview with her client by Swedish prosecutors, Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson said that the case should now be closed as Assange has not been charged and has already been cleared once.
On the US investigation into leaked documents relating the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Ms. Robinson said she and her team will ask president-elect Trump to intervene and uphold freedom of speech and reporting.
Assange remains at the Ecuador embassy in London where he has spent the past 4 years after claiming asylum.
BAME groups less trusting of legal services
People from Black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are less trusting of their legal representatives and receive differing levels of service.
Research from the Legal Services Consumer Panel in the UK shows that minorities are less satisfied with both the service they receive and the outcome of their matter than White users.
They were also more likely to shop around for legal services and less likely to use the same lawyer again.
“Starting with addressing the fundamental lack of trust in the profession, it is clear that there is work to be done by regulators and representatives to ensure everyone is able to access quality, satisfactory and affordable legal services, no matter their ethnicity,” commented Elisabeth Davies, Chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel.
