Is another global firm heading to Australia?
Reports in overseas media say that the global law firm White & Case is planning to launch in Australia with a Melbourne office.
The firm is US-headquartered but already has a large international presence including Asia Pacific offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
According to UK publication Legal Business, White & Case is considering a Sydney office in addition to Melbourne and there is speculation of a team being hired from
Herbert Smith Freehills.
However, White & Case has not commented on the report while HSF dismissed the speculation as just rumours.
Philippines puts pressure on China to respect maritime laws
The Philippine foreign secretary is calling on China to respect the rule of law with regards to disputes in the East China and South China seas.
Reuters reports that maritime law and security in the region has been the focus of discussions in Manilla between Perfecto Yasay and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
The United States has joined with its regional allies in asking questions about China’s activity in the seas, which Beijing claims are almost entirely Chinese territory.
"Everyone must respect our maritime order and security in this area in the South China Sea and East China Sea and we urge them to respect the rule of law," Yasay told a press conference on Thursday.
Judge drops the C-bomb on jailing racist
A judge who had endured a barrage of abusive language from a defendant in her court this week, calmly retaliated as she passed sentence.
John Hennigan was convicted of racial abuse and had 23 previous convictions, many also involving racism. For that reason, Judge Patricia Lynch QC presiding at Chelmsford Crown Court in the UK said that despite concern over how Hennigan would cope with a custodial sentence she felt she had little choice.
The defendant then called the judge “a bit of a c***” to which she immediately responded “You’re a bit of a c*** yourself. Being offensive to me doesn’t help.”
The Mirror reports that Hennigan followed up with “Go f*** yourself” which was met with the judge’s response “you too”.
The final salvo came when Hennigan made anti-Semitic comments to which Judge Lynch calmly responded “We are all very impressed. Take him down.”
