Police have arrested a second person in connection with the murder of a DLA Piper attorney in the US... International firm appoints 20 new partners… Barrister firms get to take on solicitors… Lawyers launch follow-up to Serial podcast…
BREAKING NEWS: Second suspect arrested in connection with DLA Piper lawyer killing
A second suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder of DLA Piper attorney David Messerschmitt, 30, who was found dead in a Washington hotel room with multiple stab wounds in February.
Nineteen year old Dominique Johnson was arrested on April 08, 2015, 4:45pm ET, and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. The news comes a week after 21-year-old Jamyra Gallmon was arerested and charged with first-degree murder.
Gallmon has pled not guilty and is being held without bail.
International firm appoints 20 new partners
Ashurst has announced that 20 lawyers will be promoted to partner effective May 1, 2015. Forty-five per cent of the new partners are female. The firm has made four appointments in corporate and disputes; two in each of banking, real estate, regulatory and securities and derivatives ; and one in each of competition, employment, infrastructure and restructuring and special situations. Twelve promotions are in the UK while Australia has six; Meredith Bennett and Ben Warne in Brisbane, Anton Harris, Pauline Tan and Olivia Lau in Sydney and Jane Harvey in Melbourne. Edwin Yaw becomes a partner in Singapore.
Barrister firms get to take on solicitors
New rules allowing barrister-led firms to compete with solicitors have resulted in 15 entities being granted licences by the UK’s Bar Standards Board. Before this year the BSB was only allowed to licence individual self-employed barristers to widen the scope of their business. The firms will be named once they have proved to the board that they have the necessary insurance in place. The next step that the board wants to take is to allow alternative business structures for the legal services it licences; currently only those owned by lawyers can be approved by the BSB.
Lawyers launch follow-up to Serial podcast
If you enjoyed the online radio drama (or “podcast”) Serial then a new programme might be even better. Serial told the true story of the murder of a teenager in Maryland in 1999 which led to the conviction of her boyfriend Adnan Syed who is now serving a life sentence. The new programme called Undisclosed: The State v. Adnan Syed digs a little deeper into the case and has been launched this week by a group of lawyers and advocates connected to the convicted murderer. Whereas Serial, which is the fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads, is a narrative, Undisclosed takes an investigatory perspective. The lawyers, Rabia Chaudry, Susan Simpson and Colin Miller have all been investigating the case. The programme is being sponsored by the Adnan Syed Legal Trust which is crowdfunding to raise money for his continued representation.
