Boosted by her Hollywood success, crusading legal eagle Erin Brockovich has attached her name to numerous firms, including Shine Lawyers in Australia. But does he know about Shine’s shady past, asks Neil Walker
Legal affairs
Who foots the bill for the Gulf oil spill?
Who has to pay the bill for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill? And how much will they have to cough up? An environmental law expert explains the complexities of liability for environmental disasters.
Hard lessons from the Farah Jama case
Retired Justice Frank Vincent’s report on how DNA contamination led to the rape conviction of teenager Farah Jama ought to be compulsory reading for every cop, lawyer and judge in Australia.
How I got sued by Facebook
Software engineer Pete Warden created a search engine for Facebook data. But Facebook did not “like” it. He explains what happens when the company takes you off its friends list
Vioxx case: Merck legal team ‘successfull’ despite $287k compo payout
The Australian court case on Vioxx, pitched as a landmark judgement against its makers Merck, flashed past in a blur, writes Paul Smith.
exposed Big Tobacco’s big cover-up
The US tobacco industry has been secretly meeting with the Solicitor General in a desperate attempt to stay out of the Supreme Court over the landmark 10-year-old racketeering lawsuit that found the industry deliberately concealed the dangers of smoking, AP reveals.
Moti case reveals AFP shortcomings
The public is entitled to be informed of the way their interests are being represented overseas by “DFAT Cats” and their AFP cousins, writes Sydney barrister Roger de Robillard.
Deporting criminal immigrants: it’s legal, but is it ethical?
Convicted criminal Andrew Moore lived in Australia for 30 years before the government revoked his visa, and sent him back to England. Two days later, he was dead. Is the Australian Government culpable? Skeptic Lawyer investigates.
Has Texas accidentally banned marriage?
A constitutional amendment in Texas designed to ban gay marriages may have inadvertently banned all marriages in the state, according to a lawyer and Democratic attorney general candidate.
Rich home free, ASIC in the dock
One.Tel executives Jodee Rich and Mark Silbermann may have escaped their legal battle with ASIC intact, but One.Tel was still a colossal failure, says Stephen Bartholomeusz.
Meet Kevin Rudd’s “scum of the earth”
The two men charged with bringing a boatload of Afghani asylum seekers into Australian waters appeared before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory last week. Are these the people really “scum of the Earth”?
A history of Scientology’s legal battles
In light of today’s fraud conviction against the Church of Scientology in France, CSM looks back at the organisation’s long and abiding relationship with courts all over the globe.
US lawyer sues Airbus (and everyone else) over Air France disaster
A US lawyer is suing everyone who made anything that was part of the Air France Airbus flight that crashed into the mid Atlantic in June, reports Ben Sandilands.
Berlusconi may yet get his day in court
Silvio Berlusconi is not Italy’s head of state — just its head of government. If the country’s minister is a crook, the courts need to be given the opportunity to say so.
Justice in the balance … bank balance, that is
Despite decades of lip service from governments and the legal community, the price of justice is still prohibitively expensive for most Australians.
FAQ: What exactly is a war crime? Who lays down the law?
Both Israel and Palestine have been accused of committing war crimes in Gaza. But just what constitutes a “crime” in a state of war? And who makes up the rules?
Can a URL be defamation?
Embattled Fox News host Glenn Beck has set his lawyers upon the creators of glennbeckrapedand murderedayounggirlin1990.com. It’s certainly a meme too far, but does he have a case for defamation?
Olmert finally makes history, but for all the wrong reasons
Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has been formerly indicted on the corruption charges that led to his resignation. He was a man that history might once have remembered for a commitment to peace and diplomacy, says Gil Hoffman, but will now be forever remembered as a criminal.
Military court brought down by a balls up
Australia’s top military court has been ruled constitutionally invalid, leaving 170 cases in question and the military justice system in disarray — and it was all brought down over a pair of testicles.
China to face its first green lawsuit
A group of residents in China’s Guizhou province are planning to launch an unprecedented lawsuit against the government, with complaints they have suffered from a polluted drinking water supply.
Iran’s “mass show trial” begins
100 Iranian activists have appeared in court over accused of inciting violence in the wake of June’s presidential election, in what opposition spokespeople are deriding as merely a “show trial”.
The tweet that launched a $50k lawsuit
How to get sued in 140 characters or fewer: a woman complained to her 20 followers on Twitter about her real estate agents. Now they’re hitting her up for $50,000 for defamation.
