Witness list includes lawyers, bankers, accountants

The trial of Alex Murdaugh began Monday, Jan. 23 and we have the latest from the Colleton County Courthouse. Murdaugh will face his first charges in a long list of criminal and civil allegations in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on June 7, 2021. These two deaths were the catalyst to the ruins of the Murdaugh dynasty and the unfolding of a much larger story. The Greenville News will be in the courtroom to give you the latest updates starting with jury selection until a final verdict is reached. Watch the Alex Murdaught trial live:Murdaugh trial…Continue Reading

Pope, Anglican, Presbyterian leaders denounce anti-gay laws | World

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis was backed by the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion and top Presbyterian minister in calling for gays to be welcomed by their churches as he again decreed laws that criminalize homosexuality as unjust.The three Christian leaders spoke on LGBTQ rights during an unprecedented joint airborne news conference Sunday while returning home from South Sudan, where they took part in a three-day ecumenical pilgrimage to try to nudge forward the young country’s peace process.They were asked about Francis’ recent comments to The Associated Press, in which he declared that laws…Continue Reading

What three luxury homes reveal about who owns UK property

Stylised graphic showing Beechwood House, Lubov Chernukhin and Alisher UsmanovOwners of around 50,000 UK properties held by foreign companies remain hidden from public view, despite new transparency laws. The Register of Overseas Entities, launched in August 2022, was meant to reveal who ultimately owns UK property. But analysis by BBC News and Transparency International found that almost half of the firms required to declare who was behind them failed to do so. Labor MP Margaret Hodge said the legislation was not “fit for purpose”. A UK government spokesperson said the register has been an “invaluable source of information for…Continue Reading

Corporate Law Update – Macfarlanes

FRC consults on proposed changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is consulting on changes to its UK Corporate Governance Code which, if implemented, would take effect for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2025. The main purposes of the changes are to implement the recommendations of the UK Government’s 2021 white paper on restoring trust in governance and audit and to improve the quality of narrative reporting. You can read more about the consultation in our separate in-depth piece. In summary, the key proposed changes to the Code include the following.A…Continue Reading

TikTok content creators file lawsuit against Montana over first-in-nation law banning app

Helena, Mont. – Five TikTok content creators have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Montana’s first-in-the-nation ban on the video sharing app, arguing the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights. The Montana residents also argued in the complaint, filed in federal court late Wednesday without public notice, that the state doesn’t have any authority over matters of national security. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law Wednesday and said it would protect Montana residents’ private data and personal information from being harvested by the Chinese government. The ban is scheduled to take effect on Jan.…Continue Reading

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson tells law students ‘Survivor’ offers helpful lessons

Jackson, the court’s first Black female justice, is coming to the end of her first term on the court. The justices are done hearing arguments for the term and are expected to issue all their remaining opinions by the end of June before going on summer break. Major decisions on affirmative action and President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan have yet to be announced. In her address, Jackson described “Survivor,” in which contestants are deposited in a remote tropical location and undertake challenges in the hopes of ultimately winning $1 million, as “great fun to watch.” But she also…Continue Reading

Children 12 and under don’t have to wear a life-jacket in Ontario, but a new law would change that

Children ages 12 and under aren’t required by law to wear a life-jacket when they’re in a boat in Ontario. But that could change thanks to a new bill. Carleton MPP Goldie Ghamari has introduced a private member’s bill, called Joshua’s Law, that would make it mandatory for children ages 12 and under to wear a life-jacket or personal flotation device while on a boat in Ontario waters. Bill 93 takes its name from Joshua Steinberg, who was 11 when he died in a boating accident in 2018. He was not wearing his life jacket at the time. Since then,…Continue Reading

Top law firms invest in content marketing “which does not work”

Emails: Only some firms send regular updatesA “significant proportion” of large law firms are investing in content or ‘inbound’ marketing schemes that “simply don’t work as they should” and could even damage their reputation, a report has been found. Researchers said a “staggering” 19% of the top 100 law firms let people sign up for legal updates – often with quite complex preference forms – only to never actually send any. Marketing consultancy Thought Spark said it was essential for law firms to develop inbound strategies to “engage and retain potential clients”, leveraging platforms and data to build a…Continue Reading