A US District Court Judge has ordered two firms in a securities class action to "make every effort" to assign at least one minority and one woman to the case, reports law.com. Judge Harold Baer said to firms Labaton Sucharow and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd: "This proposed class includes thousands of participants ... arguably from diverse backgrounds, and it is therefore important ... that there is evidence of diversity ... in the class counsel I appoint."

US FIRM EMBROILED IN MURDER ENQUIRY

US firm Arent Fox is facing a $20 million wrongful death suit filed by the wife of a Washington lawyer who was found stabbed to death at the home of one of the firm's former partners, reports law.com. Lawyers for the wife have asked for a subpoena for e-mail and other documents that former Arent Fox partner Joseph Price created while at the firm. Price was acquitted in June of obstruction and conspiracy charges relating to the murder.

DEUTSCHE BANK BEGINS OVERHAUL

Deutsche Bank has begun a panel review to reassess its legal advisers on a global, jurisdictional and product level, reports legalweek.com. The overhaul will focus on cost-savings, risk-sharing and value-added extras. The bank is also placing specific conditions in its request for proposals, including non-payment for some aborted deals, limits on expenses, a total of five secondments to the bank from primary advisers, and training for in-house lawyers.

MAGIC CIRCLE PARTNER RATES SKYROCKET

UK magic circle partner rates have reached levels not seen since before the recession, according to an annual survey of hourly rates conducted on behalf of The Lawyer. According to the research, magic circle partners are again charging as much £725 ($1,188) per hour. 2009 was the first year in over a decade in which fees charged by the elite firms fell, when they were charging an average hourly fee of £450.

DODGY REGO COSTS LAWYER HIS LICENCE

An American lawyer who drove a car with a forged registration sticker for more than three years has been suspended from practising law for three months, reports law.com. A New York appeals court panel found that Mark Pomerantz broke the law by cutting out numbers from his wife's car registration sticker and putting them on his own. He also tampered with his car's registration sticker to show a false expiration date.