In Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, federal officials are investigating former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay's wife in connection with a $1.3 million Enron stock sale just days before the energy company went under. The couple's lawyer indicated the Lays learned about the investigation in circumstantial ways and have not been charged with anything as [...]

AP is reporting that House Republicans have adopted a change in rules that would protect re-elected GOP Majority Leader Tom DeLay from having to relinquish his party leadership post in the event of his indictment by a Texas grand jury. DeLay could face such an indictment in the wake of an ongoing investigation into campaign [...]

AP is reporting that President Bush has picked deputy chief of staff Harriet Miers as White House counsel, the post to be vacated by attorney general nominee Alberto Gonzales. 1:10 PM ET – The AP story is available here. Harriet Miers formerly served as Bush's personal lawyer in Texas, and has been serving as deputy [...]

Roman Polanski, the Oscar-winning film director, urged England's highest court on Wednesday to allow him sue via video link to avoid being extradited to the US on charges of child sex offenses. Polanski, who lives in Paris, wishes to sue Vanity Fair magazine in the UK for libel. Polanski relies upon English civil procedure rule [...]

The SEC announced Wednesday that Gary Pilgrim and Harold Baxter, founders of Pligrim Baxter mutual funds, have agreed to pay $80 million each and be barred from associating with mutual funds in settlement of charges the SEC had brought over market timing abuses. The $160 million payment will be added to the $90 million paid [...]

UK Home Secretary David Blunkett said Wednesday that government plans to issue national ID cards will help protect people's identities rather than threaten their civil liberties. Blunkett, who was speaking at the Institute of Public Policy Research, said the extent of information on the cards would be limited to personal details including name, address, date [...]

Stephen Bainbridge: UCLA Law School: "'House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates, [...]

A panel of forensics experts have concluded that institutional intimidation at the FBI prevented agents from correcting an obvious mistake that led to the arrest of an innocent Oregon lawyer in connection with the Madrid train bombings last spring. The panel's report, which was published in the November/December issue of the Journal of Forensic Identification, [...]

A man who lit himself on fire Monday in front of the White House was a key government witness in the case against Sheik Ali Hassan al-Moayad, who is accused of raising millions for terror groups including al-Qaida, defense attorneys for al-Moayad have said. Mohammed Alanssi, a 52-year-old Virginia resident, is in serious condition, a [...]

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, the current ruling party in the nation's Diet, has finished a draft proposal of reforms to the country's constitution. Included in the proposed reforms are specific changes to the structure and purpose of the nation's military, which has been defined as purely a self-defense force since the end of World War [...]