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1. 英国高伟绅寻求与中国律所“联姻”。
（图片来源：cloudbusiness.com）
Clifford Chance scopes the field for China suitor
According to reports in The Lawyer, Clifford Chance has held discussions with several major Chinese firms about a potential tie-up in the PRC. The effort has been spearheaded by the firm’s Beijing and China managing partner Stephen Harder, who is retiring this month after 14 years with the firm. His successors, new co-heads Terence Foo and PRC national Tim Wang, will take over the task under the leadership of global managing partner Matthew Layton. ‘Matthew Layton would do a deal in China tomorrow if he could,’ reported once source close to the firm.
China’s third-largest firm by revenue, Zhong Lun, has been confirmed as one of the firms that Clifford Chance has approached about a potential tie-up. The two firms reportedly decided to go their separate ways after holding early-stage merger discussions last year. In September, Zhong Lun’s partnership locked in an international strategy that will see the PRC firm build up its international presence as an independent player rather than pursuing a tie-up with a foreign firm. (Global Legal Post, The Lawyer)
据The Lawyer网站报道，英国魔术圈律所高伟绅（Clifford Chance）正在和几家中国大所商谈中国地区的联合事宜。高伟绅北京和中国地区的管理合伙人Stephen Harder是这一潜在联合的首要推动者，他在高伟绅工作了14年，并将于本月退休。Harder的继任者、新的联合负责人Terence Foo和王彦峰，将在全球管理合伙人Matthew Layton的领导下，接手这一工作。根据与该所关系密切的消息人士说，“如果可能的话，Matthew Layton明天就想要搞定这事。”
可以确认的是，中国按收入排名第三的中伦律师事务所，是高伟绅接触的潜在联合律所之一。据报道，在2015年举行初步阶段合并的讨论后，高伟绅和中伦决定分道扬镳。2015年9月，中伦将国际战略定位在作为独立律所来加强国际业务存在，而不追求与外国律所的联合，因此双方的合作关系也未再有进展。
目前从收入排名来看，大成、金杜、中伦、君合等大所排名居前，但不少已经有合作伙伴甚至完成合并，如大成与德同（Dentons）的合并、金杜与万盛国际律师事务所（Mallesons Stephen Jaques）的紧密联盟、君合与英国另一家魔术圈律所司力达（Slaughter and May）的长期合作等。
2. 司力达发布不温不火的律师涨薪计划。
Associate pay: Slaughter and May releases muted salary increases
Slaughter and May?has released underwhelming associate salary increases, ranging between 2% and 5%, following its annual pay review.
The firm has increased its pay scales for trainees and associates following an annual review, with the new rates set to take effect on 1 May 2016.
Slaughter and May salary review in full:
Trainee year 1: ￡42,500 (￡41,000) +3.66%
Trainee year 2: ￡47,500 (￡46,000) +3.26%
Newly qualified: ￡71,500 (￡70,000) +2.14%
One year's PQE: ￡79,000 (￡75,500) + 4.64%
Two years' PQE: ￡90,250 (￡87,000) +3.74%
Three years' PQE: ￡99,750 (￡96,500) +3.37%
（Legal Business）
英国魔术圈律所司力达（Slaughter and May）在进行年度薪金回顾后，发布了平淡无奇的律师涨薪计划，涨幅在2%-5%之间，并将于2016年5月1日起普调。
司力达完整的薪金回顾：
实习律师第1年：从41,000英镑提高到42,500英镑，增长3.66%
实习律师第2年：从46,000英镑提高到47,500英镑，增长3.26%
新入行律师：从70,000英镑提高到71,500英镑，增长2.14%
一年律师工作经验：从75,500英镑提高到79,000英镑，增长4.64%
两年律师工作经验：从87,000英镑提高到90,250英镑，增长3.74%
三年律师工作经验：从96,500英镑提高到99,750英镑，增长3.37%
3. 大成启动灵活工作计划，该所英国律师可以选择在家工作。
Global giant Dentons launches work from home option for its UK lawyers
Global behemoth Dentons has confirmed that its UK lawyers can now work from the comfort of their own home for up to one day-a-week.
Dentons — which has around 7,000 lawyers making it the world’s largest law firm by headcount — will allow its UK partners, associates and legal executives across its London, Milton Keynes and Watford offices the option to work from home on an “ad hoc or informal basis”.
Like Dentons, a number of City firms including Clifford Chance,?Linklaters?and Herbert Smith Freehills?already offer their lawyers the option to work from home one day-a-week.Mishcon de Reya, Quinn Emanuel, Wedlake Bell, Foot Anstey and DAC Beachcroft?have also adopted similar schemes.
Even US firms in the City — renowned for their strenuous working environments — are trying to promote a more flexible culture. (Legal Cheek)
全球巨型律所大成（Dentons）确认，该所在英国的律师现在每周可以有一天时间在家工作。
大成拥有大约7000名律师，从人数来看是全球最大的律所。该所将允许英国的伦敦、米尔顿凯恩斯和沃特福德办公室的合伙人、律师和法律行政人员自主选择，他们可以基于“临时或非正式的理由”在家办公。
除了大成外，包括高伟绅（Clifford Chance）、年利达（Linklaters）和史密夫斐尔（Herbert Smith Freehills）等一些律所也已经允许律师选择每周在家工作一天。Mishcon de Reya、Quinn Emanuel、Wedlake Bell、Foot Anstey和DAC Beachcroft也有类似的安排方案。
甚至对于一些以高强度工作环境而闻名的美国律所，它们在伦敦的办公室也开始尝试采取更加灵活的工作文化。
不过据报道，还是有些律师不买账，认为所谓的灵活工作计划并不会减少工作压力和时间，也无助于工作和生活的平衡，因此还不如将工作和生活截然分开。
4. 讨债律所同意支付100万美元罚金。
Debt Collection Firm To Pay $1 Million Fine
An established New Jersey debt collection law firm has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle a U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau action, alleging abusive debt collection practices. But the debt collection firm will not be admitting liability.
The CFPB contended that Pressler & Pressler and a client debt collection agency pursued half a million cases, frequently without adequate investigation of the claimed debt.
The law firm’s client, New Century Financial Services, agreed to pay $1.5 million in a consent decree. Like Pressler & Pressler, it is based in Morris County.
The bureau said the two companies pursued hundreds of thousands of actions between 2009 and 2014, often based only on summary information and a computer program. (Legal Reader)
新泽西的一家债务追讨律所Pressler & Pressler同意支付100万美元罚金，来和美国消费者金融保护局（Consumer Financial Protection Bureau，CFPB）就滥用追债手段问题达成和解。但这家律所并不承认自己有责任。
CFPB称，Pressler & Pressler律所和其客户New Century Financial Services（一家债务追讨机构）在没有对债务进行充分调查的情况下，频繁地对约五十万起债务进行追讨。CFPB称这两家公司在2009-2014年间对几十万份债务进行追讨，而常常依据的仅仅是概要信息和一项计算机程序。
和Pressler & Pressler一样，New Century Financial Services也位于摩里斯县。根据和解协议，该机构也同意支付150万美元罚金。
美国消费者金融保护局是美国国会根据《多德弗兰克华尔街改革和消费者保护法案》（Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ）（简称多德弗兰克法案，Dodd-Frank Act）而成立的专设机构。根据官网介绍，“消费者金融保护局（Consumer Financial Protection Bureau，简称CFPB）是一个新成立的联邦政府机构，旨在使金融产品及服务为每一个人服务 － 不论是买房子、选择信用卡、向国外的家人寄钱、或是以其他各种方式使用消费者金融产品。我们监管银行、信用合作社和其他金融公司，并且强制执行金融法律，使您免受不公正、欺骗性、滥用的行为所害。”
5. 印度首席大法官请求增加法官人手，来处理超过3300万件的积压案子。
（图片：印度最高法院，来源：americablog.com）
India's top judge pleads for help to clear backlog of cases
India’s most senior judge has made an impassioned plea for the appointment of more judges to help clear a backlog of more than 33 million criminal and civil cases.
Chief Justice T.S. Thakur said the entire US Supreme Court of nine judges decides 81 cases a year, whereas an Indian judge rules on an average of 2,600 cases annually. India’s Supreme Court, with an official strength of 31 judges, has 60,000 cases outstanding.
Cases lasting decades over tiny sums of money frequently make headlines in India. One that has lasted four decades involves a Delhi bus conductor accused of defrauding his employer of 1/20th of a rupee by undercharging a passenger by 5 paise (0.05p). (The Law Society Gazette)
印度最高法院首席大法官T.S. Thakur充满激情地提出请求，希望能够任命更多的法官，来处理超过3300万件的刑事和民事积压案件。
Thakur大法官称，整个美国最高法院的九名法官在一年内处理了81件案子，而印度法官平均每人每年审理2600个案件。对于拥有31名正式编制法官的印度最高法院来说，目前就有6万件案子尚未审结。
在印度，那些持续了数十年的小额诉讼案件常常成为新闻头条。例如一名德里公共汽车售票员被指控少收了一名乘客5派萨（印度货币单位，1派萨相当于百分之一卢比）、因而诈骗了雇主1/20卢比，这么芝麻大的案件竟然一直持续了四十年。
据印度快报报道，Thakur在向印度总理莫迪提出请求时，一度声音哽咽……
平均每人每年审理2600件案子，还积压几千万的案件，忽然觉得国外法官的日子更不好过啊……不过对于有意投资印度的公司来说，争议解决和当地诉讼的效率和效果问题，必须提前做好准备。当然，如果你可能做被告，又想拖死对方，那也许印度是个好选择……
（数据来源：National Judicial Data Grid，查询日期：2016年5月5日）
6. 美国最高法院驳回针对BP的股东集团诉讼上诉。
（图片来源：offshore-technology.com）
U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal in shareholder suit against BP
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined a request from shareholders seeking to revive their class action lawsuit against BP claiming the British oil company misrepresented its safety procedures prior to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The court left in place a September 2015 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused to certify the lawsuit filed by investors who bought shares in the 2-1/2 years before the spill. BP's share price plummeted after the disaster, which has cost the company more than $55 billion.
The April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and Macondo oil well rupture killed 11 workers and caused the largest offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history, polluting large parts of the Gulf, killing marine wildlife and harming businesses. It took 87 days to plug the leak on the ocean floor.
In total, BP has incurred about $55 billion in losses as a result of the spill, including $18.7 billion to settle federal, state and local claims.
The case is Ludlow v. BP, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 15-952. (Reuters)
Ludlow诉BP一案（最高法院，案件号15-952）中，美国最高法院周一拒绝了英国石油公司（BP）股东试图恢复针对BP的集团诉讼的请求，这些股东称BP在2010年墨西哥湾溢油事件之前对其安全程序进行了错误陈述。
2010年4月20日，墨西哥湾的深水地平线（Deepwater Horizon）钻井平台发生爆炸、Macondo油井破裂，造成11名平台工人死亡，导致了美国历史上最严重的海上环境灾难，污染了墨西哥湾的大片海域，大量海洋野生生物死亡，养殖捕捞业受到损害。对海底漏油点进行封堵就花了87天。此次溢油事件总共给BP造成了550亿美元的损失，其中包括处理美国联邦、州和地方各层面纠纷支付的187亿美元。
位于路易斯安那州新奥尔良的第五巡回上诉法院曾在2015年9月作出裁决，拒绝批准（certify）一些投资者提起的集团诉讼，这些投资者在溢油事件发生之前两年半的时间内购买了BP的股票，而BP股价在溢油灾难发生后剧跌。最高法院认可了第五巡回上诉法院的这一裁决。不过在同一裁决中，上诉法院允许那些在溢油事件发生后购买BP股票的投资者继续集团诉讼，而这部分请求并未上诉至最高法院。
附：certify: vb. 1. To authenticate or verify in writing. 2. To attest as being true or as meeting certain criteria. 3. (Of a court) to issue an order allowing a class of litigants to maintain a class action; to create (a class) for purposes of a class action. （Black’s Law Dictionary,《布莱克法律词典》）
7. 英伟达和三星就图形专利纠纷达成和解。
Nvidia settles feud with Samsung over graphics patents
Graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp announced a settlement of a patent dispute with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Monday, hours before a U.S. trade agency was due to rule on a complaint that could have blocked importation of some of Nvidia's products.
The settlement puts an immediate end to the tit-for-tat battle between the companies, each of which had claimed the other used its processor technology without permission.
The U.S. International Trade Commission case will be dismissed as a result of the deal as well as all litigation between the companies in federal court and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Nvidia said in a statement.
The case is In re Certain Graphics Processing Chips, in the U.S. International Trade Commission, No. 337-941. (Reuters)
图形芯片制造商英伟达公司（Nvidia Corp）周一宣布，其与三星电子已就一项专利纠纷达成和解协议。美国国际贸易委员会原本定于周一就此投诉进行裁决，该裁决可能导致禁止进口英伟达的部分产品，不过在裁决时限届满数小时之前，双方达成了和解。
两家公司之前一直针锋相对地进行专利诉讼，互诉对方未经许可使用自己的处理器技术，而该和解将这场战争迅速地划上了句号。英伟达在声明中表示，双方达成和解后，两家公司在美国国际贸易委员会、联邦法院和美国专利与商标局的所有案件都将终结。
8. 美国最高法院裁决一名被降职的警官有权提起宪法第一修正案诉讼。
（图片来源：Legal Reader）
U.S. Supreme Court Ruled Officer Can Sue For First Amendment Violation
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-2 decision that a police officer who alleges he was demoted over his supervisor’s mistaken belief that he supported a mayoral challenger, can sue for the alleged First Amendment violation.
Government employees cannot be fired or demoted for engaging in constitutionally protected political activity. The factual mistake about the politics of Paterson, New Jersey, police officer Jeffrey Heffernan did not make a critical legal difference, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the majority.
Heffernan picked up a political sign for his bedridden mother, and other officers saw him at the campaign headquarters, Heffernan alleged in his complaint. Word of the visit spread, and Heffernan was demoted the next day.
Justice Clarence Thomas dissented in a decision joined by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. “Federal law does not provide a cause of action to plaintiffs whose constitutional rights have not been violated,” Thomas wrote.
The case is Heffernan v. City of Paterson. (Legal Reader)
在Heffernan诉City of Paterson一案中，美国最高法院上周以6：2做出裁决，支持一名警官提起违反宪法第一修正案的诉讼，该案被发回重审。该警官声称，由于上司错误地认为他支持一名现任市长的连任竞争对手，他因此遭到降职。
在该案中，Jeffrey Heffernan是新泽西州帕特森市的一名警官，他和他的上司都是现任市长任命的。现任市长正在新一届市长选举中寻求连任，而Heffernan的好朋友Lawrence Spagnola也正在参加下一任市长的竞选，因此两人是竞争对手，不过Heffernan并未参与Spagnola的竞选活动。据Heffernan称，由于他的妈妈卧床不起无法行动，为了满足妈妈的心愿，他只好去Spagnola竞选总部拿了政治标语给妈妈，而这被其他警官看到了。消息传开后，第二天他就被降职了。
政府雇员不得因参与宪法保护的政治活动而被解雇或降职。而Stephen G. Breyer法官在多数意见中写到，其上司对于Heffernan警官政治活动事实的错误认识并不构成关键的法律区别。换言之，虽然Heffernan虽然事实上并没有参与宪法保护的政治活动，但其上司误认为其参与了宪法保护的政治活动而将其降职，这也构成违反宪法第一修正案的诉因。在此之前并没有直接回答此类问题的先例判决。
Clarence Thomas和Samuel A. Alito（该法官即来自新泽西州）两位法官持反对意见。Thomas法官写道，“对于宪法权利未受侵害的原告，联邦法律并未赋予诉因”。
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