1.英国安理、美国苏利文·克伦威尔和美国Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz将担任今年以来最大一笔并购交易的法律顾问。

 

 

（图片来源： Global Legal Post）

 

SullCrom, A&O and Wachtell score roles on year's biggest M&A deal

The three firms are leading advice on German life science firm Bayer's $62bn bid for agrochemical giant Monsanto.

The deal, if successful, will be the most lucrative M&A transaction to date this year and would create the world’s biggest farm chemical and genetically-modified crop company. Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy and US-headquartered firm Sullivan & Cromwell have both advised Bayer on its bid, which is the largest ever made by a German company. A team from Allen & Overy led by Frankfurt-based banking and finance partner Neil Weiand is advising Bayer on the bid’s financing, while a Sullivan & Cromwell team headed by New York-based corporate partner Matthew Hurd is leading advice on M&A matters. Monsanto has confirmed that Manhattan-based Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz would be advising it on the unsolicited offer, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse acting as financial advisers.  (Global Legal Post)

德国生命科学公司拜耳以620亿美元出价收购农用化学品巨头孟山都，这是德国公司有史以来做出的最大一笔收购。在该笔交易中，英国安理国际律师事务所（Allen & Overy）、美国苏利文·克伦威尔律师事务所（Sullivan & Cromwell）和美国Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz律师事务所将担任牵头法律顾问。

这一交易如果成功的话，将成为今年以来最赚钱的一笔并购交易，并诞生世界上最大的农药和转基因农作物公司。英国魔法圈律所安理和美国所苏利文·克伦威尔将在交易中担任拜耳的法律顾问， 其中安理所法兰克福办公室的银行和金融合伙人Neil Weiand带领的一个小组为拜耳在该交易中的融资提供法律服务，而苏利文·克伦威尔所纽约办公室的公司合伙人Matthew Hurd带领的一个小组则牵头为并购事项提供法律服务。孟山都已经确认曼哈顿的Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz将就该主动报价提供法律服务，而美银美林和瑞士信贷则将担任财务顾问。

此前在2月份中国化工以430亿美元收购先正达，不仅创下中国企业海外收购的新纪录，也是今年以来全球最大的一笔并购，而现在这可能将被拜耳和孟山都的并购所打破。

2.美国伟凯律师事务所推出两款新合规工具来应对竞争法。

White & Case launches compliance tools for competition law

Global law firm White & Case has launched two new mobile- and tablet-friendly compliance tools in response to the increasingly complex regulatory environment surrounding competition law.

The tailorable tools – a free Dawn Raid App and new competition compliance e-learning course – are intended to make it easier for businesses to understand the issues and what is required to comply with this complex and rapidly changing area of law.

The app aims to help employees understand what action is necessary in the event of a competition dawn raid, while the e-learning course provides a training solution in relation to complex competition regulation. Further courses focusing on other regulatory areas, including sanctions, are also in development. (Global Legal Post)

美国伟凯律师事务所推出两款新的移动和平板合规工具，来应对日益复杂的竞争法监管环境。

这两款可定制化的工具包括一个免费的黎明突袭应用程序（Dawn Raid App，一款告诉如何应对监管者突袭搜查的APP）和一个新的竞争合规在线学习课程。其目的是为了让企业更容易理解这些问题，以及需要什么来遵守这一复杂而快速变化的法律领域。

Dawn Raid App旨在帮助员工理解在竞争监管突袭中该采取什么措施，而在线学习课程则提供针对复杂竞争规则的培训解决方案。目前也正在开发针对制裁等其它监管领域的进一步课程。

3.HSF对亚太地区日益增加的金融服务监管负担提出警告。

 

（图片来源：www.policymed.com）

 

Law firm warns of regulatory burden for Asia-Pac financial services

 

Asia Pacific is facing an increased regulatory burden across the region, as regulators enhance legislation and step up enforcement.

 

‘Financial Services Regulation in Asia Pacific ’demonstrates that regional regulators are adding to the workload already imposed by US, UK and European regulators. Its authors also highlight Asia-Pacific regimes increasingly holding individual senior managers to account as a rapidly developing trend.

 

‘Financial institutions have faced a huge increase in their regulatory workload since 2007, largely at an institutional level and led by Western regulators,’ said Will Hallatt, Financial Services Regulation partner at HSF in Hong Kong.

 

‘Asia Pacific's regulators are adopting the same approach, with new legislation and an ever increasing number of enforcement actions. Most notably these regulators are increasingly looking to make individuals accountable.’

 

‘While many recognise the need for further regulation, practically the number of compliance personnel now required in Asia Pacific is exhausting the supply of properly skilled staff in the market.’

 

‘The focus on individual sanctions by multiple regulators in this region increases the challenge facing firms in recruiting and retaining the right type of personnel at such a crucial time.’ (Global Legal Post)

 

随着监管者提高立法要求和加大执法力度，亚太地区正面临着越来越重的监管负担。

 

根据《亚太金融服务监管》显示，在已有的美国、英国和欧洲监管者的监管要求之外，亚太地区的监管者们将进一步增加监管。该文作者也强调说，作为一个快速发展的趋势，亚太地区的法律环境正越来越多地让企业的高级管理者个人承担责任。

 

英国史密夫斐尔律师事务所香港办公室的金融服务监管合伙人Will Hallatt表示，“金融机构已经面临自2007年以来最大的一次监管工作量增加，大部分是在机构层面并由西方监管者引领的。”

 

“亚太地区的监管者们正在采用同样的方法，进行新的立法，并开展日益增加的执法行动。最值得注意的是，这些监管者正越来越关注让个人承担责任。”

 

“尽管很多人都认可进一步监管的需要，但实际上亚太地区所需要的合规人员数量已经超过了市场中适当技能人员的供给。”

 

“该地区多重监管者对个人处罚的关注，使得企业在这一关键时期雇用和留住合适人员变得更加困难。”

 

4.美国最高法院新开庭期受理案件数量是70年以来最少的一期。

 

Supreme Court is positioned for lightest caseload in 70 years

 

So far the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear only 12 cases for the new term that begins in October, putting it in a position for the lightest caseload in at least 70 years.

 

In the last five years, the court had at this point agreed to hear an average of nearly 18 cases for the upcoming docket, according to the New York Times FiveThirtyEight blog. The story relies on data from SCOTUS blog, which lists the 12 cases here.

 

The number of cert grants is far below the pace of the 1980s and 1990s, when the Supreme Court often heard more than 150 cases a term, according to the blog. Now the court hears about half that many cases.

 

The court is likely taking fewer cases to avoid 4-4 ties after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the article says, citing the views of Supreme Court journalists.

 

“Not only are fewer cases likely to be heard next term,” the story says, “but the ones that will be heard lack the gravity of cases in recent years. How to treat separate parcels of land doesn’t quite have the same country-defining import as the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.”(ABA Journal)

 

美国最高法院每年都有该年度开庭期（term）的说法。根据法律规定，原则上开庭期从该年度10月份的第一个周一正式开始（The Supreme Court shall hold at the seat of government a term of court commencing on the first Monday in October of each year and may hold such adjourned or special terms as may be necessary），一般到6月底或7月初结束。因此每个年度都简称为OT（October Term），比如现在的年度叫做OT15，意思是2015年10月份开始的年度，下一个年度叫做OT16。

 

对于从2016年10月份开始的新开庭期，美国最高法院到目前为止只同意审理12件案子，这使其成为至少70年以来受理案件数量最少的一期。

 

根据《纽约时报》的FiveThirtyEight博客，在过去5年里，最高法院在这个时间点已经同意列入下一期诉讼事件表而予以审理的案件数平均近18件。而该博客所依据的数据来自SCOTUS博客，该博客上列举了这12件案件。

 

根据博客报道，批准调卷令（certiorari）的案件数量远低于上个世纪80年代和90年代的速度，当时最高法院通常每个开庭期审理超过150个案件。而现在最高法院审理案件数量下降了一半。

 

Certiorari〈拉〉调卷令。在美国，调卷令是上诉法院签发给下级法院要求其将某一案件的诉讼记录移交给其审查的一种特别令状。联邦最高法院将调卷令用作其选择复审案件的工具。在各州的司法实践中则倾向于废除这一令状。（《元照英美法词典》）

 

该篇文章引用最高法院记者的观点说，最高法院很可能是为了在安东宁·斯卡利亚大法官去世后避免4-4僵局而受理更少的案件。

 

（近几年的调卷案件数量，图片来源：scotusblog）

 

（1946年以来各开庭期受理案件数量，图片来源：fivethirtyeight）

 

该文表示，“不仅下一开庭期将可能审理更少的案件，而且所审理的那些案件相对近些年的案件而言也没有那么重要。例如，和同性婚姻的宪法权利相比，如何处理独立的土地区块就不那么具有全国性的重大意义。”

截止到目前的OT16受理案件（一共12件）：

SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC, No. 15-927

Issue(s): Whether and to what extent the defense of laches may bar a claim for patent infringement brought within the Patent Act’s six-year statutory limitations period, 35 U.S.C. § 286.

Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple, No. 15-777

Issue(s): Whether, where a design patent is applied to only a component of a product, an award of infringer’s profits should be limited to those profits attributable to the component.

Shaw v. U.S., No. 15-5991

Issue(s): Whether, in the bank-fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1344, subsection (1)’s “scheme to defraud a financial institution” requires proof of a specific intent not only to deceive, but also to cheat, a bank, as nine circuits have held, and as petitioner argued here.

Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, No. 15-866

Issue(s): What is the appropriate test to determine when a feature of a useful article is protectable under section 101 of the Copyright Act.

Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley, No. 15-577

Issue(s): Whether the exclusion of churches from an otherwise neutral and secular aid program violates the Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses when the state has no valid Establishment Clause concern.

Salman v. U.S., No. 15-628

Issue(s): Whether the personal benefit to the insider that is necessary to establish insider trading under Dirks v. SEC requires proof of “an exchange that is objective, consequential, and represents at least a potential gain of a pecuniary or similarly valuable nature,” as the Second Circuit held in United States v. Newman, or whether it is enough that the insider and the tippee shared a close family relationship, as the Ninth Circuit held in this case.

Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, No. 15-606

Issue(s): Whether a no-impeachment rule constitutionally may bar evidence of racial bias offered to prove a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.

Manrique v. U.S., No. 15-7250

Issue(s): Whether a notice of appeal from a sentencing judgment deferring restitution is effective to challenge the validity of a later-issued restitution award.

Manuel v. City of Joliet, No. 14-9496

Issue(s): Whether an individual’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure continues beyond legal process so as to allow a malicious prosecution claim based upon the Fourth Amendment.

Microsoft Corp. v. Baker, No. 15-457

Issue(s): Whether a federal court of appeals has jurisdiction to review an order denying class certification after the named plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss their claims with prejudice.

Murr v. Wisconsin, No. 15-214

Issue(s): Whether, in a regulatory taking case, the “parcel as a whole” concept as described in Penn Central Transportation Company v. City of New York, establishes a rule that two legally distinct but commonly owned contiguous parcels must be combined for takings analysis purposes.

Bravo-Fernandez v. U.S., No. 15-537

Issue(s): Whether, under Ashe v. Swenson and Yeager v. United States, a vacated, unconstitutional conviction can cancel out the preclusive effect of an acquittal under the collateral estoppel prong of the Double Jeopardy Clause.

5.未来陪审团将可能通过虚拟现实头戴式设备“穿越”到犯罪现场。

 

（图片来源：Legal Cheek）

 

Juries of the future could be ‘transported’ to crime scenes using virtual reality headsets

Virtual reality headsets look set to make their criminal court system debut, thanks to a pioneering tech project at Staffordshire University.

In stark contrast to the reams of paper and blurry CCTV images that have become associated with criminal trials, future jurors could be asked to wear headsets — like those used in the gaming industry — that “transport” them to virtual crime scenes.

This has immense potential to shake up the criminal justice system, particularly the way lawyers present their cases to jury members. Dr Caroline Sturdy Colls, an associate professor at Staffordshire University, hopes the headsets will “help jurors in court to understand those crimes better that they ever did before.”

The project — backed by a European Commission research grant amounting to ￡140,000 — is ground-breaking and, according to Colls, the first project of its kind on the continent. (Legal Cheek)

得益于史丹福郡大学的一个开拓性科技项目，虚拟现实头戴式设备将有望在刑事法院系统中崭露头角。

现在刑事审判中使用大量的纸质文件和模糊的闭路电视图像，而未来将会与此截然不同，陪审员可能会被要求戴上类似于游戏行业所使用的头戴式设备，来让他们“穿越”到虚拟的犯罪现场。

这一举措将极有可能震动整个刑事司法系统，尤其是律师如何向陪审员们展示案件。史丹福郡大学副教授Caroline Sturdy Colls博士希望这些头戴式设备将“帮助法庭的陪审员们比之前任何时候都更好地理解这些犯罪” 。

该项目得到一个总计14万英镑的欧洲委员会研究基金的资助，具有开拓性的意义，并且按照Colls博士的说法，是欧洲大陆上首个此类项目。

6.英国高等法院准许在文件审查中使用预测编码，这对律师助理来说无疑是个坏消息。

 

（图片来源：www.krollontrack.co.uk）

 

Bad news for paralegals: High Court says predictive coding can be used for document review

Wannabe lawyers across the nation will be sleeping a little less easily this evening after the High Court backed an artificial intelligence (AI) based predictive coding technique that allows documents to be reviewed by machines rather than humans.

The decision is the first contested application about the admissibility of AI-gleaned information in court — and could have huge implications for those entering the legal profession, who have traditionally cut their teeth on such work.

The case came about after boutique law firm Candey contested the use of predictive coding by megafirm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) in a large commercial dispute for which the two outfits were acting on opposing sides.

Candey expressed anxiety over the accuracy of predictive coding, which uses a sample of documents that have been analysed by a paralegal or junior lawyer to then sift many more documents at high speed. As it does so, it employs algorithms which learn from the data that has previously been processed.

But BLP said using paralegals would cost too much and actually result in a worse job being done.

And — in a crushing blow for humans — the court agreed with the City giant, holding that the test for use of predictive coding set out earlier this year in Pyrrho Investments v MWB Property had been met.

The ruling is expected to cause more firms to embrace predictive coding, which has already been approved in the US and Ireland. (Legal Cheek)

对英国那些想要成为律师的人来说，恐怕有点睡不着觉了。英国高等法院最近支持了一项基于人工智能的预测编码（predictive coding）技术，该技术能够让机器替代人类来审查法律文件。

对于人工智能采集的信息在司法中的可采性（admissibility），这一裁决可算是首次有争议的适用。而对于那些正在进入法律职业的人来说，这意义重大，因为传统上他们都是通过自己从事此项工作来提升经验。

在一件大的商事争议案件中，精品律所Candey和大所Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP，一家Silver Circle所）分别代理诉讼双方。该案中，Candey对BLP使用预测编码表示质疑。

Cande认为预测编码的准确性值得怀疑。预测编码具有自我学习的功能，先使用一些律师助理或初级律师分析的文件样本，然后通过一些算法对已经分析处理过的数据进行学习，再对更多的大量文件进行快速筛选。

而BLP则称，如果全部使用律师助理人工审查将会成本巨大，并且实际上效果反而更差。

法院最后支持了BLP的主张，认为该案中预测编码的使用已经满足了今年早些时候Pyrrho Investments v MWB Property 案中确定的检验标准。这对人类来说是沉重一击。

这一判决预计将会导致更多的律所采用预测编码。而在美国和爱尔兰，预测编码已经被批准使用。

7.英国将试点推广“问题解决”法庭。

'Problem-solving' courts set for UK expansion

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed a pilot roll-out of New York-style specialist courts designed to keep offenders out of prison by addressing the root causes of crime.

Justice minister Caroline Dinenage confirmed last week that a pilot program of ‘problem-solving’ courts will be launched across England and Wales later this year. The specialist courts, already widely established in cities like New York, aim to prevent individuals from re-offending by addressing the underlying causes of criminal behavior.  The courts specialise in handling cases involving substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health concerns using non-custodial punishments and rehabilitation tasks, with progress monitored regularly by judges.  ‘It’s about turning someone’s life around and making the public safer,’ commented Mr Dinenage. News of the pilot program has been well received by the UK Centre for Justice Innovation: ‘We know from the research that a defendant in a problem-solving court is a third less likely to commit more offences than those going through a traditional court,’ said CJI director Phil Bowen to The Guardian. (Global Legal Post)

英国司法部确认将推出类似于纽约专家法庭的试点项目，旨在通过化解犯罪根源来让那些罪犯免入监狱。

司法部长Caroline Dinenage上周确认说，这一“问题解决”法庭的试点项目将于今年晚些时候在英格兰和威尔士启动。纽约等城市已经广泛建立了这类专家法庭，目的在于通过解决犯罪行为的深层原因，来防止这些罪犯再度犯罪。这些法庭将专业处理药物滥用、家庭暴力和心理健康等案件，采用非监禁惩罚措施和再教育任务，并且由法官定期指导监控其过程。

8.英国一名因在工作时间观看色情视频而被解雇的法官，对司法部提起残疾歧视劳动诉讼。

Judge fired for watching porn at work claims disability discrimination in employment tribunal battle

A disgraced former judge who was sacked for watching porn on court computers is in court today claiming that the government unfairly sacked him.

Immigration specialist Warren Grant fell from grace in March last year when he, along with two others judges, was removed from his judicial position for viewing “pornographic material on judicial IT equipment”. Grant is reported to have accessed websites including Pleasure Zone, Spicy Tranny and Retro Porn Hub.

According to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office, both the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice concluded “this was an inexcusable misuse” of his judicial IT account and “wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office holder”.

Cambridge-educated former solicitor Grant, 61, has now raised doubts about the lawfulness of the sacking, and has made an employment law claim against the Ministry of Justice because of it. The 61 year-old — citing the Disability Discrimination Act — has said that his behaviour stemmed from a mental illness he was suffering from that was triggered by problems with his marriage. The illness has been reported by Metro to be depression. (Legal Cheek)

一名因在法院电脑上浏览色情内容而被解雇的前法官，近期向法院提起诉讼，称政府不公平地解雇他。

Warren Grant是一名移民专家，2015年3月份，他和另外两名法官由于“在法院IT设备上观看色情材料”而被解除法官职位，颜面尽失。据报道，Grant浏览的网站包括Pleasure Zone，Spicy Tranny和Retro Porn Hub。

据英国司法行为调查办公室称，大法官（Lord Chancellor）和最高院首席法官（Lord Chief Justice）均认为，这是对其法院IT账号“不可饶恕的滥用”，并且“对于司法部门的职员来说是完全不能接受的行为”。

Grant现年61岁，曾就读于剑桥大学，之前是一名律师。现在他对该解雇的合法性提出质疑，并已经就此对司法部提起劳动诉讼。Grant引用《残疾歧视法案》（Disability Discrimination Act）称，他的行为来自于由于婚姻问题而导致自身所遭受的精神疾病，据Metro报道该疾病为抑郁症。

据此前报道，英国司法行为调查办公室的发言人曾表示三名法官观看的视频内容并不违法。三名遭解职的法官分别是地方法院法官鲍尔斯（Timothy Bowles）、移民法官格兰特（Warren Grant）和地方法院副法官兼书记员巴洛克（Peter Bullock ）。这三名法官彼此之间没有任何联系。第四名在上班时间观看不雅视频的法官在官方展开调查之前就辞职了。否则，他也会在这次被解职的法官之列。

9.一名纽约律师因为庞氏骗局被判5年监禁。

New York attorney receives 5 years' imprisonment for Ponzi scheme

A former Skaddens attorney was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday after operating a Ponzi scheme which defrauded around 30 of his friends and family members out of more than $5 million. Over a six-year period commencing in 2008, Charles Bennett encouraged people in his life to invest their life savings, retirement nest eggs and children’s education funds into an ‘exclusive’ Wyoming-based hedge fund, maintaining the illusion by producing fraudulent promissory notes and bank statements. One victim, a longtime friend of Mr Bennett who was present in the court for sentencing, said he remained ‘tormented’ by the fact that Mr Bennett had destroyed ‘what took the better part of 50 years to build.’ Addressing victims of the scheme in court, Mr Bennett was unable to provide an explanation for his actions: ‘I’m a criminal. I’m a thief. I’m a liar,’ he said. ‘Why I did it, I do not know.’ (Global Legal Post; New York Law Journal; ABA Journal)

近期，美国世达律师事务所的一名前律师Charles Bennett因庞氏骗局而被判5年监禁。该律师设计庞氏骗局欺骗了身边大约30位朋友和家人，诈骗金额超过500万美元。从2008年开始的6年时间里，Bennett鼓励他生活圈子的人将毕生储蓄、退休养老金和儿童教育基金投资到一个位于怀俄明州的“独有”对冲基金，并通过制造欺骗性的本票和银行对账单来维持这一假象。其中一名受害人是Bennett长期以来的好友，他参加了法庭宣判，说自己对Bennett毁坏了“用50年里的大部分时间之所建立”这一事实仍然感到“备受折磨”。在法庭里向受害人谈论骗局时，Bennett无法提供对自身行为的解释，他说“我是一个罪犯。我是一个小偷。我是一个骗子。但为什么我这么做，我不知道。”

10.最新英国法学院排行榜上，剑桥、牛津、伦敦经济学院、伦敦国王学院、玛丽女王学院位居前列。

Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, King’s and Queen Mary top latest law school league table

The latest law school league table has thrown up a list of the usual suspects, with the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, London School of Economics (LSE), King’s College London, Queen Mary and University College London (UCL) all performing well.

The annual rankings — compiled by The Guardian — assesses how satisfied law students are with the quality of teaching and feedback at their respective law schools. Adding this to other contributing factors including student to staff ratios and how many law grads have a career after six months, the newspaper complies a unique “Guardian score” out of 100 for each law faculty.

With Cambridge again taking top spot, with a perfect 100 score, it was left to arch-rivals Oxford to make do with 2nd, landing a still very respectable 95.8. LSE — which came 5th last year — bagged 3rd place (87.2) and fellow London law faculty King’s — who could only muster 7th position last time around — landed 4th place (84.6). (Legal Cheek)

 

（图片来源：Legal Cheek）

 

最新的英国法学院排行榜上占据前列的仍然是意料之中的这些学院，剑桥大学、牛津大学、伦敦经济学院（LSE）、伦敦国王学院（KCL）、玛丽女王学院（QM）和伦敦大学学院（UCL）都表现不错。

英国卫报整理的这一年度排名，对法学院学生对所在法学院教学质量和反馈的满意程度进行评估，并将评估结果和其他影响因素（包括学生与教员的比例、有多少毕业生在毕业六个月后就业等）相结合，按照百分制为每个法学院确定一个独一无二的“卫报分数”。

该次排名中，剑桥仍然名列榜首，获得100分的满分，其劲敌牛津只能屈居第二，但也获得令人尊敬的95.8分。伦敦经济学院去年排名第五，今年则斩获第三名（87.2分），而伦敦国王学院去年仅排名第七，今年则升至第四位（84.6分）。

 

 

微信公众号：Legalnews