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UNITFIVETEXTONEBoostedbyboominginternationalfinancialmarkets,theCityofLondonhasnothaditsogoodsincetheendofthedotcombonanzainthelate1990s.Baskingindouble-digitgrowthrates,London'slawfirmshavebothcontributedtothatsuccessandbenefitedfromit.TheearningsoftopCitylawyerscannowexceed£2mayear.Havingoptedtoexpandandgoglobalaheadofmostothers,Britain'sleadinglawfirmstendtobebiggerthantheirAmericanrivals.Indeed,accordingtoasurveyoftheworld'stop50lawfirms,compiledbyLegalBusiness,aBritishtradepaper,fiveoftheworld'stopsixlawfirms—intermsofturnover—arenowBritish(ifDLAPiper,theresultofanAnglo-Americanmerger,isincluded).Buttheyhavetendedtolagbehindintermsoftheirprofitability.Thatisnowchanging.TheprofitmarginsoftheCity'sfive“magiccircle”firms—CliffordChance,SlaughterandMay,Allen&Overy,LinklatersandFreshfields—havesoaredinrecentyearsandarenowcomparablewith,ifnothigherthan,thoseofNewYork's“whiteshoe”elite.SlaughterandMay,theonlyoneofthefivenottohavegoneglobal,hasthejointsecond-highestprofitmarginamongthetop50.Notsolongago,aLondonsurgeoncouldexpecttoearnasmuchasaCitylawyer.Buteventherecentbigrisesinhospitalconsultants'earningspallincomparisonwiththoseenjoyedbyLondonlawyers.AtSlaughterandMay,forexample,averageprofitsperequitypartner(PEP)jumpedbyalmostathird(indollarterms)lastyearto$2.75m—morethanatanyotherofthetop50lawfirmsbartwoinNewYorkwherePEPaveraged$2.8mand$3.0mrespectively.Someseniorpartnersgetalotmoreofcourse.Competitionforthebestlawyersisfierceandpoachingfrequent.HencetheneedtokeepheadlinePEPfiguresup—evenatthecostofgettingridofequitypartners,leavingabiggershareofthebountyfortheremainingones.Freshfieldsisintheprocessofsheddingaround100ofitsequitypartners.Otherleadingfirmsarealsoundertakingpainfulrestructuring.Newlyqualifiedlawyers'salarieshavealsobeenshootingupinthesearchforthebesttalent.BothFreshfieldsandAllen&Overynowpaytheirfirst-yearassociates£65,000,risingtoaround£90,000afterthreeyears.(First-yearassociatesatAmerica'stoplawfirmsgettheequivalentof£80,000.)But,asmanyothertop-rankCityemployershavediscovered,bigearningsdonotnecessarilyguaranteebigsatisfaction.AccordingtoaYouGovpoll,publishedbytheLawyerearlierthismonth,aquarterofBritain'slawyers(includingafifthoflaw-firmpartners)wouldliketoleavetheprofession.Thedisgruntledcomplainedaboutcripplinglylonghours,intensecompetitionandtheimpersonalityofthebiggestfirms(somewithmorethan3,000lawyers).Sowhydon'ttheyquit?Because,saythree-quarters,ofthepay.参考译文：虽然受到快速发展的国际金融市场的推动，伦敦自20世纪90年代末网络富源之后再也没有享受过原来的好日子。伦敦的律师行业一直享受着双位数的业绩增长速度，既对经济的成功贡献了自己的力量，又受益于经济成长。目前伦敦市一流律师的年薪超过了200万英镑。英国的顶尖律师事务所选择了不断扩张，走在世界前列，目前规模大于美国同类的事务所。实际上，根据英国商业报纸《法律商业》一项世界50家领先律师事务所的调查，世界排名前六家律师事务所（按营业额计算）有五家是英国事务所（算上英美合资的DLAPiper事务所）。但是就盈利能力来讲，他们却落后了。不过目前这种情况正在改变。伦敦五家“魔力圈”事务所（CliffordChance,SlaughterandMay,Allen&Overy,LinklatersandFreshfields）的利润近年来飞速上升，现在虽然不能说超过，但也可以说已经与纽约“白鞋子”精英相抗衡了。SlaughterandMay是五家中唯一没有走向世界的事务所，目前已经成为全球50家第二高利润事务所。不久前，伦敦的外科医生还有望与市律师收入相当。但是尽管最近医院会诊医生的收入有了大幅增长，但与伦敦律师的工资涨幅比起来还是相形见拙。比如在SlaughterandMay,去年PEP平均收入以275万美元为基数涨了1/3（以美元计算），这要比任何全球前50名律师事务所或美国的律师界工资都高，其PEP平均为280万美元和300万美元。当然一些资深律师的收入更高。争取最好律师的竞争是激烈的，挖墙角时有发生。因此，有必要保持名人的PEP数字上升，有时甚至以牺牲股东为代价，从而将奖金的更大一部分留给剩下的人。Freshfields目前就正在裁减大约100名股东。其他领先的事务所也同样经历重组的痛苦。因为业界在不断寻找最好的人才，因此刚获得资格的新律师起薪也大幅增长。Freshfields和Allen&Overy支付给律师的第一年工资为6万5千英镑，三年后升至9万英镑。（在美国顶尖律师事务所律师的第一年工资为8万英镑。）但是，正如伦敦其他许多顶尖的雇主所发现的，高工资并不意味着高满意度。根据本月初刊登在《律师》上的一项YouGov民意调查，英国律师有1/4（包括1/5的律师搭档）都想要离开这个行业。那些不满意的人抱怨几近极限的工作时间、激烈的竞争和最大事务所（拥有3000名以上雇工）的非人性化。那么他们为什么不放弃这个工作呢？因为收入，3/4的人这样回答。TEXTTWORichardBurtonprobablyknewnothingofthesmallSouthAfricantownofCullinanwhenheboughtyetanotherchunkydiamondforElizabethTaylorin1969.NowtheCullinanmineitself,likesomanyofthediamondsunearthedthere,isabouttochangehands.OnNovember22ndDeBeers,thediamondgiantthathasownedtheminesince1930,saiditwassellingittoaconsortiumledbyPetraDiamonds,oneofSouthAfrica'semergingdiamondproducers,for1billionrandincash.Providedregulatorsapprovethedeal,thetransfershouldtakeplacebythemiddleofnextyear.DeBeersissellingbecausethemineisnolongerprofitable,despiteattemptstoturnitaround.ButPetrareckonstheminestillhasanother20yearsofproductioninitandplanstoextractatleast1mcaratsayear.Theunexploited“CentenaryCut”deposit,whichliesundertheexistingmine,couldyieldalotmore.Thisisgoodnewsforthemine's1,000orsoemployeesandforthetown,whichhasdependedonthediamondbusinesssinceSirThomasCullinandiscoveredaprospecttherein1898thatcontainedkimberlite,arockthatcanberichindiamonds.Themine,establishedin1903,isoneof30orsokimberlitediamondminesintheworld,andisbelievedtobestilltheworld'ssecond-most-valuablediamondresourcePetraisarelativelysmalloutfit,listedonLondon'sAlternativeInvestmentMarket,thatspecialisesinbuyingminesthatbiggercompaniesseeasmarginal.Itstrickistoextractbetterreturnsbyrationalisingproductionandprocessing,andkeepingoperatingcostsandoverheadsdown.PetrahasalreadyboughttwoofDeBeers'sloss-makingSouthAfricanmines—bothofwhicharenowprofitable—andisfinalisingthe78.5mrandacquisitionofthegroup'sundergroundoperationinKimberley,whichstoppedworkingin2005.Italreadyo