Mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese companies have surged in the first half of the year over the same period in 2009, led by growth in Chinese acquisitions abroad, according to a report issued Monday by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Such outbound M&A grew by 50 percent in the first six months of 2010, PwC reported, with 99 deals announced

A plaintiffs lawyer who won $6.5 million, to be paid mostly in Lowe’s gift cards, for his class action clients and more than $2 million in fees and costs in a settlement over allegedly stinky drywall calls it the first time consumers will “get a dime” out of such a case. The case is similar to other lawsuits against retailers and manufacturers, although Lowe’s suppliers weren’t proven to have provided China-made drywall, and plaintiffs’ problems were less severe than those in the known Chinese drywall cases.

A Florida jury on Friday awarded $2.46 million to a Miami couple who claimed their house was ruined by gas emitted by imported Chinese drywall in the nation’s first trial against a domestic distributor. Jurors concluded that Miami-based Banner Supply knowingly sold defective wallboard that was installed in the home of Chevron attorney Armin Seifart and Lisa Gore, who asked for $4.4 million in damages for repairs and the inconvenience of temporarily losing access to their $1.66 million home.

Jury selection started Monday in a case involving claims that a building supply distributor failed to inform a Miami couple about problems with Chinese drywall. The couple’s attorney says of Banner Supply, “They didn’t test it. They didn’t make attempts to take it back.

Top Clifford Chance capital markets partner Rupert Li has left the Magic Circle firm to join Beijing’s King & Wood as international managing partner — making him the second senior-level partner in the past week to join a domestic Chinese firm from a U.K. firm