| 導(dǎo)讀：在美國(guó)，一般法學(xué)院畢業(yè)生除了本科欠下的債款外，還背負(fù)10萬(wàn)美元巨債，他們盡量在能多賺錢的崗位上埋頭苦干。 America’s lawyers 美國(guó)律師 Guilty as charged 賺錢壓力大 Cheaper legal education and more liberal rules would benefit America’s lawyers—and their clients 更低廉的法學(xué)教育成本和更自由的政策將使美國(guó)律師和他們的客戶受益 Feb 2nd 2013 |From the print edition ALL around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other profession—with the possible exception of journalism. But there are few places where clients have more grounds for complaint than America. 從世界范圍看，除了記者，律師大概就是最容易惹禍上身的職業(yè)了。而美國(guó)又是客戶對(duì)律師抱怨得最兇的地方。 During the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation. The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools. 在經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)前的十年里，美國(guó)人的法律服務(wù)花費(fèi)增長(zhǎng)速度是通貨膨脹速度的兩倍。最杰出的律師能賺到堆起來(lái)像摩天大樓一樣高的錢，這誘使著越來(lái)越多的學(xué)生爭(zhēng)先恐后地涌向法學(xué)院。 But most law graduates never get a big-firm job. Many of them instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare. 然而，多數(shù)的法學(xué)專業(yè)畢業(yè)生一輩子也進(jìn)不了知名律所，只能給別人打雞毛蒜皮的小官司。正是他們使侵權(quán)索賠制度變成了價(jià)格高昂的噩夢(mèng)。 According to a study in 2006, America has more lawyers per person of its population than any of 29 countries studied (except Greece), and it spends two to three times as much on its tort system, as a percentage of GDP, as other big economies (except Italy, where things are nearly as bad). 一項(xiàng)2006年的研究顯示，美國(guó)的律師占總?cè)丝谥雀哂谌魏纹渌?9個(gè)被調(diào)查的國(guó)家（希臘除外），美國(guó)人在侵權(quán)訴訟上的花費(fèi)占國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的比例是其他大國(guó)（情況幾乎和美國(guó)一樣糟糕的意大利除外）的兩到三倍。 There are many reasons for this. One is the extortionate costs of a legal education. There is just one path for a lawyer in most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree in some unrelated subject, then a three-year law degree at one of 200 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam. 造成這種情況的原因有很多。其中之一就是天價(jià)的法學(xué)教育成本。在美國(guó)的大多數(shù)州，要成為律師只有一條路可走：先在某不相關(guān)的專業(yè)讀四年本科，然后在經(jīng)過(guò)美國(guó)律師協(xié)會(huì)認(rèn)證的200所法學(xué)院中選擇一所修讀三年的法學(xué)學(xué)位，再花費(fèi)一筆巨資為參加司法考試做準(zhǔn)備。 This leaves today’s average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on top of undergraduate debts. Law-school debt means that many cannot afford to go into government or non-profit work, and that they have to work fearsomely hard. 這使得今天一般的法學(xué)院畢業(yè)生除了本科欠下的債款外，還要背負(fù)10萬(wàn)美元的巨債。由于還債的壓力，很多畢業(yè)生都不會(huì)選擇政府或公益性單位，只能在盡量能多賺錢的崗位上埋頭苦干。 Reforming the system would help both lawyers and their customers—and these, at some point in a life, include most people. Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been too conservative to implement them. 制度改革將不僅成為律師們的福音，也能使他們的客戶受惠——大多數(shù)人在一生中都會(huì)有一兩次需要和律師打交道的時(shí)候。關(guān)于改革，早已有人提出了合理的建議，但是，管轄律師業(yè)的州級(jí)機(jī)關(guān)太過(guò)保守，不愿照此執(zhí)行。 One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree, as they can in common-law countries such as Canada and Britain. Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two years of law school (see article); the third year of law school is too often filled with elective courses like “Nietzsche and the Law” (on offer at New York University) that make little sense for working attorneys. 其中一個(gè)建議是，允許學(xué)生在本科階段就修讀法律；這在加拿大和英國(guó)這樣的英美法系國(guó)家已經(jīng)成為現(xiàn)實(shí)。另外一個(gè)建議是，讓學(xué)生們?cè)诜▽W(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)兩年后即參加司法考試（見(jiàn)另文），因?yàn)榈谌晖M是像“尼采和法”（紐約大學(xué)開(kāi)有此課）這樣的選修課，對(duì)律師實(shí)踐并沒(méi)有多少實(shí)質(zhì)性的幫助。 If the bar exam is truly a stern enough test for a would-be lawyer, those who can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so. Students who do not need the extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third. Those who stay should use the time to acquire practical expertise or develop a speciality. 如果司法考試確實(shí)能夠有效檢驗(yàn)準(zhǔn)律師們的能力，那么那些已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備就緒的就應(yīng)該被允許提前參加考試。這些不需要第三年額外訓(xùn)練的學(xué)生便能將自己的巨債之山削減三分之一。而對(duì)于那些堅(jiān)持到第三年再參加考試的學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，他們應(yīng)該將第三年的時(shí)間用于學(xué)習(xí)一些實(shí)用技能或發(fā)展一項(xiàng)專長(zhǎng)。 Twelve angry customers 十二怒客 The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like ownership structure of the business. Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow. 律師業(yè)成本如此之高的另一個(gè)原因是其行會(huì)式的限制性所有權(quán)結(jié)構(gòu)。除了在哥倫比亞特區(qū)，非律師身份的人不能擁有律師事務(wù)所的任何股份。這使得律師費(fèi)居高不下，創(chuàng)新機(jī)制發(fā)展緩慢。 At the top, lawyers’ fees have risen beyond $1,000 per hour. At the low end, companies such as LegalZoom, an automated online service providing wills, leases and simple contracts, is forced to limit its offering to customers lest it be prosecuted for practising law without a licence. 在金字塔的頂端，高級(jí)律師的費(fèi)用已經(jīng)超出1000美元每小時(shí)；而在與其相對(duì)的底端，像LegalZoom這種自動(dòng)在線提供遺囑、租約和簡(jiǎn)單合同撰寫(xiě)的公司不得不限制其給客戶提供的服務(wù)，除非他們想被起訴無(wú)照經(jīng)營(yíng)。 There is pressure for change from within the profession—one law firm, Jacoby & Meyers, is suing three states for the right to take in outside investments (see article)—but opponents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically. 在律師行業(yè)內(nèi)部也有要求改革的呼聲。Jacoby&Meyers律所正在起訴三個(gè)州政府，爭(zhēng)取接受外來(lái)投資的權(quán)利（見(jiàn)另文）。但管理層中的反對(duì)者們堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為，拒絕外來(lái)投資能夠防止律師為了金錢而忘記職業(yè)道德。 Far from undermining clients’ interests, allowing non-lawyers to own equity in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers by encouraging law firms, many of which are still knee-deep in paper, to use technology and to employ professional managers—the kind of people who tend to expect stock options as part of their package—to focus on improving firms’ efficiency. Anyone who thinks American lawyers do not already face pressure to make money could use the services of a different kind of professional. |
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