【英语社会】律师的不道德之殇

Last week we bought control of a business. As is the way, the transaction involved not two but four sets of lawyers, who collected hundreds of thousands of pounds in fees. But at least most of these estimates were agreed in advance. One law firm, however, which had quoted ￡35,000, announced two days before completion that they intended to charge ￡110,000.

It baffles me how they can have the impertinence to call themselves professionals. Such behaviour makes cowboy builders look like choirboys. No other supplier of any other service would even dare to behave in such an egregious and cavalier manner. But somehow lawyers have risen to such exalted status that many of them appear to believe they are a breed apart, not subject to the same standards of decency and fair dealing to which the rest of us in commerce attempt to adhere.

Unfortunately the complications of modern society entirely suit lawyers. The blame culture and a pervasive sense of entitlement have encouraged increasing numbers of citizens to take legal action over accidents and disputes of every kind. The rise of “no win – no fee” lawyers has encouraged frivolous and vexatious litigants. Divorce, libel, medical negligence, patent trolls, employment claims, personal injury, product liability, antitrust – in so many areas of life, the system appears to have evolved to suit the legal profession and no one else. In previous eras, ethical standards were such that lawyers would rarely act in suspect cases. Is that still the case in the 21st century, when competition and materialism among the thousands of practising lawyers is so rampant?

Commercial transactions involve extraordinary amounts of legal rigmarole – all implicitly stimulated by our learned friends. Regulation and risk aversion play into the hands of lawyers. Fear of litigation grips schools, businesses, charities, councils, insurers – you name it, law-abiding institutions everywhere are petrified of being sued. Too often defendants settle rather than fight, simply because of legal costs.

Institutions such as the European Commission are giant machines manufacturing lucrative work for lawyers. In the US, big law firms are key donors to political parties that promote their interests. And in spite of the clear progress of technology that should have benefited law firms – and, hence, their clients – productivity of lawyers has fallen, while their billings and fee rates have massively outstripped inflation in recent years. On what planet is a senior partner worth more than 100 times the minimum wage?

Research shows that lawyers are a huge drain on wealth creation. A 2007 study suggested the annual economic cost of the US's tort system was $865bn (

日前，我们收购了一家企业。按照惯例，参与交易的有四拨、而不是两拨律师，律师费高达数十万英镑。但至少其中大部分估价都是事先约定好的。但有一家律所在交易完成前两天宣布，打算将费用从当初报的3.5万英镑涨到11万英镑。

我很不理解，他们怎么还胆敢自称专业人士。这种行为就像是粗犷的建筑工人要装成唱诗班男孩的样子。任何其它服务的提供者，都决不敢以这种惊人的傲慢态度行事。但不知为何，律师们的地位会上升到如此高度，以至于他们中的许多人似乎认为自己是异类，无须受制于其他商界人士努力遵循的行为准则和公平交易原则。

不幸的是，现代社会的复杂特性与律师这个职业完全契合。习惯于怪罪他人的文化和无所不在的权利感，鼓励越来越多的公民在遇到各种事故或争执时选择采取法律行动。“不胜诉不收钱”式律师的兴起，也助长了没有意义的无理缠讼。离婚、诽谤、医疗事故、专利钓饵公司、薪酬索偿、人身伤害、产品责任、反垄断——在生活中的方方面面，体制的进化方向似乎都是在适应法律这个行当，别无其它。在过去的年代，道德标准决定了律师很少会站在嫌犯的立场上。而在21世纪，当竞争和物质主义在数以千计的执业律师中泛滥成灾时，情况还是如此吗？

商业交易涉及了太多法律上的繁文缛节——这都是那些精通法律的朋友们在暗中推动。法规与风险规避意识都对律师有利。对诉讼的恐惧攫住了学校、企业、慈善机构、理事会、保险商——不妨想想看，在任何地方，遵纪守法的机构都对被起诉感到惊恐。在很多情况下，被告往往宁愿达成和解而不愿据理力争，这只是出于法律成本的考虑。

像欧盟委员会(EC)这样的机构是巨大的机器，为律师们创造了利润丰厚的工作。而在美国，大型律所是与自身利益相一致政党的主要赞助人。而且，尽管科技的显著进步本应惠及律所——并因此也惠及其客户——但律师的工作效率却有所下降，而近些年他们的收费费率，却将通货膨胀远远抛在脑后。还有哪个星球上，会出现律所高级合伙人薪酬是最低工资标准100多倍的现象呢？

研究显示，律师造成了巨额的财富流失。2007年的一项研究显示，美国侵权行为体系的年度经济成本是8650亿美元。然而符合其定义的行为越来越多。在英国，执业律师的数量从1979年起以每年4%的平均速度增长。我曾经的工作地点隔壁就是一所法学院——每次我路过这所学校都感到绝望，纳闷为什么那么多聪明的毕业生，最终只会破坏我们的社会价值、阻碍创新、给企业造成负担、并削减就业。

认为律师是没有道德的职业杀手的想法并不新鲜。莎士比亚(Shakespeare)就曾经在《亨利六世》(Henry VI)中写下一句令人难忘的台词：“第一件该做的事，是把所有的律师全都杀光。”当然，法律行动并不存在于真空之中：还需要诉讼当事人的参与。而我对恶意诉讼者的厌恶要远甚于律师。这些患有强迫症的原告，往往有着见不得人的阴暗秘密。罗伯特?马克斯韦尔(Robert Maxwell)就是其中最糟糕的案例，这个丑陋的养老基金强盗曾起诉过报纸、银行家、工会——几乎涵盖了一切可动的生物。

西方社会对律师过于依赖。我们必须重新发掘个人责任，并运用仲裁等方式来解决冲突——并彻底避开律师。和我共事的也有很多值得尊重的律师，他们从事着有价值的工作：但他们的职业正遭受劣币驱逐良币定律（Gresham's law，又译格雷欣法则）的严重困扰。那些有控制欲的律师应该从事一些更富创造性的工作，例如开办一家制造企业，而不是试图摧毁世界最杰出的制造企业之一——可怜的老丰田，如今正面临大量诉讼，正是因为律师们使得对丰田车突然加速现象的恐慌加大。

译者/管婧