【經濟學人】雙語閱讀：律師事務所 標價更高 收益更少

Business

商業報道

Law firms

律師事務所

Charging more, getting less

標價更高，收益更少

Lawyers‘ biggest customers are discovering that they can haggle

律師的最大客戶們發現他們能與律師還價

THERE were groans in big companies‘ legal departments in the mid-2000s, when the fees of America‘s priciest lawyers first hit 1,000 an hour.

當美國最高的律師酬金達到每小時1000美元，20世紀中期，一些大公司的法律部門裏開始抱怨連連。

Such rates have since become common at firms with prestige.

自此以後，這樣的價格在名企變得普遍。

A survey published this week by the National Law Journal found that they now go as high as 1,800.

美國法律期刊刊登的一項調查表明，現在的律師費用已經高達1800美元/時，

But the general counsels of large businesses are increasingly finding that they can ignore these extravagant rates, and insist on big discounts.

但是那些為大公司效力的法律顧問卻逐漸發現，他們忽視高額酬金，並堅持較大折扣。

Price-discounting tends to be associated more with used-car lots than with posh law firms. There was a time when a lawyer could submit his bill and be confident of receiving a cheque for the same amount.

價格折扣漸漸常見於二手車交易，並非光鮮的律師律師事務所。有一段時間，律師收到的支票跟賬單數目一樣，並且，他們引以為豪。

In banner years, some even got more, as grateful clients tipped them a little extra for a job well done.

在收益相當的那些年，一些慷慨的客戶還會給點小費，來獎勵他們的良好表現，因此有些律師能得到更多。

Since the financial crisis, however, the realisation of law firms—the proportion of their standard rates that they collect in practice—has been sliding.

然，自金融危機，律師律師事務所的個人實現，即他們在實際中累積到標準價格的部分在下滑。

Earlier this month Peer Monitor, a company that tracks the legal industry, said that the ratio in the United States dropped from 92% in 2007 to an all-time low of 83.5% in 2013.

本月初，一家跟蹤報道法律產業的公司，Peer Monitor表示，在美國，價格比率已由07年的92%下滑到空前低值，13年的83.5%。

British lawyers have seen a similar decline.

英國律師界也有類似情況。

Discounts are rampant, says Brad Hildebrandt, a consultant to law firms.

折扣現象在蔓延。一家律師律師事務所的顧問Brad Hildebrandt如是說。

The economic forces driving high-flying legal eagles into the bargain bin are no mystery.

經濟力量將這些高身段的律師界雄鷹打入廉價區，這已不再是秘密。

Demand for corporate legal work on such things as mergers, takeovers and share and bond issues plummeted in the 2008-09 recession, and has yet to recover.

在企業合並、收購、股票債券問題等的法律合作需求也在08-09年的經濟衰退中減弱，至今沒恢復。

Simultaneously, the easy profits once earned in litigation departments have also dried up: the tedious task of reviewing mountains of documents, which law firms used to farm out to battalions of newly qualified associates, can increasingly be done by computers.

同時，訴訟部的易得利潤也枯竭了：枯燥的審核成堆文件工作，之前律師事務所都是承包給大批剛合格的夥伴，現也被電腦代替了。

Putting up prices at a time of weak demand and fierce competition seems perverse.

在需求小，競爭激烈的時候提高價格似乎有些悖於常理，

Yet the industry has continued to increase its sticker prices by 2-3% every year—only to give back almost all the gain by offering ever-greater discounts.

但是律師行業仍舊持續以每年2%-3%的速度提高標價—僅僅只是提供一個更好的折扣給顧客。

One reason for this is that, as ever more big clients discover they can haggle, law firms have realised that the best way for them to start the negotiation is with the highest possible asking-price.

原因之一在於，因為更多的客戶發現他們能討價還價，律師律師事務所意識到開始協商的最好辦法就是給出最高索價。

In this, lawyers now find themselves in the same boat as accountants and other professionals who have long been used to having to bargain with bigger customers.

而如今，律師們發現他們跟會計以及其他職業的人一樣，一直以來都在跟較大客戶還價。

Another reason is that sophisticated legal services are somewhat like luxury cars and handbags, in that a high asking-price is taken as a sign of quality.

另一個原因是，錯綜復雜的法律服務體系有點像豪車和高端手提包一樣，高價意味著高質。

No one wants to have hired the cheaper firm in a high-stakes lawsuit.

沒人想在一個賭註高的訴訟中雇傭一個廉價律師事務所來為自己工作。

But perhaps the most important rationale for discounting is that it lets law firms charge different prices to different clients, depending on their willingness to pay.

但折扣最重要的理論基礎是，它使得律師事務所根據不同的客戶收取不一樣的費用，當然，這取決於客戶的意願。

And even among business clients with big budgets, this varies markedly.

甚至是與預算高的商業客戶，價格也明顯不同。

Over the past 25 years some large companies have built up their in-house legal departments, so that these can now deal with outside law firms on an equal footing.

在過去的25年中，大公司自己內設了法律部門，像外面的律師事務所一樣處理相關問題。

In-house lawyers know the market value of every type of service, and have sophisticated software that scrutinises invoices and queries anomalies.

內部律師了解每一種服務的市場價值，擁有完善的軟件細查發票，質疑異常。

Such clients no longer just take the law firm‘s word for how many hours its lawyers spent on a job: if the bill looks padded, they will not hesitate to demand cuts.

這樣的商業顧客，不再完全聽信律師事務所在某一案子上花費的時長：如果賬單看上去有水分，他們將毫不猶豫尋求折扣。

DuPont, a chemicals giant, has found plenty of scope for curbing its legal bills by becoming a cannier client.

化學巨頭杜邦發現變身為一個精明的客戶，能有許多減少法律賬單的機會。

In the early 1990s it spread its legal work among 350 firms.

在20世紀90年代，杜邦將法律事務分配給350個律師事務所，

Now it uses only 38—including some smaller firms in smaller cities, which offer better value for money.

現在，只委托38個—包括一些較小城市的小公司，這些公司把金錢的價值用到實處。

DuPont has persuaded its remaining law firms to work together more closely.

杜邦勸導現有的律師事務所加強合作。

For routine work it insists on flat fees; for riskier cases it seeks no-win, no-fee agreements.

對於常規事務，堅持統一收費，對於有風險的事務，尋求沒有勝利就沒有酬薪的宗旨。

Above all, says Thomas Sager, DuPont‘s general counsel, We had to communicate that this is a new day, and you need to be as committed to our financial success as you are to yours.

特別是，杜邦的總顧問Thomas Sager說：我們不得不相互傳達‘今天是新的一天，你必須堅定的為我們的經濟成功努力，就如同你對自己的那樣‘的信息。

Law firms‘ profits would evaporate if they offered smaller and less sophisticated clients such attractive deals.

如果將很完美的方案提供給較小的，不那麽精明的客戶，律師事務所的利潤可能會減少很多。

Fortunately for them, they have so far been able to get away with offering discreet, selective discounts.

幸運的是，目前為止，他們能夠避免供應謹慎，選擇性折扣。

There are still a few big clients around who do not realise what they are missing:

仍有少數大顧客沒有意識到錯過了什麽：

If you increase the rate every year, some clients will make you take it back, but others will let you keep it, says Tony Williams, a former managing partner of Clifford Chance, one of Britain‘s biggest law firms.

如果每年都提高價格，一些顧客會讓你收回該要求，但是另外一些會答應你的條件。高偉紳—英國最大律師事務所之一的總顧問Tony Williams如是說。

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