谈判英语一日通04-06

Chapter 6

Lawyers As Professional Negotiators 谈判专家--律师

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Brenda: That's what happened. Do you think we have a case?

Lawyer: Okay, let me see if I've got this straight. You want to install a large air conditioning unit in your home, .....

.....(详细对话见Disk 1-18)

For Your Information(背景介绍)

Usually, almost everyone at the negotiating table earns their living by making and selling, or buying and selling a product. Negotiating sales is the least of what they do. The lawyers are the exception. Their work begins and ends at the meeting.

They're looking for something for free, and act like there're no tomorrow. To win, they will humiliate¹ the other side as if they won't ever have to do business with them again. A judge once joked, it's best to consider lawyers as amoral. Regardless of whether it's you or the other side who hires a lawyer, it won't hurt to know what makes them tick.

Lawyers are paid by the hour. The best example I've seen of how being paid by the hour affects their work involves a client whose building was on leased land. The landowner required my client to draw up the papers for review by this own attorney.

I later learned the client's firm wrote several contracts for this landowner, but the attorney always required a rewrite of one or two certain sections. To avoid the cost of a rewrite, they put together a contract made up completely a pproved provisions from other contracts. But, the landowner's attorney wanted a section rewritten. The regular firm replied that the bad landuage was approved on another contract and asked why was it not okay now.

The attorney apologized and approved the contract. However, every future offer the landowner made specifically stated my client's firm may not represent the building owner.

To practice law in the U.S., an attorney must belong to the local Bar Association. The Bar requires its members be absolutely honest, reasonably competent and act as zealous² advocates for their client. The Bar is a self-policing agency, and they strictly³ enforce their code and ethics⁴.

A lawyer won't lie, but you have to ask the right questions, not accept answers with more than one interpretation⁵ and never assume anything. Never use pronouns, or nicknames instead of the subject's proper name. If this sounds like you're playing a word game, you are.

Today, all legal documents are written in a precise way and lawyers earn their living either writing things so there can be no misunderstanding, or by deliberately⁶ creating misunderstanding to negate⁷ documents. The legal proffession came into being through the clever use of words. Today's lawyers use that talent to their clients's advantage and their own.

Everyone intends to make the best possible. The attorney is there to protect the clients, but he's also there to make a buck⁸. They will protect the client, but at the same time they'll stretch out the time at the negotiating table, and increase the workload⁹ so they can bill more. They will also interrupt things and kick up a fuss just to make sure the client sees them doing their job.

At one negotiation¹⁰, the other side demanded something prohibited in the by-laws, my client simply couldn't do. The other lawyer told his client it was possible, because he reasoned anything is possible. Instead of pointing out why we couldn't comply, our lawyer started yelling and screaming that we would see them in court.

The meeting had turned to chaos¹¹ so I stood and explained the law, and how every time this question was tried in the past the court ruled in favor of my client's position. Then, I asked their attorney to show the board and their client a case where the court agreed with his client's position. He couldn't and argument was over.

This lawyer told his clients what they wanted to hear, not the facts. He gave his opinion on their request and a court ruling, and agreed to represent them in court. But he left out hom small their chance of winning was, didn't cite case law, and my client's limited ability to comply. Our lawyer did the same. Both were zealous advocates for their client, doing exactly what the client wanted , which earned them the most possible.

1 humiliate   

v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace

参考例句：

• What right had they to bully and humiliate people like this?凭什么把人欺侮到这个地步呢？
• They pay me empty compliments which only humiliate me.他们虚情假意地恭维我，这只能使我感到羞辱。

2 zealous   

adj.狂热的，热心的

参考例句：

• She made zealous efforts to clean up the classroom.她非常热心地努力清扫教室。
• She is a zealous supporter of our cause.她是我们事业的热心支持者。

3 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

4 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

5 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

6 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

7 negate   

vt.否定，否认；取消，使无效

参考例句：

• Our actions often negate our principles.我们的行为时常与我们所信奉的原则背道而弛。
• Mass advertising could negate the classical theory of supply and demand.大宗广告可以否定古典经济学的供求理论。

8 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

9 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。

10 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

11 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。