蛮论天下

政经动荡,期股风云,无边无际,顺手拈来,绝对原创
正文

律师和妓女 II

(2010-03-13 11:33:46) 下一个

美国的法律制度发展到今天,已变得极为繁杂而困惑,在很大程度上,正义的本意被扭曲,从上到下,法律本身成了一种被利用的工具,而不是追求真理的途径。这种情况是其他发达国家绝无仅有的。

当律师和政客融为一体时,便会发生很多奇怪的事。比如,最近华盛顿的时尚运动是对华尔街施以鞭刑。 先是凹斑马把活化石 Volker 搬出来,对大银行课以重税,最近民主党参议员更提案对接受过联邦资助的银行所发的奖金额外加 15% 的税。且不说大部分银行已把联邦 TARP 的钱还清,政府还狠狠地赚了一笔暴利。把华尔街单列出来,主要还是因为政治正确。政府把多少千亿纳税人的钱扔进汽车行业,目前还颗粒无收,但有民主党人敢提向汽车行业奖金加税吗?他们敢得罪黑手党一样的工会吗?

很多律师 / 政客,往往以冠冕堂皇的外表, 作一些极为低格调的事。在这一点上, 他们连妓女都不如。 有他们做垫背,以后婊子可能连牌坊钱都省了。

上次比较了律师和妓女的价钱,这里想再比较一下他们提供服务的质量。 妓女的服务质量不一,但大多应可以‘保证出货’吧。 相反,律师永远是旱涝保收的。除非案子特别的一边倒,大部分律师不会把收费与官司的结果挂钩( contingency) 。 当然,也有不少主持正义,敢承当风险的律师。但正因为这样的情况并不多见,我们才能看到象 Erin Brockovich 和 A Civil Action 这样的电影。

以美国的法律制度,要证明诬告 (frivolous lawsuit) 和托拉斯( Trust )是极为昂贵和困难的。正因为如此,打官司便成了大公司恐吓,摧毁,强行收购比它小的竞争对手的极为有效工具。 这就像一场互残的游戏,你捅我一刀, 我捅你一刀,看谁先失血过多而不支倒地。

本人就曾经历了这样一场如大卫对歌利亚,持续三年的专利官司。 以小搏大, 除了要有效运用资源,还要运用像打 Texas Hold'em 一样的策略。 当对手手中没真正过硬的牌,而你又让他知道你已经 'pot committed' ,决心不惜一切血战到底时,这个巨型怪兽顶到最后便支持不住轰然倒下。 回想起来,毛主席关于‘纸老虎’的论断实在是太精辟了。。。

顺便谈一下法官在案子中所起的关键作用。 如果对方无理取闹,目的是让你大出血而就犯,律师一般建议向法官呈上所谓的 Motion for Summary Judgment . 也就是说,这个案子即使打到最后,没有任何理智的陪审员会做出对原告有利的裁决。所以,法官应该把此案扔出门外。

法官的裁定对全案有极为深远的影响。 不少法官, 特别是非裔法官,即使面对黑白分明的大量证据,却选择明哲保身,不肯授予被告 Summary Judgment 。 原因很简单,被告无法对法官的决定上诉,而原告却可以对不利的裁决上诉。 一但原告上诉成功,法官的裁定被推翻, 他的仕途便受到影响。

如果被告未被授予 Summary Judgment, 即使赢了官司,也极难再控对方诬告,更不用说获得赔偿了。

不论结果如何,最后的赢家, 还是双方的律师。

 (未经作者许可,请勿转贴)

[ 打印 ]
阅读 ()评论 (11)
评论
bsabc2010 回复 悄悄话 回复bsabc2010的评论:
第一次发这些“评论”,不懂格式。刚刚所说的“三个回复评论”是指不包括“蛮论天下”的其它三个读者,更觉得“蛮伦天下”的说话有points和中肯地说出TA自己的道理,the best part是不伤人,原来文字是可以显示出风度来的。
bsabc2010 回复 悄悄话 对以上三个“回复评论”有点失望,如看到老师让学生failed却没给出公平和具说服力的评语。比起简单两句奚落的说话,若给点令人一读便马上称是的精句更能让旁观者有满足感。法律和公理的精神是以理服人,但懂理和讲理的人其实不多。

美国的法律有时是玩家的天堂,连OJ Simpson都可无罪释放的所谓裁判团裁决的模式,天知道会有多公正!

英文里说:Proof me wrong,很多人马上用白话说人错,却没proof,因而看不到有水平的东西,真不过瘾。
蛮论天下 回复 悄悄话 I don’t know why I had to take an extra mile to shed light on this. Here's the definition:

In American legal practice summary judgment can be awarded by the court prior to trial, effectively holding that no trial will be necessary. Issuance of summary judgment can be based only upon the court's finding that:
1.there are no issues of "material" fact requiring a trial for their resolution, and
2.in applying the law to the undisputed facts, one party is clearly entitled to judgment.

Does this mean that no reasonable juror would return a verdict that’s in favor of the plaintiff??? Can any of you please tell me which part of what I said wasn’t accurate? Or this is totally something new for you?
蛮论天下 回复 悄悄话 You must be a lawyer, and probably a Democrat too. But if you are, I really feel bad for your since you will have to re-take your bar exam---your amateur comments only betrayed your ignorance. VERY FEW lawyers had the luxury of going through most of the procedures in a lawsuit. MUCH FEWER had the chance to say anything in a jury trial.

For the past six, seven years, I went through several patent lawsuits, talked to lawyers on a daily basis about on-going strategies in these cases. My company owns over 70 patents and patent applications. If you think you are smarter than some of the top-notched guys I hired, I will be more than happy to talk to you.

I also FIRMLY STAND BY what I said about Summary Judgment Motion. In one of the cases, we were sued by a big bully in our industry where their case was solely based upon the so-called “Doctrine of Equivalence”, and their only purpose was to stifle competition. That’s how we filed our Summary Judgment Motion. Why don’t you check out the exact meaning of that legal jargon which should be right off your bookshelf?
flyingdust11 回复 悄悄话 您的观点太好笑了,拜托先对summary judgment做一些preliminary research再发表您的高论。每一种法律制度都有其存在的合理性,仅仅是因为您不愿意付律师费不代表这种system不能体现其对民众的公正性。一个自以为聪明不懂法律还藐视法律的中国人。Attacking a profession won't make you a noble human being.
987654321tc 回复 悄悄话 Totally B.S. Not knowing the basic of US legal system, you even dare to write a article about it. You would be much better off of shutting up and sticking with whatever you actual know a little.
HCC 回复 悄悄话 I don't know what state you are in, but your understanding of summary judgment doesn't look right. Your understanding of what lawyers do is equally unconvincing.
登录后才可评论.