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1、精品文档，仅供学习与交流，如有侵权请联系网站删除【经济学人】双语阅读：律师事务所 标价更高 收益更少Business 商业报道Law firms 律师事务所Charging more, getting less 标价更高，收益更少Lawyers biggest customers are discovering that they can haggle 律师的最大客户们发现他们能与律师还价THERE were groans in big companies legal departments in the mid-2000s, when the fees of Americas pricies

2、t lawyers first hit 1,000 an hour. 当美国最高的律师酬金达到每小时1000美元，20世纪中期，一些大公司的法律部门里开始抱怨连连。Such rates have since become common at firms with prestige. 自此以后，这样的价格在名企变得普遍。A survey published this week by the National Law Journal found that they now go as high as 1,800. 美国法律期刊刊登的一项调查表明，现在的律师费用已经高达1800美元/时，But th

3、e general counsels of large businesses are increasingly finding that they can ignore these extravagant rates, and insist on big discounts. 但是那些为大公司效力的法律顾问却逐渐发现，他们忽视高额酬金，并坚持较大折扣。Price-discounting tends to be associated more with used-car lots than with posh law firms. There was a time when a lawyer c

4、ould submit his bill and be confident of receiving a cheque for the same amount. 价格折扣渐渐常见于二手车交易，并非光鲜的律师律师事务所。有一段时间，律师收到的支票跟账单数目一样，并且，他们引以为豪。In banner years, some even got more, as grateful clients tipped them a little extra for a job well done. 在收益相当的那些年，一些慷慨的客户还会给点小费，来奖励他们的良好表现，因此有些律师能得到更多。Since th

5、e financial crisis, however, the realisation of law firmsthe proportion of their standard rates that they collect in practicehas been sliding. 然，自金融危机，律师律师事务所的个人实现，即他们在实际中累积到标准价格的部分在下滑。Earlier this month Peer Monitor, a company that tracks the legal industry, said that the ratio in the United States

6、 dropped from 92% in 2007 to an all-time low of 83.5% in 2013. 本月初，一家跟踪报道法律产业的公司，Peer Monitor表示，在美国，价格比率已由07年的92%下滑到空前低值，13年的83.5%。British lawyers have seen a similar decline. 英国律师界也有类似情况。Discounts are rampant, says Brad Hildebrandt, a consultant to law firms. 折扣现象在蔓延。一家律师律师事务所的顾问Brad Hildebrandt如是说

7、。The economic forces driving high-flying legal eagles into the bargain bin are no mystery. 经济力量将这些高身段的律师界雄鹰打入廉价区，这已不再是秘密。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. 在企业合并、收购、股票债券问题等的法律合作需求也

8、在08-09年的经济衰退中减弱，至今没恢复。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. 同时，诉讼部的易得利润也枯竭了：

9、枯燥的审核成堆文件工作，之前律师事务所都是承包给大批刚合格的伙伴，现也被电脑代替了。Putting up prices at a time of weak demand and fierce competition seems perverse. 在需求小，竞争激烈的时候提高价格似乎有些悖于常理，Yet the industry has continued to increase its sticker prices by 2-3% every yearonly to give back almost all the gain by offering ever-greater discount

10、s. 但是律师行业仍旧持续以每年2%-3%的速度提高标价仅仅只是提供一个更好的折扣给顾客。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. 原因之一在于，因为更多的客户发现他们能讨价还价，律师律师事务所意识到开始协商的最好办法就是给出最高索价。In t

11、his, 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，律师们发现他们跟会计以及其他职业的人一样，一直以来都在跟较大客户还价。Another reason is that sophisticated legal services are somewhat like luxury cars and handbags, in that

12、a high asking-price is taken as a sign of quality. 另一个原因是，错综复杂的法律服务体系有点像豪车和高端手提包一样，高价意味着高质。No one wants to have hired the cheaper firm in a high-stakes lawsuit. 没人想在一个赌注高的诉讼中雇佣一个廉价律师事务所来为自己工作。But perhaps the most important rationale for discounting is that it lets law firms charge different prices t

13、o different clients, depending on their willingness to pay. 但折扣最重要的理论基础是，它使得律师事务所根据不同的客户收取不一样的费用，当然，这取决于客户的意愿。And even among business clients with big budgets, this varies markedly. 甚至是与预算高的商业客户，价格也明显不同。Over the past 25 years some large companies have built up their in-house legal departments, so th

14、at these can now deal with outside law firms on an equal footing. 在过去的25年中，大公司自己内设了法律部门，像外面的律师事务所一样处理相关问题。In-house lawyers know the market value of every type of service, and have sophisticated software that scrutinises invoices and queries anomalies. 内部律师了解每一种服务的市场价值，拥有完善的软件细查发票，质疑异常。Such clients n

15、o longer just take the law firms word for how many hours its lawyers spent on a job: if the bill looks padded, they will not hesitate to demand cuts. 这样的商业顾客，不再完全听信律师事务所在某一案子上花费的时长：如果账单看上去有水分，他们将毫不犹豫寻求折扣。DuPont, a chemicals giant, has found plenty of scope for curbing its legal bills by becoming a c

16、annier client. 化学巨头杜邦发现变身为一个精明的客户，能有许多减少法律账单的机会。In the early 1990s it spread its legal work among 350 firms. 在20世纪90年代，杜邦将法律事务分配给350个律师事务所，Now it uses only 38including some smaller firms in smaller cities, which offer better value for money. 现在，只委托38个包括一些较小城市的小公司，这些公司把金钱的价值用到实处。DuPont has persuaded

17、its remaining law firms to work together more closely. 杜邦劝导现有的律师事务所加强合作。For routine work it insists on flat fees; for riskier cases it seeks no-win, no-fee agreements. 对于常规事务，坚持统一收费，对于有风险的事务，寻求没有胜利就没有酬薪的宗旨。Above all, says Thomas Sager, DuPonts general counsel, We had to communicate that this is a ne

18、w day, and you need to be as committed to our financial success as you are to yours. 特别是，杜邦的总顾问Thomas Sager说：我们不得不相互传达今天是新的一天，你必须坚定的为我们的经济成功努力，就如同你对自己的那样的信息。Law firms profits would evaporate if they offered smaller and less sophisticated clients such attractive deals. 如果将很完美的方案提供给较小的，不那么精明的客户，律师事务所的

19、利润可能会减少很多。Fortunately for them, they have so far been able to get away with offering discreet, selective discounts. 幸运的是，目前为止，他们能够避免供应谨慎，选择性折扣。There are still a few big clients around who do not realise what they are missing: 仍有少数大顾客没有意识到错过了什么：If you increase the rate every year, some clients will m

20、ake you take it back, but others will let you keep it, says Tony Williams, a former managing partner of Clifford Chance, one of Britains biggest law firms. 如果每年都提高价格，一些顾客会让你收回该要求，但是另外一些会答应你的条件。高伟绅英国最大律师事务所之一的总顾问Tony Williams如是说。【经济学人】双语阅读：印尼矿业 熔炉决定生存Business 商业报道Mining in Indonesia 印尼矿业Smeltdown 熔炉决

21、定生存The government risks an export slump to boost the metals-processing industry 政府为了刺激金属加工业发展不惜冒着削减出口量的危险INDONESIAS government concedes that it will cause short-term damage; but on January 12th it went ahead and banned exports of mineral ores, at last implementing a law passed in 2009. 印尼政府承认了金属加工产业

22、将蒙受短期亏损；但是在1月12号，印尼政府坚持09年的立法，继续禁止出口矿石。Officials say that forcing mining firms to export only processed minerals will attract investment in smelters and refineries. 官方称，强令矿业公司只出口加工过的矿石将吸引投资，主要针对熔炼和精炼产业。After a year or so this will start to add value to the countrys exports, they say. 在一年左右的时间后，这举措会增

23、加印尼出口的价值。But it is quite a gamble. 但这是一个相当大的赌博。Indonesiahas few smelters, and earns 5 billion a year by exporting unprocessed minerals such as copper concentrate, nickel ores and bauxite. 印尼有一些熔炉产业，而且每年可以从出口天然矿产里，例如铜精矿石、镍矿石、矾土，获利50亿美元。The mining ministry had admitted that an outright ban on ore ship

24、ments would cut exports by 4 billion this year and 2.5 billion next. 矿业部承认，今年完全禁止矿石海运出口会减少40亿的出口额，明年预计减少25亿。With the countrys current-account deficit last year hitting 3.5% of GDP, its worst since 1986, and its currency falling steeply, this is a bad time to be forgoing foreign earnings.在印尼往来账户赤字占有G

25、DP总额3.5%的情况下，这不是一个放弃国外盈利好时期。这是自1986年来最坏的情形，并且它的货币贬值很厉害。This may explain why the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, relaxed the moratorium at the last moment to let big copper producers keep exporting concentrate. 这就解释了为什么苏西洛总统最后最后时刻放宽了出口政策转而让大型制铜商们继续出口精矿石。FreeportIndonesia, an American-owned miner

26、, had warned of a 60% cut in production at its Grasberg mine in Papua, the worlds fifth-largest copper mine, if the ban had been imposed in its original form. 如果禁令实施保持不变，美国控股的印尼自由港矿业公司警告它将减少了它在巴布亚岛Grasberg矿的60%产量。Freeportsmelts about 40% of its output at Gresik in eastern Java, the countrys sole cop

27、per smelter, but it exports the rest as concentrate. 这座矿同时也是世界第五大铜矿。自由港冶炼了在Java东部Gresik大约40%的矿石产出，是这个国家唯一的铜矿冶炼公司，但是它出口剩下没炼的矿石，例如铜精矿。Concentrating minds 以提炼矿石为中心Another reason for waiving the restriction on copper is that, in contrast to some other metals, mining and concentrating it produces most of

28、 its final value: 放弃限制铜矿出口政策的另一个原因就是，与某些金属对比，采铜和精炼就可以占有最大一部分的最终价值：Nathan Associates, a consultancy in Washington, DC, says only 4-6% is added by smelting. 南森联合公司是华盛顿的一家咨询公司，宣称只有4%-6%的价值是通过熔炼加上去的。So the potential upside from insisting that only refined copper be exported is slight relative to the dow

29、nside of losing 2.5 billion a year of concentrate exports. 因此，与丧失一年25亿美元铜精矿出口额相比，潜在的升值空间就来自于坚持出口精炼铜矿出口。However, there are significant gains to be made by processing other metal ores. 然而，有一些可观的收入就可能来自于其他金属矿石加工。About 94% of aluminiums final value comes from the refining and smelting stages, for exampl

30、e. 大约94%的铝矿最终价值来自提炼和熔炼程序，例如，熔炼增加了镍矿石的价值。Smelting adds a lot of value to nickel ore, too. 但是，只要大量新的熔炉实际建成，印尼就会实现这些收入。But Indonesia will achieve these gains only if plenty of new smelters are actually built. 这些投入很昂贵，需要大量配套基础设施，Such plants are expensive, and require a lot of supporting infrastructure,

31、such as power plants, ports and roads:Indonesiais terrible at building these. 如电力，港口，道路：印尼很不擅长建造这些设施。Moreover, world mineral prices are depressed and smelting margins are low. 世界矿产价格持续低迷，熔炼利润持续走低。Nevertheless, the government says that many new smelters are in the works. 不过，政府部门称，很多熔炉都已投入使用。China Hon

32、gqiao, that countrys biggest privately owned aluminium producer, is building a 1 billion smelter in Borneo. 中国虹桥公司，作为印尼最大的私有铝矿生产者，正在Borneo建造一个价值十亿美元的熔炉。The Indonesian government says another big Chinese firm, Shandong Nanshan Aluminium, is investing 5 billion in a smelter, power plant and port on Bi

33、ntan island. 印尼政府说另一个大型中国公司，山东南山铝业，正投资50亿美元在Bintan岛建造熔炉，电力系统，港口。As for nickel, when President Xi Jinping visited Indonesia last October he witnessed the signing of several agreements by Chinese firms to build smelters to produce the metal, used in making stainless steel. 至于镍矿，去年十月份习近平主席拜访印尼时，见证了中国公司

34、建熔炉生产金属制作不锈钢的协议签订。This was a reminder of how dependentChinais on Indonesian nickel supplies, and a hint that it may be more interested in securing those supplies than in whether its companies make profits from the new smelting plants. 这是一个对中国的提醒，对印尼镍矿提供有多么依赖，也是一个暗示，中国可能会对保护这些供给矿源产生更大的兴趣，而不是在乎是否这些公司真

35、正从这些新熔炉制造中盈利。So although export bans are generally not a good idea, and using protectionism to foster “infant industries” is a policy that has produced more failures than successes, it is not impossible thatIndonesiawill achieve its hopes of moving its natural-resources industries up the value chain

36、. 因此，尽管出口禁令总体上不算个好点子，而且使用贸易保护主义来培育“新生产业”的政策往往带来更多失败而不是成功，但印尼也有可能实现它的期望，那就是将依赖自然资源的工业绑上盈利产业链。But at what cost in the meantime? 但是这样做的同时需要付出什么代价呢？A little bit of resource nationalism may win Mr Yudhoyonos allies a few votes in the parliamentary elections scheduled for April and the presidential one in

37、 July. 一年资源国家主义可能会为尤多约诺总统在四月份的议会选举和7月份的总统大选里赢得一些选票。But it may lose a lot more if many smaller miners, who cannot afford to invest in smelters, close down and cut large numbers of jobs. 但是也有可能失去更多的小型矿主，他们无力投资熔炉，导致倒闭和大量裁员。If the short-term loss of export income exacerbates worries aboutIndonesias curr

38、ent account, the consequences could be worse still. 如果短期出口盈利损失使印尼货币贬值加剧，结局仍可能是更糟。【经济学人】双语阅读：有线电视 耗资610亿的提案Business 商业报道Cable television 有线电视The 61 billion proposal 耗资610亿的提案The latest plot twists in a continuing television drama 电视连续剧中最新的情节突转SPURNED suitors usually nurse the wounds of rejection quie

39、tly. 令人唾弃的起诉者通常悄然的治愈拒绝的伤口。Not in the cable-television industry. Having unsuccessfully approached Time Warner Cable twice last year, Charter Communications, a rival American cable operator, has gone public with a new proposal. 这并不是在电缆电视行业。美国有线电视运营商的竞争对手Charter通讯，两次试图接近时代华纳有线公司都未能成功，现在又有一个新的提案已经上市。On

40、January 14th Charter announced a bid valuing TWC at 61 billion including debt, offering 132.50 ashare compared with the 95 or so they were fetching early last June, when rumours of its approach emerged. 1月14日charter宣布为时代华纳有限公司估价610亿，提供一个份额132.50美元相比于原来的95美元高出许多。早在去年六月这些做法就流传出来了。Charters boss, Tom Ru

41、tledge, wrote a public letter to Robert Marcus, the boss of TWC, beseeching him to consider the offer, and held a conference call to seek shareholders backing for the bid. Charter的老板汤姆?拉特里奇写了一封公开信给TWC的老板罗伯特马库斯，求他考虑该提案，并举行了电话会议，以寻求股东的支持。TWCs executives are playing hard to get: they want a higher pric

42、e, and vow not to let Charter steal the company. TWC的高管们欲擒故纵，他们希望得到更高的价格，并发誓决不让charter公司窃取。For those who have been following this cable drama, it has been a question of when, not if, the industry would consolidate. 对于那些一直在遵循这种电缆剧的人来说，一直有个有关行业巩固的时间问题，而不是是否的问题。TWC isAmericas second-largest cable opera

43、tor by subscribers, after Comcast, and Charter is the fourth-largest. TWC是继康卡斯特后的美国第二大有线电视运营商，而charter排名第四位。John Malone, one of the industrys pioneers, whose company, Liberty Media, is Charters biggest shareholder, is among many in the business calling for mergers. 行业的先驱之一约翰马龙，他的公司自有媒体是行业最大的股东，也是众多的

44、业务中要求兼并的公司之一。This would help cable firms fend off competition from satellite operators, phone companies and streaming services like Netflix, which are poaching their customers for internet service and for films and TV shows. 这将帮助有线电视公司抵御来自卫星运营商，电话公司和如Netflix的流媒体服务等互联网服务对他们客户的偷猎和对电视电影节目的竞争。Besides le

45、tting them cut costsCharter reckons a merger with TWC could save at least 500ma yearscale would also give cable operators more clout when negotiating with content providers over the rates they have to pay to carry their channels. 除了让他们削减成本，charter打算与TWC合并每年可以节省至少5亿，而且在于提供商洽谈必须支付的渠道费率时也使有线运营商更有底气。Las

46、t year TWC got into a fight with CBS over its fees, which led to a blackout of CBS channels for a month until the two reached agreement. 去年TWC与CBS战斗而花费了过多的费用，这导致CBS频道停摆了一个多月，直到两方协议达成。TWC lost more than 300,000 customers during the third quarter, many of them as a result of this spat. TWC在第三季度失去了超过30

47、万客户，其中不乏是因为这种争吵而出现的结果。With its latest proposal judged still inadequate, Charter will have to decide whether to offer more. 其最新的提案也有不足之处，charter将不得不决定是否要提供更多。Other cable firms, such as Comcast, may enter the fray, offering to buy all or part of TWC.其他的有线电视公司，如comcast公司，可能会加入战斗，提供购买TWC所需的全部或部分资金。Pay-t

48、elevision is not a growth business for cable operators, so they must become more creative to increase sales. 付费电视并不是有线电视运营商增长业务的方式，所以他们想要增加销售必须变得更有创意。One area of experimentation is to offer broadband along with a light television package, as several cable providers are doing in certain markets, to appeal to wallet-wise youngsters. 实验的一个方面是提供宽带伴随着光的电视包装，几个有线运营商正在做某些市场，以吸引钱包鼓鼓的青少年。Others are selling metered broadband, with the cost tied to usage. 其他正在销售的计量宽带，花费和使用成本紧紧相连。Cable firms a