時間就是金錢—論計時收費之律師倫理

Abstract

於計時收費制度下，因當事人間對於律師實際花費多少時間提供服務難以查證，易使人懷疑律師有拖延工作時間或虛報工作時數之情形。律師於計時收費時不當收費，在美國係爭議性極大的議題，甚至有論者主張應禁止計時收費方式。我國律師事務所採取計時收費制比例高達75%，因此我國可能面臨與美國相同的問題。

本文以人民憲法訴訟權之觀點出發，探討律師職務之特殊性，及律師收費合理化、透明化之重要性。本文認為，依據我國民法委任及我國律師倫理規範第35條第1項之規定，律師於承接案件前或處理案件時，應對當事人明確公開與收費相關一切資訊。如律師就計時收費案件未能於處理案件過程中，即時、精確向客戶就律師提供服務之時間向客戶為報告，應不得向客戶請求該部分酬金。

依本文實證研究顯示，我國事務所多不以律師計收時數為判斷律師工作表現之主要依據，故我國律師於計時收費案件中不當收費之誘因遠較美國為低。故本文認為，計時收費制度無須禁止，而應求有效控制計時收費之機制，以降低不當收費之情形。本文並參考美、德及日本律師倫理規範，提出我國律師倫理規範中應增設律師報告義務之修正建議，並建議透過其他制度，如律師事務所建置內控機制等，以多管齊下方式，將計時收費制度下不當收費之誘因降至最低。

Due to the difficulties to find out the exact time lawyers spent on the cases, clients might suspect that lawyers pad their work, or even inflate the number of billable hours. The unethical billing problem of lawyers has been a controversial issue in the U.S. Some commentators even suggested that hourly billing shall be abandoned. Since 75% of law firms in Taiwan adopt hourly billing, we might have similar problems as the American legal profession has with regard to hourly billing.

Based on the constitutional right to court access, this thesis investigates the features of lawyers’ service, and the importance of reasonableness and transparency in attorney’s fees. This thesis contends that, according to the Mandate Chapter of the Civil Code and Article 35 of Ethical Regulation of Lawyers, lawyers are obligated to report to clients accurately and promptly all information related to attorney’s fees, such as, the ways lawyers calculate attorney fees, actual time lawyers spent, and the specific tasks lawyers provide. If lawyers fail to meet the above-mentioned requirements, lawyers shall not demand for the parts of fee from clients.

According to the survey results of this thesis, law firms in Taiwan seldom evaluate lawyers by billable hours they collect. Hence, lawyers charging by hourly rate in Taiwan have lower incentive to charge clients unethically then those in the U.S. Therefore, this thesis is of the opinion that hourly billing needs not be abandoned in Taiwan. Instead, this thesis tries to find mechanisms to reduce unethical hourly billing. This thesis also suggests recommendations for revising Ethical Regulation of Lawyers in reference of the rules of legal ethics in the United States, Germany, and Japan. This thesis contends that by means of different mechanisms, such as setting up internal control mechanisms in law firms, unethical behaviors of hourly billing will be effectively reduced.