经济学人358:法律工作 成功的代价

　　Business
商业报道
Legal jobs
法律工作
The price of success
成功的代价
Some American law schools are paying many of their graduates' salaries
一些美国法律院校正在为许多他们的毕业生支付薪水
EACH YEAR when U.S. News, an American publisher, releases its league table of law schools,
每当U.S.News发布他们的年度法学院排行榜，
potential students seize on it and the universities decry¹ it for oversimplifying a personal and unquantifiable decision.
有潜力的学生们会好好把握这份资料，而各大院校则会开始谴责该排名的公允性，认为这份榜单忽视了个人的选择倾向，以及量化了无法量化的因素。
But the schools can ill afford to ignore it,
但这些学校都难以回避它，
法律工作.jpg
since not just applicants² but donors³ and even credit-rating agencies pay close attention to the scores.
因为不仅仅是入学申请的学生们，连学校的捐赠人，甚至是专业评级机构都十分重视排行榜上的分数。
Among the ranking's most important components⁴ is the share of graduates who find jobs.
就整个评级系统来说，最重要的指标便是毕业生的就业比例。
The 2014 table, announced on March 11th, shows that the University of Virginia and George Washington University do especially well on this.
3月11日公布的2014榜单显示，弗吉尼亚大学和乔治华盛顿大学在这方面显得尤为突出。
Although UVA's law students are only in ninth place for their scores in standard admission tests,
虽然UVA的法律专业学生标准入学考试成绩仅排第九位，
97.5% of the class of 2012 had a job on graduating—the best mark in the country.
但其2012年毕业生97.5%的就业率，则名列全国第一。
At GW the discrepancy⁵ was even more striking: its 85% graduate-employment rate ranked ninth, whereas its admission-test scores were 21st.
而GW的数据差异则更惊人：名列第九位的85%毕业生就业率的同时，他们的SAT入学成绩仅排21位。
However, the two schools' performance is not as stellar as it seems.
然而，两所院校的表现并不像其外表那么璀璨。
A close look at the online employment database of the American Bar Association reveals that GW and UVA are among the leaders in a striking trend:
在美国律师协会网上就业数据库的研究揭示出，GW和UVA都呈现出一个惊人的趋势：
law schools paying the salaries of their alumni when they go to work in legal firms, non-profits or the government.
当毕业生们进入律师事务所、非盈利组织或政府工作时，法律院校将为他们支付薪水。
GW paid the starting salaries of a whopping 22% of its 2012 graduates;
2012年，GW惊人地为他们22%的毕业生支付了起始薪水；
at 15%, UVA was not far behind.
而UVA也不甘落后，其比例为15%。
Some law schools have long given aid to a few alumni who forsake⁶ high-paying corporate⁷ firms to pursue public-interest law.
部分法律院校一直以来都为一些放弃了高收入企业的职位，转而投身于公益法律援助的毕业生提供帮助。
But since the 2008-09 recession, entry-level jobs at big firms have been scarce.
但自2008-09年的经济衰退以来，大企业的入门级职位已十分稀少。
This has led to a big expansion of bridge to practice schemes,
这一趋势，令法律院校不得不扩大所谓的就业桥梁计划，
in which the schools pay graduates a stipend⁸ to do a work placement.
其中的具体方式便是由学校去补贴毕业生的实习工作。
In a recent survey by the National Association for Law Placement,
近期，一份由全国法律就业组织所调查的结果显示，
45 of the 94 schools that responded now run such programmes.
94所院校当中有45所正执行着该项计划。
Half of them began in 2009 or 2010, but UVA's has run since 2007.
他们当中的半数，是从2009年或2010年才开始的。但UVA自2007年起便一直在执行就业桥梁计划。
It now pays 31,500 for graduates to work in public service for a year.
目前，UVA为其服务于公共部门的毕业生支付每年31500美元的补贴。
Arizona State University plans to set up a non-profit law firm, modelled on teaching hospitals,
而亚利桑那州立大学则计划仿照医学院附属医院的模式，成立一家非盈利律师事务所。
that will hire 30 recent graduates to provide legal services to lower-income clients.
这家事务所将雇佣其大学30%的毕业生，并且将致力于为低收入的顾客提供法律服务。
With demand for newly minted lawyers down by around 30%,
市场对新律师的需求同比以下降百分之三十。
the schemes spare the alumni from having an awkward gap on their CV,
而在这一情况下，上述计划能够让毕业生们免于在职业生涯中留下尴尬的空白，
and give them valuable work experience and contacts.
同时还能给予他们宝贵的工作经验和人脉资源。
Their cash-strapped temporary employers, meanwhile, get talented staff they can put to socially useful ends.
与此同时，资金短缺的临时雇主们，也能得到具有才能的员工，并让他们一展所长。
Dennis Corkery, a GW graduate,
GW毕业生丹尼斯?卡尔凯利，
got 525 a week from his alma mater to work on job-discrimination cases at the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, a non-profit.
正在为致力于公民权利和城市事务的非营利组织华盛顿律师委员会工作，主要工作是解决职业歧视方面的纠纷。而他得到了来自母校每周525美元的补贴。
The organisation⁹ started topping up his wages from the university after four months, and gave him a full salary after 11.
在四个月的工作过后，该组织补足了来自学校的补贴，并在11个月后给予了他一份全额薪水。
Mr Corkery sees the scheme as a good way to give young lawyers an apprenticeship¹⁰.
卡尔凯利先生认为，该计划确实是一个能够给予年轻律师学徒资格的好方法。
But so long as graduates put on these schemes are lumped in with those who found genuine paid work at law firms,
但只要参与这些计划的毕业生们，仍然与真正得到事务所聘用的人混为一谈，
the schools will in effect be buying themselves precious U.S.
那么实际上就相当于各大法律院校每年支付数百万美元的费用，
News ranking spots for a few million dollars a year.
用以维持他们在美国新闻排行榜上珍贵的地位。
And applicants to law school who are considering taking on a six-figure debt will get a misleading picture of the job market.
与此同时，早已准备好承担六位数学费贷款的法学专业申请者，也会被这些数据所误导，从而对律师行业的市场需求有着错误的认识。
The programmes rarely last more than a year, and often pay a pittance¹¹.
这项补贴计划很少能持续超过一年，而且补贴量往往很低。
GW, which spends 4% of its budget on these wages,
2012年，将总预算的4%投入到了该计划的GW，
tried to cut pay rates in 2012 from 15 an hour to 10 before reversing itself after an uproar¹².
试图将补贴水平从时薪15美元降低到10美元，而经历了一次抗议后便否决了之前的降薪计划。
Moreover, their success in getting graduates into genuine jobs is spotty:
此外，毕业生真实的就业成功率并不尽如人意：
the NALP survey found that only 24% of participants from the class of 2012 had been hired by their employers or in related fields by the following February.
NALP的调查结果显示，只有24%的2012届就业计划参与者最终被他们的雇主聘请或是在接下来的二月里就职于相关领域。
GW and UVA say their success rate is far higher than this.
GW和UVA则表示，他们毕业生的就业成功率远高于上述比例。
Robert Morse of U.S. News says it would consider excluding or reducing the weight of school-funded jobs.
美国新闻出版社的罗伯特莫尔斯表示，院校排名榜单将考虑排除或减少由学校补贴就职情况的影响，
if it could somehow distinguish which ones are genuinely sought-after placements with the prospect¹³ of a proper job.
但这一切的前提是，我们能够去辨别出一份经过层层筛选并且具备良好就业前景的实习机会。
The risk is that, like pre-bail-out carmakers dumping surplus vehicles on their dealers¹⁴,
目前，整个法律教育界所存在的风险是，法律院校早已习惯于为企业买单，
the law schools get used to paying legal firms to soak up their excess graduates.
其目的是吸收多余的毕业生。这就像是提前采取的救助措施的汽车制造商一样，把自己多余的汽车都往经销商处输送。
The real test of the schools' motivations will be whether they continue to run such programmes if and when it no longer bumps them up the rankings.
只有在这样的计划不再能够提高他们的排名之时，我们才能通过观察这些计划的执行与否，来判断各大院校的真实意图。

1 decry   

v.危难，谴责

参考例句：

• Some people will decry this,insisting that President Obama should have tried harder to gain bipartisan support.有些人会对此表示谴责，坚持说奥巴马总统原本应该更加努力获得两党的支持。
• Now you decry him as another Hitler because he is a threat to the controlling interest of oil in the middle east.现在你却因为他对中东石油控制权益构成了威胁而谴责他为另一个希特勒。

2 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

6 forsake   

vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃

参考例句：

• She pleaded with her husband not to forsake her.她恳求丈夫不要抛弃她。
• You must forsake your bad habits.你必须革除你的坏习惯。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

9 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

10 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

11 pittance   

n.微薄的薪水，少量

参考例句：

• Her secretaries work tirelessly for a pittance.她的秘书们为一点微薄的工资不知疲倦地工作。
• The widow must live on her slender pittance.那寡妇只能靠自己微薄的收入过活。

12 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

13 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

14 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。