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  3. Jacoby & Myers, a pioneer in fighting in the 1970s for lawyers’ right to advertise, embodies what many people dislike about Amer

Jacoby & Myers, a pioneer in fighting in the 1970s for lawyers’ right to advertise, embodies what many people dislike about Amer

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问题     Jacoby & Myers, a pioneer in fighting in the 1970s for lawyers’ right to advertise, embodies what many people dislike about American lawyers. The firm appeals new clients with advertisements which lure people with dreams of huge payouts. "Remember that guy? Who came in second at the last New York Marathon? Neither do we. Winning is everything," boasted one of its commercials in 2011.
    Today, the firm is trying to win another suit to change the rules of America’s legal industry. If successful, the suit would allow non-lawyer investors to put money in a law firm. Currently law firms, whether a "single shingle" or one like Jones Day may have only one corporate form anywhere except the District of Columbia: a partnership owned only by lawyers.
    Jacoby & Myers says that the existing rules violate its freedoms of speech and assembly. It has lined up non-lawyer investors who would buy a chunk of the firm and share its profits, if allowed to do so. Andrew Finkelstein, the firm’s managing partner, says that outside capital would allow the firm to upgrade technology and take advantage of scale, whose is simply to give more clients with low incomes access to justice.
    The American Bar Association(ABA), which indirectly sets the rules that regulate lawyers, opposes the change. Lawyers, it argues, are not businesspeople with a duty to the bottom line, but professionals with an ethical duty to their clients’ best interests. Outside investors could push lawyers to file junk suits or take quick settlements to maximise profits.
    Yet the reality on the ground in America suggests that change is badly needed. Many law firms are less than the sum of their parts. Partners are semi-independent barons, complete with associate lawyers as serfs. Nearly all work is billed by the hour, meaning efficiency destroys revenue. By contrast, an integrated firm with professional managers and modern computer systems could develop processes that are re-peatable. A few small American firms are already trying to run themselves more like modern businesses, and are delighting clients with quick, high-quality work and predictable fees. Allowing outside investment would boost the number and size of such firms.
    Even if Jacoby & Myers loses this round, experiences abroad may change the debate in America. Several years ago, Australia allowed "alternative business structures", including non-lawyer ownership of firms, and even public flotation. Last year the Legal Services Act brought similar rules to Britain. The Co-op, best known for its supermarkets, has announced plans to offer cheap legal services. More than 300 British law firms are waiting to become alternative business structures under the new law, according to Jomati, a legal consultancy.
    Provided that few serious ethical complaints surface, it will be harder for the ABA to claim that outside investment necessarily corrupts lawyers. Jomati’s boss Tony Williams gently mocks the lawyers’ hand-wringing about the death of the "profession". "The question ’are you a business or a profession?’ is nonsense. You’re both. "
The views of Tony Williams and ABA on the outside investment are______.
选项 A、identical
B、similar
C、complementary
D、opposite
答案D
解析 末段首先指出：律师很少受到道德投诉，ABA所持的“业外投资会必然导致律师腐败”论断难以成立；随后介绍托尼·威廉姆斯观点：“律师的消亡”之论断可笑，律师可以一身兼两职，商人与律师合二为一，也即威廉姆斯并不认为“业外投资会导致律师腐败”。可见，两者论点的相悖性，[D]选项正确。
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