論律師契約義務之具體化—以律師倫理規範充實律師契約義務之可能性

On the Materialization of Lawyers' Contractual Responsibilities—Using "Ethical Regualation of Lawyers" as a Practical Means in Taiwan

顏華歆(Hua-hsin Yen)

指導教授 ： 劉宗榮

國立臺灣大學/法律學院/法律學研究所/碩士(2004年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2004.01724

摘要

近年來律師執業過失事件頻傳，為保障使用律師的當事人權益，並俾律師有效管控執業之責任風險，律師民事法律責任制度之建立實有必要。本文的問題意識與脈絡即著眼於「如何有效防免律師因執業過失對當事人造成的損害」而加以開展，研究範圍則以律師民事責任的核心—「律師契約責任」為主。

本文第二章主要探討律師契約權利義務的實質內涵。本文認為「律師契約義務的具體化」為建立契約責任標準的前提，惟當事人自主權在律師契約中極度受限，故須仰賴「法律規定」與「法院裁判」等義務規範來源。透過綜合比較德、英、美等國律師契約義務之內涵與範圍，可以發現結果大同小異。從責任面來看，律師皆應盡到「專業人士之注意程度」；從義務面來看，律師則有「盡責」、「保密與緘默」與「防止利益衝突」等義務。

我國目前學說與實務僅以民法委任契約為律師契約權利義務的基礎，並未針對律師與當事人間的忠實關係，發展出相關的忠實義務。然而縱使台灣社會並未出現控告律師執業過失的訴訟浪潮，亦不可低估潛藏於律師懲戒制度中的民事訴訟暗數浮現的可能性。在思索我國律師契約義務具體化的方式時，本文則大膽認為：律師懲戒案件的主要判斷依據—「律師倫理規範」應可發揮一定之功能。

本文第三章則討論律師倫理規範的定位與內涵。律師倫理規範為法律倫理的法典化成果，雖然「道德入法」有所爭議，惟歐美各國在律師自治與職業監督的政策要求下，多已有相關法典的建制，範圍以律師/當事人與律師/法院為核心。我國律師倫理規範即繼受歐美立法例而來。

本文第四章進一步探討律師倫理規範與律師契約義務之間的關連性。透過歐美立法例的分析研究，可以發現：由於律師倫理規範的條文，尤其是律師與當事人部分，通常由契約義務內涵凝結而成，因而兩者具有內涵實質上的相關性。再者，法典化後的律師倫理規範，亦逐漸成為法院判斷律師契約責任標準的參考，而具有「應然面」的關連性。

本文第五章運用第四章的結論，首先探討未來我國司法者適用律師倫理規範條文於律師民事責任事件中，可能面臨哪些正當性爭議。最後，本文站在決策者的立場，以律師倫理規範條文為基礎來草擬定型化律師契約條款，希冀為我國律師契約義務具體化的工程，提供更積極的思考方向與可行途徑。

關鍵字

律師倫理規範 ； 職業管制 ； 律師懲戒 ； 律師契約義務 ； 利益衝突 ； 執業過失 ； 專業倫理 ； 律師民事責任 ； 法律倫理 ； 忠實義務 ； 定型化契約條款 ； 律師契約責任 ； 專業過失 ； 當事人自主權 ； 善良管理人之注意義務 ； 委任契約

並列摘要

In recent days, litigable disputes involving possible legal malpractice have been on the rise in Taiwan. In order to protect the clients, including potential-clients from losses caused by lawyers’ misconduct, it is truly necessary to establish lawyers’ professional liability, which also makes it more efficient for lawyers to anticipate and manage probable liability risks in practice. Therefore, ideas and context of this Thesis are mainly purposed to answer one question: “In what way could we efficiently prevent the clients from possible damages caused by lawyers’ malpractice?” Also, the scope of the Thesis is limited in “Lawyers’ Contractual Liability”, the core of lawyers’ professional liability.

First of all, Chapter II of this Thesis talks about the detailed content of lawyers’ contractual responsibilities”. Lawyers’ contractual liabilities cannot be well defined without “materialization of lawyers’ contractual responsibilities” as the basis. However, the function of “client autonomy” in attorney-client relationship is crippled due to professional knowledge and attorneys’ independence required in practice. Thus legislative statues and judicial decisions have become the more important sources of lawyers’ contractual responsibilities.

Through comparison of the related theoretical and practical development in foreign jurisdictions, including Germany, England and the United States, it proved that the scope and content of attorneys’ professional responsibilities are basically the same both in continental legal systems and case-law jurisdictions. In terms of “Liability”, attorneys or lawyers should exercise “the skill and care that a reasonably competent lawyer would possess.” In terms of “Obligation”, lawyers have such duties as “diligence”, “confidentiality” and “avoidance of conflict of interest.”

Yet so far in Taiwan, the discussion of lawyers’ contractual responsibilities is mainly based on the regulations of Mandate Contract (Article 528~552, Civil Code). Fiduciary duties, which are generally introduced to regulate attorney-client relationship, are seldom mentioned either in theory or in practice. Although there seems little legal malpractice on the island, we ought not to under-estimate the possible litigation boom that a host of cases in lawyers’ disciplinary proceeding are very likely to turn into civil lawsuits. Thus, in search of the means to concretize lawyers’ contractual responsibilities in Taiwan, this Thesis argues that: “Ethical Regulations of Lawyers”, applied as legal grounds to determine whether the said lawyer committed misconduct in almost every disciplinary case, is supposed to function as a practical tool.

Accordingly, Chapter III starts by discussing the meaning and content of the written ethical regulations of lawyers. First, it is the “codification of legal ethics”. Although it raised doubt of propriety and justification while codifying ethical regulations into legal rules, codification of legal ethics is inevitable under requirements of professional autonomy and professional regulation. As a result, many countries like the U.S., Germany, or Japan have already drawn up such codes as “Model Rules of Professional Responsibilities” (the U.S.) or “Lawyers’ Ethics” (Japan), the scope of which is similarly focused on “attorney-client relationship.” “Ethical Regulations of Lawyers” in Taiwan is basically a legal transplantation of the above foreign codes.

Then, Chapter IV of this Thesis continuingly tries to prove that these codified ethical regulations are relevant to defining lawyers’ contractual obligations. After analyzing the interaction of both in other jurisdictions, this Thesis found the two have relevance in substance and in application. Take the U.S. for example. Specific rules of “Model Rules of Professional Responsibilities”, especially those related to attorney-client relations, are the reiteration of lawyers’ professional responsibilities which have earlier been developed in common law. Moreover, after the standards of professional conduct were codified, they began to draw attention in legal malpractice suits. The court did recognize the relevance to appeal to the codified legal ethics as evidence of professional standard of care despite its conservativeness and restrictiveness toward its use in practice.

Finally, Chapter V, by applying the conclusion of the former chapter to reality, discusses the possible controversies over the justification for the courts in Taiwan to use “Ethical Regulations of Lawyers” as the “law” in civil litigation to determine whether the lawyer’s misconduct breach his or her contractual responsibilities. Last but not least, from a policy-maker’s standpoint, this Thesis tries to draw the standardized terms of a lawyer-client contract on the basis of the specific rules of “Ethical Regulations of Lawyers”, and hopes to provide more positive thinking and constructive approaches in materialization of lawyers’ contractual responsibilities.

並列關鍵字

Duty of Fiduciary ； Discipline of Lawyers ； Professional Regulation ； Conflict of Interest ； Model Rules of Professional Conduct ； Client Autonomy ； Legal Malpractice ； Attorneys ； Professional Negligence ； Reasonable Skill and Care ； Legal Ethics ； Standard Form Contract ； Professional Responsibility

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