原文章鏈接：https://www.superlawyers.com/articles/california/to-dream-a-dream-of-family-law/

家庭法之夢(mèng)

To Dream a Dream of Family Law

作為邁克爾·L·馬奎爾律師事務(wù)所的創(chuàng)始人，邁克爾·L·馬奎爾致力于為南加州的客戶服務(wù)。他主要從事家庭法方面的工作，接手的案件種類繁多，包括高資產(chǎn)離婚、合法分居、財(cái)產(chǎn)分割、子女撫養(yǎng)費(fèi)、親子訴訟及家庭暴力等。

As the founder of The Law Offices of Michael L. Maguire & Associates, Michael L. Maguire is dedicated to serving clients in Southern California. He focuses his practice on family law, accepting a wide variety of cases including high-asset divorce, legal separation, property division, child support, paternity actions and domestic violence.

涉及名人離婚、子女監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)或其他家庭法問題的案件可能變得微不足道。由于這些情況的情緒化性質(zhì)，一個(gè)人誰沒有律師的指導(dǎo)，最終可能會(huì)作出不幸的決定，他或她的未來。憑借多年處理家庭法案件的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，馬奎爾先生致力于幫助客戶解決這些問題，為即使是最具挑戰(zhàn)性的情況制定獨(dú)特的解決方案。

Cases involving celebrity divorce, child custody or other family law issues can become tenuous. Due to the emotionally-charged nature of these circumstances, an individual who does not have the guidance of an attorney may end up making unfortunate decisions regarding his or her future. With years of experience handling family law cases, Mr. Maguire commits his practice to helping clients navigate these issues, crafting unique solutions for even the most challenging situations.

馬圭爾先生于一九七七年在歐柏林學(xué)院取得哲學(xué)碩士，并于一九八○年在密歇根大學(xué)取得歌劇音樂碩士學(xué)位。在他的歌唱生涯中，馬圭爾先生在百老匯演出了許多節(jié)目，并贏得了托尼獎(jiǎng)的表現(xiàn)，在 Les Miserables。他也有一個(gè)非常成功的職業(yè)生涯在音樂會(huì)舞臺(tái)上演唱，與300多個(gè)主要交響樂世界各地之前，決定返回學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)法律。2008年，他完成了為期兩年的西南大學(xué)法學(xué)院加速項(xiàng)目 SCALE，并獲得了法學(xué)博士學(xué)位。

Mr. Maguire earned a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College in 1977 and went on to earn a Master of Music in opera from the University of Michigan in 1980. During his singing career, Mr. Maguire performed in numerous shows on Broadway and won the Tony Award for his performance in the show Les Miserables. He also had a very successful career performing on the concert stage, singing with over 300 major symphonies around the world before deciding to return to school to study the law. He received his Juris Doctor in 2008 after completing the SCALE program, an accelerated two-year program at Southwestern Law School.

馬奎爾先生自愿為社區(qū)提供法律技能，并為哈里特布海家庭法中心貢獻(xiàn)了時(shí)間。他是加利福尼亞州律師協(xié)會(huì)、洛杉磯縣律師協(xié)會(huì)和比華利山別墅律師協(xié)會(huì)的成員。此外，馬奎爾先生最近在加州西南大學(xué)法學(xué)院擔(dān)任家庭法副教授。

Volunteering his legal skills to the community, Mr. Maguire has contributed time to the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law. He is a member of The State Bar of California as well as the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Beverly Hills Bar Association. In addition, Mr. Maguire recently became an adjunct professor on family law in California at Southwestern Law School.

邁克爾·馬奎爾因在百老匯原創(chuàng)劇《 Les Miserables 》中領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一場(chǎng)失敗的革命而獲得托尼獎(jiǎng)，現(xiàn)在他幫助那些婚姻失敗的人

Michael Maguire won a Tony for leading a failed revolution in the original Broadway production of Les Miserables; now he helps those with failed marriages

發(fā)表于2013年《南加州新星》雜志

Published in 2013 Southern California Rising Stars magazine

作者: Erik Lundegaard 2013年6月13日

By Erik Lundegaard on June 13, 2013

問: 你在百老匯原創(chuàng)劇《 Les Miserables 》中扮演安灼拉獲得了托尼獎(jiǎng)。你在全國各地演奏交響樂。所以我不得不問: 為什么是法律？

Q: You won a Tony for playing Enjolras in the original Broadway production of Les Miserables. You perform with symphonies all over the country. So I have to ask: Why law?

答：我想上法學(xué)院好幾年了。我只是想要智力上的挑戰(zhàn)。我是說，我知道我有生理上的天賦。這就像是一個(gè)跑得很快的人。我有一種天賦，我需要而且仍然需要分享。

A: I wanted to go to law school for years. I just wanted the intellectual challenge. I mean, I do recognize that I have a physical gift. It’s almost like being a fast runner or something. I have a talent that I needed and still need to share.

但是當(dāng)我用交響樂演唱的時(shí)候，我也在購買和修復(fù)洛杉磯漢考克公園的老房子。我喜歡歷史修復(fù)。我靠這個(gè)賺了不少錢。但是市場(chǎng)在2005年對(duì)我來說開始看起來疲軟，我想，“如果我要去法學(xué)院，我應(yīng)該在我太老和懶惰之前就去做。”

But while I was singing with symphonies, I was also buying and restoring old houses in Hancock Park in Los Angeles. I love historic restoration. I made good money doing that. But the market started looking soft to me in 2005 and I thought, “If I’m ever going to go to law school I should do it right now before I’m just too old and lazy to do it.”

我有點(diǎn)幸運(yùn)，因?yàn)槲覜]有參加法學(xué)院入學(xué)考試的課程，但我設(shè)法進(jìn)入了西南大學(xué)的規(guī)模計(jì)劃。開始的三四個(gè)月是非常艱難的——從整天無所事事到上法學(xué)院的轉(zhuǎn)變——但我最終還是喜歡上了它。我喜歡這種掙扎，喜歡這種樂趣，喜歡這種痛苦。

I was kind of lucky because I didn’t take an LSAT course but I managed to get into Southwestern’s SCALE program. It was very difficult, the first three or four months—the transition of going from just goofing around all day to law school—but I ultimately loved it. I just loved the struggle, and the fun of it, and the pain.

問: 為什么是家庭法？

Q: And why family law?

答：我離婚的時(shí)候鬧得很不愉快。在那次離婚過程中，我開始意識(shí)到我的律師正在向我收取巨額費(fèi)用，因?yàn)槲一旧鲜窃谥貜?fù)我告訴他們的話?；蛘咚麄?cè)跈z查一些我本可以檢查的東西。他們不像我那樣了解數(shù)字，因?yàn)樵谶M(jìn)入劇院之前，我是華爾街的一名經(jīng)紀(jì)人。我的生命中有一個(gè)使命，一直持續(xù)到今天，就是阻止其他人經(jīng)歷這些。

A: I had a nasty divorce. During the course of that divorce, I started recognizing that my attorneys were billing me a tremendous amount of money for basically regurgitating what I told them. Or they were checking boxes that I could have checked. And they didn’t understand numbers like I did because I’d been a broker on Wall Street prior to going into the theater. I just had a mission in my life, and it continues to this day, to try to keep other people from going through that.

問: 你是怎么做到的？

Q: How do you do that?

答: 關(guān)鍵是我的服務(wù)要盡可能具有成本效益。老實(shí)告訴他們，他們得到想要的東西的機(jī)會(huì)有多大。努力幫助他們認(rèn)識(shí)到，有時(shí)候你能做的最好的事情就是盡快完成這個(gè)過程，而不是為了一輛5000美元的車而花費(fèi)50000美元。

A: The key is to be as cost-effective with my services as possible. To be honest with them about the chances of them getting what they’re looking for. Trying to help them realize that sometimes the best thing you can do is get through the process as quickly as possible rather than spending $50,000 to fight over a $5,000 car.

我盡量避免把人惹毛。撞頭過程往往會(huì)把人們推得越來越遠(yuǎn)，這意味著要花更長的時(shí)間才能找到解決辦法。我不是說我是調(diào)解型的律師。我沒有。但是我認(rèn)為對(duì)于每個(gè)人來說，攤牌并且盡可能快地完成這個(gè)過程是非常重要的。我就像一個(gè)船夫想把他們從一條糟糕的河的一邊帶到另一邊。如果我能安全地做到這一點(diǎn)，我就完成了我的工作，這種商業(yè)模式就會(huì)傳播開來，他們就會(huì)派其他人來找我。我可以幫助更多的人。

I go out of my way to avoid winding people up. The butting-head process tends to push people farther and farther apart, which means it takes longer and longer to find resolution. I’m not saying I’m a mediation-type attorney. I’m not. But I think it’s important for everybody to lay their cards on the table and try to get through the process as quickly as they can. I’m like a boatman trying to get them from one side of a bad river to the other. If I can just do that safely, I’ve done my job and that business model will spread, and they’ll send other people to me. And I can actually help more people.

我們的生命很短暫，而你只有這么多時(shí)間。那么為什么要花5% 的錢來爭(zhēng)取離婚呢？

You know, it’s a short life we live, and you’ve only got so much time to live it. So why spend 5 percent of it fighting a divorce?

問: 你最近成立了自己的實(shí)踐，與……

Q: You recently set up your own practice with …

答: 羅伯特 · 科恩。他是個(gè)很有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的律師。這對(duì)我來說是完美的平衡，我希望他也是，因?yàn)槲覠釔畚宜龅氖虑?。我喜歡每天來上班。我已經(jīng)度假30年了，對(duì)吧？我喜歡幫助別人解決問題。

A: Robert Cohen. He’s a very experienced attorney. It’s a perfect balance for me, and I hope for him, because I love what I’m doing. I love coming to work every day. I’ve been on vacation for 30 years, right? I love helping people with their problems.

問: 盡管家庭法被認(rèn)為是最情緒化的實(shí)踐領(lǐng)域之一。

Q: Even though family law is considered one of the most emotional practice areas.

答：我不為此煩惱。人們會(huì)因?yàn)榍榫w而感到不安。但對(duì)我來說，作為一個(gè)演員，這就是你一直在做的。你處理人們的情緒。你要學(xué)會(huì)如何讀懂它們。你要學(xué)會(huì)如何讀懂潛臺(tái)詞。人們說，“我想要這個(gè),”但這并不是他們真正想要的。他們想要?jiǎng)e的東西，通常都和愛情有關(guān)。

A: I’m not bothered by it. People get very perturbed by the emotions. But for me, as an actor, that’s what you do all the time. You deal with people’s emotions. You learn how to read them. You learn how to read the subtext. People say, “I want this,” but that’s not really what they want. They want something else, and it’s usually got some connection to, you know, love or …

通常在家庭法中，我覺得人們?cè)谔幚砜謶帧視?huì)怎么樣？我要怎么照顧自己？我該怎么照顧我的孩子? ——還有被拒絕。這種恐懼往往會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)化為憤怒或固執(zhí)，使這一過程更加困難，并在本不該有的地方引起懷疑。所以，如果你能找到一些方法來動(dòng)搖或解決恐懼，你就已經(jīng)幫上忙了。理想情況下，雙方都能有尊嚴(yán)地結(jié)束離婚，這一點(diǎn)很重要。

Often in family law, I feel like people are dealing with fear—What’s going to happen to me? How am I going to take care of myself? How am I going to take care of my kids?—coupled with rejection. That fear can often turn into anger or obstinance, which makes the process more difficult and creates suspicions where there should be none. So if you can find some way to sway or address the fear, you’ve helped. Ideally, it’s important that both sides can walk away from a divorce with some dignity.

問: 你如何深入了解客戶的真正意思？

Q: How do you drill down to get at what clients truly mean?

答：我認(rèn)為知道動(dòng)機(jī)是什么很重要。讓我們假設(shè)一位妻子來到這里，她覺得自己是他們所說的“出柜配偶”。丈夫賺了所有的錢。她有點(diǎn)與世隔絕。她的動(dòng)機(jī)是什么？她到底想要什么？

A: I think it’s important to know what the motivation is. Let’s say a wife comes in and she’s felt like she’s been the “out spouse,” as they call it. The husband’s made all the money. She’s been sort of isolated. What’s her motivation? What is she really going for?

一部分是解放。(但是)那些被壓抑的人們，在訴訟的某個(gè)時(shí)候，他們開始轉(zhuǎn)過身來說，“我自由了。我要復(fù)仇”所以要找到一個(gè)平衡點(diǎn)。試圖教育他們?nèi)绾伪３制胶?，然后說，“這真的是你想要的嗎？回去給他施加壓力會(huì)讓你滿意嗎?”大多數(shù)時(shí)候，當(dāng)人們成熟的時(shí)候，他們會(huì)說不。

Part of it is liberation. [But] people like that who have been repressed, at some point in the litigation, they start to turn and go, “I’m free. I want revenge.” So it’s finding a balance for that. And trying to educate them as to the balance and go, “Is that really what you want? Does going back and trying to put the screws to him going to give you satisfaction?” Most of the time, when people are mature about it, they say no.

問: 你們主要代表女性嗎？

Q: Do you mostly represent women?

答: 一點(diǎn)也不。我曾經(jīng)代理過一些父親搬家的案子。

A: Not at all. I have represented a number of fathers in move-away cases.

問: 搬家案件？

Q: Move-away cases?

答：一個(gè)人想帶著孩子搬出這個(gè)州。如果有合理的理由，比如某人在 IBM 工作，他們被調(diào)走了，他們是主要的監(jiān)護(hù)人，意味著他們70% 的時(shí)間都在照顧孩子，有時(shí)候法院會(huì)允許他們這么做。但我處理過很多這樣的案子，派對(duì)結(jié)束了，父親有了新女友，母親很生氣，很生氣，很受傷，于是決定“我要回家和媽媽住在一起，她在世界的另一邊，我要帶著孩子們一起走”。所以只要是合法的，你就合法地對(duì)待它。如果情況不是這樣，你也得站出來面對(duì)。

A: Where one person wants to move out of state with the kids. If there’s a legitimate reason, when somebody’s, you know, worked for IBM, and they get transferred, and they are the primary custodial parent—meaning they take care of the kid 70 percent of the time or more—sometimes the court’s going to let them do that. But I’ve dealt with a number of cases where the parties break up, the father has some new girlfriend, the mother’s pissed off and angry and hurt and decides, “I’m going to go back home and live with Mom who’s on the other side of the world and I’m taking the kids with me.” So where it’s legitimate, you treat it legitimately. Where it’s not, you have to step up and deal with that, too.

問: 你是如何做到這一點(diǎn)的? 讓客戶以某種理性的方式看待這一點(diǎn)？

Q: How do you go about that? Get clients to see it in some rational way?

答：它值多少錢？在情感上有什么價(jià)值，在經(jīng)濟(jì)上有什么價(jià)值，來進(jìn)行這樣的斗爭(zhēng)？我認(rèn)為重要的是不要讓客戶，如果可以的話，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)趥ψ约憾颖茏约旱陌缸印?/p>

A: What’s it worth? What’s it worth emotionally, what’s it worth financially, to have those kinds of battles? I think it’s important not to let the client, if you can, run away with their own case because they’re harming themselves.

另一方面……我畢業(yè)后，沒有直接去上班，而是去了市中心，為許多不同的法官工作，幫助寫意見。在這個(gè)過程中，我問了一些法官，“當(dāng)你的客戶想要打架，而你知道這不符合他們的利益時(shí)，你會(huì)怎么做?”對(duì)一個(gè)人來說，他們都說了同樣的話: 如果你告訴你的當(dāng)事人，他們會(huì)去找另一個(gè)律師。所以關(guān)鍵是要明白他們?yōu)槭裁聪胍２⑾嘈潘麄優(yōu)槭裁聪胍??？纯催€有沒有其他方法也能讓他們得到他們想要的東西。

On the other hand … after I graduated from school, instead of going straight to work, I went downtown and clerked for a lot of different judges and helped write opinions. In the course of doing that, I asked a number of judges, “What do you do when your client wants to fight and you know it’s not in their interest?” And to a person, they all said the same thing: If you tell your client that, they’re going to go get another lawyer. So the key is to understand why they want it. And give credence to why they want it. And to see if there’s some other way that’s also in their best interest to get something of what they want.

問: 你提到了處理情緒的角度，舞臺(tái)和法律事業(yè)之間還有其他聯(lián)系嗎？

Q: You’ve mentioned the dealing-with-emotions angle. Are there other connections between stage and legal careers?

答：哦，當(dāng)然。我在舞臺(tái)上待了25年。我演唱會(huì)的一部分工作就是和觀眾交流。我已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了和2000到3000人即興交談。做到這一點(diǎn)，你就能培養(yǎng)出絕對(duì)適用于法庭的技能。你培養(yǎng)了一種時(shí)間感，你培養(yǎng)了一種讀懂觀眾的感覺，你能感覺到他們的注意力在哪里。

A: Oh, absolutely. I spent 25 years onstage. And part of what I do in concert is talk to the audience. I’m used to talking to 2,000 or 3,000 people off the cuff. Doing that, you develop skills that absolutely transfer to the courtroom. You develop a sense of timing, you develop a sense of reading the audience; you can just feel where their attention is.

這是非常寶貴的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。當(dāng)我在臺(tái)上的時(shí)候，我和在臺(tái)下的時(shí)候幾乎是同一個(gè)人。我習(xí)慣在舞臺(tái)上做我自己。這是人們不習(xí)慣在法庭上做的事。

It’s an invaluable experience. When I’m onstage, I’m pretty much the same person as I am offstage. I’m used to being myself onstage. And that’s something that people aren’t used to doing in court.

問: 做自己？

Q: Being themselves?

答：做自己。

A: Being themselves.

問: 早些時(shí)候你談到了去法學(xué)院的想法，這個(gè)想法是從哪里來的？

Q: Earlier you talked about having that idea of going to law school. Where did that idea come from?

答: 我開始考慮在獲得托尼獎(jiǎng)后的幾個(gè)星期內(nèi)去上法學(xué)院。

A: I started thinking about going to law school within a couple weeks of winning the Tony Award.

問: 你在開玩笑吧。

Q: You’re kidding.

答: 是的。只是因?yàn)槲蚁矚g做不同的事情。我是華爾街的經(jīng)紀(jì)人。我喜歡這樣做，我喜歡學(xué)習(xí)它。我喜歡戲劇，而且我在戲劇里表現(xiàn)得很好。

A: I did. Just because I like doing different things. I was a broker on Wall Street. I loved doing it and I loved learning it. I loved being in theater and I did well in theater.

問: 你們修復(fù)了房屋……

Q: You restored homes …

答: 我修復(fù)了工匠風(fēng)格的房屋，并且在1999年因?yàn)槲宜龅囊粋€(gè)項(xiàng)目而獲得了洛杉磯市修復(fù)獎(jiǎng)?，F(xiàn)在我在做家庭法，我熱愛我的工作。

A: I restored Craftsman-style homes and won the city of LA restoration award in 1999 for one of the houses I did. And now I’m doing family law and I love what I’m doing.

我的舞臺(tái)生活和法律生活還有一個(gè)聯(lián)系。在舞臺(tái)上，我有能力在情感上與一首歌產(chǎn)生聯(lián)系，這種聯(lián)系對(duì)觀眾來說是可信的，能夠打動(dòng)人心。這給了我很大的滿足感。所以我才這么做。我喜歡分享這份禮物?，F(xiàn)在我處在一個(gè)地方，我可以接受我的一切，并利用它真正產(chǎn)生影響，并希望，在一些人的生活中，在一個(gè)非常消極的時(shí)期，對(duì)他們的生活產(chǎn)生積極的影響。如果我能幫助他們度過這段艱難的時(shí)期，我已經(jīng)做了一件讓我非常滿意的事情。

Here’s another connection between my stage life and my legal life. Onstage, I have an ability to connect emotionally with a song in a way that’s believable to the audience and moves people. That gives me a great deal of satisfaction. That’s why I do it. I love sharing that gift. Now I’m in a place where I can take all of what I am and use it to actually make an impact, and hopefully, a positive impact on somebody’s life during a very negative time in their life. If I can help them get through this difficult time, I’ve done something that gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction.

問: 從某種意義上說，這是你第四次成功的職業(yè)生涯。對(duì)于為什么你能在這些職業(yè)中做得很好，你能給別人一些建議嗎？

Q: So in a certain way, this is your fourth successful career. Any advice you could give others as to why you’ve been able to do well in each of these careers?

答：這只是我對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)的迷戀。我們可以出去吃午飯，我可以走回餐廳，然后我就開始想“我怎樣才能更快地洗碗?”我只是喜歡學(xué)習(xí)。我經(jīng)常讀到這個(gè)。我只是對(duì)這個(gè)星球很感興趣。因?yàn)槲矣X得我們?cè)谶@里的時(shí)間太短了，我們還能做什么呢？你認(rèn)識(shí) George Plimpton 嗎？

A: It’s just my fascination with learning. We could go out to lunch, and I could walk back in the restaurant, and I’d start thinking, “How can I wash the dishes faster?” I just like learning things. I read about that all the time. I’m just voracious in my interest in the planet. Because I think we’re here for such a short amount of time and what else is there to do? Do you know George Plimpton?

問：紙獅子，偉大的作家。

Q: Paper Lion. Great writer.

答：他參加了所有這些不同的運(yùn)動(dòng)，對(duì)嗎？當(dāng)我還是個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候，我對(duì)此很著迷。我說”看看這家伙。他不怕嘗試所有這些事情?！边@引起了我的共鳴。

A: He played all these different sports, right? When I was a kid, I was fascinated by that. I was going, “Look at this guy. He’s not afraid to try all these things.” That struck a chord with me.

問: 你看過電影版的《悲慘世界》嗎？

Q: Did you see the movie version of Les Mis?

答: 是的。

A: I did.

問: 然后呢？

Q: And?

答：我所有的朋友都會(huì)說: “你能相信那部電影嗎?”？糟透了?！蔽抑皇恰阍趺粗赖?？第一，誰在乎我們25年前做了什么？看看這部電影做了什么。它把這個(gè)節(jié)目帶給了成千上萬的人，否則他們永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)看到它。

A: All my friends, they’re going, “Can you believe that movie? It sucks.” And I’m just … how do you get that? One, who cares what we did 25 years ago? Look at what this movie’s done. It’s brought this show to millions and millions of people who otherwise never would have seen it.

問: 這有沒有妨礙你的家庭法律事務(wù)——你在《悲慘世界》里扮演安灼拉的事實(shí)？

Q: Does it ever get in the way of your family law practice—the fact that you played Enjolras in Les Mis?

答：我沒有告訴任何人這件事。

A: I don’t tell anybody about it.

問: 對(duì)，但是……

Q: Right, but …

答：所以如果有人知道了，可能，而且只有一分鐘，會(huì)妨礙我們。事實(shí)上，如果有什么事的話，那就是妨礙了對(duì)方律師。因?yàn)樗麄冇X得“這家伙只是個(gè)歌手”。

A: So if somebody knows, it may, and only for a minute, get in the way. Actually, if anything, it gets in the way of the opposing counsel. Because they think, “Oh, this guy’s just a singer.”

問: 所以他們會(huì)低估你。

Q: So they’ll underestimate you.

答：他們大大低估了我，這是他們最大的錯(cuò)誤。

A: They underestimate me big time. And that’s their big mistake.

譯者語：本來打算睡了，結(jié)果吹頭發(fā)的時(shí)候刷微博偶然看到這個(gè)鏈接，頓時(shí)一個(gè)激靈，垂死病中驚坐起，毫不猶豫地用彩云小譯翻完了這個(gè)采訪，內(nèi)心早已對(duì)MM敬佩得五體投地。

最后放一個(gè)MM的聯(lián)系方式，看誰有膽子去打這個(gè)電話！