ABSTRACT This paper draws on interviews with 57 corporate finance lawyers working from global law firms based in the City of London. Drawing on this data, we highlight common themes of taking deals at ‘face value’, being the lawyer-technician who uses the law to effect his client’s wishes, and not ‘pushing’ ethics. We suggest that there is an apathy – a lack of concern or interest – about ethics on the part of corporate lawyers. This apathy stems from various sources. It is linked to assumptions about the sorts of clients that large law firms are willing or not willing to act for, and assumptions about the ‘right sort of people’ the firm hires and retains; it is linked to strong notions of role morality; and it is founded on the classic legal ethics ‘standard conception’ principles of neutrality and non-accountability. Our data also highlights a lack of ethical infrastructures in large firms, and a lack of ethical leadership from law firm partners for the associates and trainees working for them.

中文翻译：

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“大猩猩例外”和道德冷漠的公司律师

摘要 本文对 57 位在伦敦金融城全球律师事务所工作的企业融资律师进行了采访。利用这些数据，我们强调了以“面值”进行交易的共同主题，即作为使用法律来实现客户意愿的律师技术人员，而不是“推动”道德。我们认为，公司律师对道德问题漠不关心——缺乏关注或兴趣。这种冷漠源于各种原因。它与大型律师事务所愿意或不愿意为哪类客户代理的假设有关，以及关于公司雇用和保留的“合适的人”的假设；它与强烈的角色道德观念有关；它建立在中立和不负责任的经典法律伦理“标准概念”原则之上。