在法律諮詢過程中，律師藉由提問 (questioning) 來取得發言權而掌控談話內容 (Danet, 1980; Drew 1992)。文獻指出律師和當事人間的互動模式時常產生非對稱現象，此乃由於雙方之社會地位與專業知識的不對等 (Drew & Heritage, 1992; Gnisci & Pontecorvo, 2004)。過去許多文獻探討律師言談風格對當事人之認知與法庭審問的影響，然而鮮少研究直接分類討論律師的提問模式。再者，過去文獻並未對律師的提問提出完整的分析，當事人在法律諮詢中所提出的問題也尚未被仔細探討過。有鑑於法律言談研究之不足，本研究旨在檢視初次法律諮詢中律師與當事人的提問類別與功能，進而探討雙方問題使用的差異。此外，不同類型之法律案件是否影響律師與當事人的問題使用也在本研究的討論範圍內。研究對象為六名民事律師 (六男) 及八名當事人 (三男，五女)；語料收集地點為財團法人法律扶助基金會台南分會。本研究以Binder et al. (2004) 的「T型審問方法」(T-funnel questioning method) 及Tsui (1992) 的「提問分類」(Elicitation Classification)為基礎，提出了一個對法律言談提問的分析方法。根據研究結果有以下五點發現：
1. 律師與當事人的提問分佈情形是非對稱的。也因如此，律師和當事人的角色經常分別被定位成提問者與答覆者。
2. 就提問類型來看，相較於開放式問題，律師和當事人皆提出較多的封閉式問題。然而律師與當事人的提問模式卻在各個法律諮詢過程中有些許差異。
3. 在初步法諮階段，律師經常交替使用開放式問題和封閉式問題。然而後續法諮階段雖以封閉式問題為主，卻經常伴隨著多重主題式問詢。結果顯示本研究中律師的提問技巧並不完全符合Binder et al. (2004) 所提出的審問方法論。
4. 就提問功能來看，律師和當事人皆呈現出類似的提問模式，亦即雙方之問題使用著重於從對話者身上尋求新訊息。然而期待對方應允、承諾等二類問題功能鮮少出現於初次法律諮詢中。
5. 就案件本質來看，不同的法律議題並非是決定律師與當事人提問模式之要因；然而同類型之法律案件也不一定能促使律師和當事人產生類似的提問模式。
由此可見，在初次法律諮詢過程中，律師和當事人的提問類型與功能呈現出部分相同和相異之處。這些結果可藉由考慮當事人的過去相關法律經驗、律師個人的質詢風格及案件之敏感程度來解釋。經由量化分析，本研究針對法律諮詢機制提供了一個較明確的認識，研究結果也可作為法律言談上律師提問模式之參考。如何於律師和當事人間，透過不同的提問類型與功能，建構出更有效且對稱的言談模式。

Raising questions is the primary method in which attorneys obtain the speakership and maintain control over legal discourse (Danet, 1980; Drew 1992). Previous research pointed out that owing to the inequality in social status and different states of professional knowledge, the patterns of interaction between attorneys and clients tend to be asymmetrical (Drew & Heritage, 1992; Gnisci & Pontecorvo, 2004). The present study adopts a discourse analysis approach to examine the amount and distribution of question types and functions produced by attorneys and clients in initial legal consultations. Furthermore, this study investigates the relationship between the patterns of questions and the juristic nature of each case. The data were collected from eight counselling sessions conducted by six attorneys (six male) with their clients (three male and five female) at the Tainan branch office of the Legal Aid Foundation, Taiwan. Binder et al.’s (2004) T-funnel questioning method and a modified model based on Tsui’s (1992) Elicitation Classification were applied as the analytical instruments for this study. The findings of this study are summarized as follows:
1. The distribution of the attorneys’ and the clients’ questions were asymmetrical. The roles of the attorneys and the clients were allocated to questioners and respondents respectively.
2. Both the attorneys and clients raised many more close-ended than open-ended questions during the legal consultation. However, divergent patterns of question initiation were found across the legal consultations.
3. Open-ended and close-ended questions were used interchangeably in the initial stage, while close-ended questions with numerous topical inquiries were found in the follow-up stages of the consultations. These findings reveal that the attorneys’ questioning techniques were only partially in line with the principles of the T-funnel questioning method proposed by Binder et al. (2004).
4. Both the attorneys and clients present a similar distribution pattern in the use of elicitation categories. Elicit:inform occurred the most frequently, while Elici:agree and Elicit:commit occurred the least frequently.
5. The distribution of elicitation categories was not determined by the legal topics and the attributes of legal cases did not reveal similar questioning patterns.
These findings demonstrate that there were some similarities and differences between the attorneys’ and clients’ question distribution in the initial legal consultations. These results may be explained by considering the prior experiences of the clients, individual questioning styles of the attorneys, or the sensitivity of the legal cases. In conclusion, this study is of significance in providing a better understanding of questioning mechanisms in legal discourse. Implications are provided for legal practitioners to conduct more effective attorney-client communication.

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