Inside the office of the Jingzhou City Lawyers Association, Han Chengli was chatting with a man, looking very relaxed.
"So Old Han, that Song Tengfei is still being stubborn, huh?" the man spoke, his voice booming like a bell.
He was the president of the Jingzhou City Lawyers Association, named Yin Deyuan, a renowned figure not only in Jingzhou but also in the legal circles of Handong Province.
He was also a distinguished professor at Handong University of Political Science and Law, having published countless papers.
In matters of seniority, no matter the industry, it exists everywhere; not to mention amongst lawyers. Why do we often say that lawyers who come from the court are amazing? Everyone understands this.
To the extent that some courts even mock themselves, saying they are training bases for lawyers...
Han Chengli shook his head and said, "He hasn't said he won't agree, but he hasn't said he will, either. He's just dragging his feet, letting us investigate as we please, telling us to talk to him again once we find evidence."
"Evidence? His client has already published articles influencing public opinion, isn't that enough? The trial is today, right? Just give him a warning!"
What is reality? This is reality. As an ordinary lawyer, you really don't have any power to resist in front of the association. Otherwise, why would so many lawyers think about getting a position in the association...
"As for that intern lawyer, don't bother with him for now, he should be up for review soon, we'll discuss it then."
Intern lawyers are even easier to deal with. Indeed, if the other party doesn't break the law, you can't just cancel their membership, but you can obstruct their review.
There are plenty of ways to do so. For example, if you show up for the review dressed in shorts instead of a suit, that's it, you fail the review. Why? Because your attire is inappropriate.
What? No legal stipulation? Our lawyers association has our own review standards. What, you disagree?
At the civil second division of Guangming District Court, Tang Fangjing sat down and breathed a sigh of relief; there were somewhat too many self-media at the door, it felt like all of Jingzhou's self-media and internet celebrities had come to cash in on the spectacle.
These people, wherever there is a hot topic, they'll go, as if they don't realize how annoying this behavior is. Who cares about being on camera?
Just now, Old Tang almost got into an argument with someone outside.
The collegial panel and the other party had not arrived yet, and Old Tang was idly scrolling through videos when suddenly he came upon a video praising attorney Li Changming by the Jingzhou City Lawyers Association.
In the video, a vice president of the Jingzhou City Lawyers Association was saying into the camera that attorney Li Changming was indeed a very conscientious and responsible lawyer…
Tang Fangjing felt his awkwardness rising, likening it to when a certain director once said Van Van grew up abroad, so his gaze was especially pure, as innocent as a blank sheet of paper…
Looking at the comments section, as expected, many people were singing praises, whether they were paid internet commenters or something else.
All he could say was impressive!
After a while, Li Changming entered, his hair slicked back, dressed to the nines in a shiny suit, and even appeared to have put on a bit of makeup!
Damn, this is a court appearance, not a performance… But, in his case, he probably was prepared to give a performance, so never mind.
Li Changming indeed treated the court appearance as a performance. He wanted to show off his skills during the live broadcast, so he had to make his professionalism apparent.
Dressed in a suit, that was one of the signs of professionalism...
The clerk was confirming the identities of both parties. When she saw Li Changming's appearance, she was taken aback. It wasn't uncommon to see flashy people during a trial, but ones as flashy as him were rare to see.
The Judgment Chief arrived; the presiding judge looked to be in his forties, named Pang Mengjun, at least his hairstyle was much better than Old Zhou's, probably a seasoned judge from the Bright District Court.
Such cases indeed involved significant controversy and required a judge with authority.
"Everyone present, let's start the trial!"
The court live-stream had already begun online, and many onlookers had been here waiting for a while.
"Is it finally starting? The defendant is attorney Li Changming, isn't he? He looks very professional. And the plaintiff is wearing a short-sleeved shirt?"
"I also feel that they are not on the same level, what a pity. The Lawyers Association says that Li is professional, but he's up against that kind of person…"
In such an atmosphere, in a law office in Magic City, a middle-aged lawyer with slicked-back hair was also watching the live broadcast. He was the internet commenter "Lawyer Old Zheng," who had been constantly posting online.
He mainly disliked Tang Fangjing, beginning to loathe him ever since that astronomical overtime pay case.
Just like how Lin Wuchang felt back then, netizens were saying Tang Fangjing, an ordinary person, seemed more professional than actual lawyers, which made Old Zheng uncomfortable, leading him to detest and scorn Tang Fangjing.
Now, as he watched the live broadcast, he could only shake his head at why Tang Fangjing chose to come forward for this case, only because he thought Tang Fangjing had no chance to win.
In the midst of this atmosphere, the court trial was beginning to follow its procedures.
"Tang Fangjing, male, born on…"
"Song Tengfei, male, born on… a lawyer from Tengda Law Firm."
It was all routine procedure as the Judgment Chief confirmed there were no objections from the parties concerning those present, then introduced the members of the collegial panel.
This process had people who were new to court proceedings starting to nod off, as trials can be quite boring.
Only when the evidence challenge stage began did the trial become slightly interesting.
"Evidence one, the special authorization contract for representation signed between Shengda Law Firm and our client stipulates that lawyers appointed by Shengda are authorized to admit… to sign related documents, proving that our client entrusted the proprietary rights to the other party…"
Li Changming quickly stood up to object, "I have no objection to the authenticity of the evidence, but I do not accept its relevance; property preservation is not a mandatory procedure of litigation, so it cannot prove that my side bears responsibility."
Tang Fangjing continued presenting evidence: "Evidence two, the certificate of timely renewal of preservation delivered by the Bright District Court, proves that Shengda Law Firm received a court notification prior to the end of preservation, yet did not proceed with timely preservation and did not communicate with our client in a timely manner."
Li Changming objected again: "I have no objection to the authenticity and relevance of the evidence, but the certificate shows that Ju Haiqing also received the notice, and it was Ju Haiqing who handled the initial property preservation. Therefore, my side does not bear responsibility..."
"Evidence three, funds in the developer's account at the time of preservation were already sufficient to pay our client's purchase price at that time..."
After Tang Fangjing presented his evidence, Li Changming also began to offer proof.
For example, Ju Haiqing signing to agree to end the case, implying he gave up his rights and so on...
There wasn't much to argue about in terms of evidence, and soon both sides moved to the courtroom debate stage.
"Shengda Law Firm commissioned attorney Li Changming as its agent; as a professional lawyer, Li Changming should and must know the relevant legal provisions regarding property preservation!"
"In the contract, both parties agreed that Shengda Law Firm would protect the client's legal rights. Moreover, even though property preservation is not a mandatory litigation procedure, as a professional lawyer, Li Changming at the very least had the duty to remind the client, yet he did nothing."
This was Tang Fangjing's view, and the reason you are paid for your services as a lawyer is because of your professional capability, not because you are good at talking.
The relevant regulations of property preservation are the manifestation of legal expertise; even if the entrustment contract does not specify the details of preservation, at minimum, upon receiving the notice, you are supposed to communicate promptly with the client to see if they are willing to continue the insurance and inform them of the legal risks of both renewing and not renewing.
This is what being a professional lawyer means, this is why lawyers can charge a fee for their professionalism!
But you didn't continue the insurance and failed to communicate with the client, leading to failed preservation.
The money was actually enough, thus forming a complete causal relationship.
"But in this way, rights and obligations become completely disproportionate; Ju Haiqing only paid 160,000 in attorney fees, but his claimed rights exceeded four million, so can I assume that if I could fully execute it for him, he would have to give me a commission?"
Li Changming countered there.
Tang Fangjing was flabbergasted at these words, thinking, is this guy, Shi Lezhi, dragging rights and obligations into a lawyer's agency discussion?
He directly said, "The defendant's alleged reasons are completely groundless; the Lawyers' Law or the Civil Code clearly stipulates that the amount of agency fee collected has no necessary connection with the amount of compensation for damages."
"Full compensation is required because the frozen assets could completely cover the purchase price... If I follow the defendant's logic, am I also to understand that lawyers shouldn't charge fees if they lose a case?"
He had just lectured at length about the Lawyers' Law stipulating that lawyers are not responsible for the outcome of cases, but then the opponent threw it right back at him.
There was no way to refute; the opponent was fixated on one point, asking whether what the lawyer was selling was truly professional services!
Yes, and that meant admitting that in terms of professionalism, you have to deliver, and if you fail to deliver, you should accept responsibility—simple logic.
But this made Li Changming sweat profusely, he didn't know what to say.
It wasn't that the logic was so intricate that it couldn't be refuted, but rather that his current persona was that of a professional lawyer!
If he were to deny it, that would imply he wasn't professional; what kind of lawyer doesn't know that property preservation has a time limit?
But if he admitted it, that would mean he had been negligent at the time, and negligence leading to adverse consequences meant accepting responsibility—a dead end.
The online viewers were not fools, either; they could tell that there really seemed to be a problem with Li Changming, and crucially, he was now spouting circular arguments and even attacking the opponent.
With a professional persona, you're supposed to counterattack with professionalism, not quarrel with your opponent like a shrew.
Even by the end, Li Changming was completely unable to withstand Tang Fangjing's aggressive cross-examination.
"Attorney Li Changming, you have repeated yourself for the thirteenth time. Now please answer my question directly—is a lawyer selling eloquence or professionalism?"
Li Changming was left speechless, and finally, the senior Pang above seemed to wake up.
"Cough cough, the courtroom debate is over; we will now begin the final statements."
Li Changming sat down heavily, his face blank, like he had been toyed with by a hundred Sister Pomegranates, knowing full well that he had suffered a complete defeat in this trial and had been ground into the floor by the opponent.
In the live broadcast of the trial, viewers' comments were rapidly flashing across the screen.
"Is Tang Fangjing doing this deliberately or accidentally, just hammering on the word 'professional'? I'm so overwhelmed..."
"Is the situation as dire as the one above says? I'm sweating bullets for Attorney Li; no matter what he says, it's wrong. Could it be that all clever lawyers are cornered on both sides?"
Similar comments kept emerging, and Li Changming had essentially become a laughingstock.
However, Li Changming was still psyching himself up—what if the judge accepted his opinion? And even if he lost, at worst it would just be embarrassing; after all, he had insurance, and his own out-of-pocket expenses were minimal...
People always like to comfort themselves.
Of course, Li Changming did not know that at that very moment, there were a few police officers drinking tea outside the courtroom.
"Say, how long are we supposed to wait?" someone asked.
"No rush, let's go in after the courtroom debate is over; he can't run away anyway."
It turned out they learned that that person was attending the court today, even live streaming... Find the newest release on novel⦿fire.net
Finally, the Judgment Chief Pang announced a recess. The online crowd of onlookers was also planning to take a break. Normally, at this point, the live stream signal would cut off.
But the signal dropped for a moment and immediately came back on!
In the next shot, the Judgment Chief Pang, who had just left, suddenly came back, followed by a few police officers who went straight up to Li Changming.
"Li Changming, right? We are from the Criminal Police Team of the Bright District Sub-bureau. You are suspected of fraudulent litigation and are hereby criminally detained by the Bright District Sub-bureau according to the law. Please sign here."
Suddenly, the spectators in the courtroom and the netizens in the broadcast were all stunned.