Grassroots lawyers also have their day

"Didn't you say you were helping me? I thought you didn't want me to charge you! Besides, if you don't issue a receipt and collect money privately, and I don't know him well, it could easily cause trouble!" Wang Chuan complained.

"Sigh! Chuan'er! You're still too timid. I saw him hire a lawyer before, and the lawyer's fee was over ten thousand, which he transferred directly to the other party without even getting a receipt." Fatty sighed, "But it's never a bad thing to be cautious. As the old saying goes, 'Better safe than sorry!'"

On Monday morning, Hetong Company sent someone to sign an agency agreement with the law firm. After completing the relevant matters, Zheng Yi arranged for Wang Chuan to take the complaint and evidence to the Shijingshan Court to file the case.

The case filing division of Shijingshan Court is located at the North Gate. The legal service office previously set up in the office was not far from the case filing hall, so Wang Chuan was very familiar with the case filing division.

At 11:01, Wang Chuan walked into the case filing division with a nervous heart.

Most of the time, lawyers are quite nervous when they walk into the court's case filing division, wondering if the other party will make things difficult for them and refuse to accept the case.

If the client accompanies the lawyer to file a case, the lawyer becomes even more nervous, fearing a rebuke from the judge. Losing face in front of the client is a minor issue; if the client thinks the lawyer they hired is unprofessional, that would be a real problem.

In most cases, the problem isn't with the lawyer, but with the court system. For example, some courts require the legal representative's seal or signature on the complaint when filing a case, while others require verification of the original ID card of the parties involved. Occasionally, there are also temporary adjustments. If a lawyer rarely goes to a certain court, and that court happens to have special regulations, it can put the lawyer in a very awkward position.

Fortunately, Wang Chuan was familiar with the regulations of the Shijingshan Court's case filing division. After taking a number at the entrance, he sat on a chair and waited to be called. This was probably learned from banks, saving people who came to file cases the trouble of queuing.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, the judge called Wang Chuan to the No. 2 case filing window. The case filing window was designed like a cubicle, with a large glass partition separating Wang Chuan and the judge in the middle. Below the glass was a marble-look countertop with a metal channel on it for passing documents.

In Wang Chuan's view, apart from being designed to be more private than bank windows, court filing windows are basically the same as bank windows.

Wang Chuan speculated that the large glass panel in the middle was likely explosion-proof glass, used to prevent people from disrupting the court's filing hall and injuring the judges.

"Alright, all the materials are ready. Go pay the fees!" The judge, with a blank expression, accepted the case filing documents and issued a bank payment slip. The designated bank for paying court fees here is the Agricultural Bank of China.

Previously, the Agricultural Bank of China had a window inside the case filing division, but that's no longer the case. Now, you have to go to an Agricultural Bank branch not far from the court to pay the fees. The deadline for payment is seven days from the date the invoice is issued; failure to pay on time will result in the case being treated as withdrawn.

The litigation fee for labor dispute cases is ten yuan (the cheapest fee for labor dispute cases), and the office had already given Wang Chuan the fee when he came before. After paying the fee at the Agricultural Bank, Wang Chuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It was almost noon, so Wang Chuan went to the legal services office to rest his legs, then had lunch with Zheng Penzi and Hao Renyuan before returning to the law firm.

"Hello, may I ask who I should contact for legal advice? I'd like to consult about some labor-related matters!" As Wang Chuan walked into the law firm, a middle-aged man's voice with a heavy local accent came from behind him.

Wang Chuan turned around and saw a middle-aged man in a security guard uniform standing at the law firm's front desk. His face was dark red, and his eyes were full of expectation as he looked at him. The front desk was deserted; he wondered where the receptionist/administrator was.

"Please come with me." There's no reason to turn away customers when you're in business, so Wang Chuan naturally let him in.

After letting the middle-aged man in the security guard uniform into the conference room, Wang Chuan went to find Zheng Yi.

Of the lawyers in the firm, Director Niu was rarely seen, busy with court hearings and expanding his client base. Mu Huaijin found the cases troublesome and was unwilling to handle labor-intensive cases. Fatty Wan was out in court, leaving only Zheng Yi, with no other options.

"What? Another labor case?"

"I'm willing to go, but it's the same old rule: you handle the transaction, I'll just be listed as a co-operator. If it goes through, I'll go; if not, forget it!" Zheng Yi said, looking up as he was busy writing a defense statement for a sales contract dispute case.

"Deal!" Wang Chuan said with a grin. If he could close the deal, he'd have another case to practice on, and Wang Chuan was secretly delighted!

"Why don't you reconsider?!" Zheng Yi asked tentatively, taken aback.

"What are you still thinking about! If you keep thinking about it, it'll be too late..." Wang Chuan pulled and dragged him into the conference room.

"Hello, please tell me, what would you like to ask?" Wang Chuan said, having prepared a pen and paper.

"Hello, Attorney Zheng, Attorney Wang. My surname is Liu. I am a security guard who works as a gatekeeper for a company. The agreed-upon schedule is 12 hours per shift, with one day on and one day off."

After working there for more than three months, the company said they were short-staffed and asked me to keep watch 24 hours a day, working one day and resting the next. I figured I had neither skills nor education, so I might as well just do it, since it wasn't too tiring anyway.

It's the end of April now, and last week my boss told me that security guards sleep at night anyway, so there's not much to do. He suggested I just do it this way: nights are considered rest, and days are considered work.

I immediately objected when I heard that. The company's trucks were restricted from entering the city during the day and couldn't get in. We often had to pick up and ship goods at night, so I couldn't get any rest, and they weren't going to raise my pay.

My boss is trying to make me work non-stop, which is like working a month without a break. Isn't that ripping me off? I had a fight with my boss and then stopped going to work.

"As a result, yesterday the company sent me a notice saying that I can't go anymore, that I'm an absentee, and that they're terminating my employment." As he spoke, Liu Baoan took out a crumpled A4 sheet of paper and handed it to Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi frowned after reading it and handed it to Wang Chuan.

The A4 paper clearly stated in large characters: "Notice of Termination of Employment Contract." Essentially, it meant that Liu Baoan had failed to report to work without cause, constituting a violation of the rules, and the company had decided to terminate his employment contract. In short, he was dismissed.

Wang Chuan frowned. Based on the law and Liu Baoan's statement, he was indeed a miner. The company had no problem terminating his employment.

As for the boss exploiting Liu Baoan and not paying overtime, that's another matter. He can claim overtime pay, but the company is not well-organized and there's no clocking in or out, making it difficult to prove that he worked overtime.

"How much is your monthly salary?" Zheng Yi asked.

When Liu Baoan told him he was a security guard, he felt a chill in his heart. If the other party's salary was too low, he probably couldn't even afford the lawyer's fees, so there was no point in discussing the case. He would just get a free consultation and be done with it!