Grassroots lawyers also have their day

After completing the formalities and sitting down at his workstation, the first thing that gave Wang Chuan a headache was applying for an intern lawyer's license.

Looking at the more than ten documents required for applying for a lawyer's intern license, including a certificate of no criminal record, his brows furrowed into a knot: "Being a lawyer means not being afraid of trouble! This is the first hurdle to overcome! I am an ambitious young man!" Wang Chuan kept reassuring himself.

Over the next few days, he first went back to his hometown police station to coordinate the issuance of a certificate of no criminal record (this certificate was abolished after more than ten years of judicial reform, which greatly reduced the workload of applying for the internship lawyer certificate). Then he went to the Bar Association to complete the formalities. A week later, he finally prepared all the application materials and submitted them. All that was left was to wait for the notification to go to the Municipal Bar Association to pick up the internship lawyer certificate.

Just half a month after Wang Chuan joined the company, Zhengyang Law Firm purchased all the necessary office equipment and recruited four intern lawyers, three women and one man.

"Wang Chuan, there's a divorce case coming up later. Come with me to discuss it. Make sure your handwriting is clear when you give your statement," Director Niu said sternly as he walked up to Wang Chuan.

"Okay, I'll get ready right away." Wang Chuan looked excited. This was his fifth time participating in a case discussion at Zhengyang Law Firm.

For a while, he was the only intern lawyer in the firm. Whether it was Director Niu or Attorney Mu, they would always ask him to come along when they had a case. His main job was to take notes on case discussions or case acceptance, make tea and water, and greet and see off guests.

The other partner in the law firm was a female lawyer surnamed Qiu, named Qiu Tianyun. Wang Chuan had only met her once. It was said that Attorney Qiu was the legal director of an investment firm and rarely came to the firm.

Fortunately, Wang Chuan had previously worked in a small company in his hometown county, where he often dealt with various social interactions and people from all walks of life. As a result, he was not particularly uncomfortable working at the law firm.

The other new interns around him looked on with envy. Although they knew they would also have the opportunity to work on cases, the fact that the director had handpicked Wang Chuan right away made them feel a little jealous and envious.

"Director, do you need me to prepare tea or something for the client?" Pan Yuanyuan, an intern lawyer sitting opposite Wang Chuan, stood up and looked at Director Niu.

Director Niu's eyes lit up: "No need for tea. When the client arrives, just pour them a cup of hot water and bring it in!" After saying that, Director Niu gave Pan Yuanyuan a meaningful look, then turned and went into his office.

"Okay! Don't worry!" Pan Yuanyuan said excitedly with a big smile on her face.

Generally, serving tea and water to clients is the job of the front desk administration, or it's done by the intern lawyers or legal assistants who are discussing cases.

However, Pan Yuanyuan snatched it away at this moment, which can only mean one thing: she wanted to make more of an impression on the boss and show off her skills so that the boss would remember her when there were cases in the future and let her work on more cases to gain more experience.

Wang Chuan shook his head almost imperceptibly. He hadn't expected that this pretty and clever girl opposite him would have so many thoughts. Sure enough, the prettier the girl, the more cunning she is!

Just then, Wang Chuan's QQ message popped up. Zheng Shuang, another intern lawyer sitting not far away, sent him a message: "Senior brother, that little girl Pan Jinlian is stealing your work. Be careful, or she might steal your chance to work on cases."

Wang Chuan was the first person to apply for an intern lawyer's certificate at Zhengyang Law Firm. According to the order in which they joined, the others all assumed that he was the senior.

Because everyone disliked Pan Yuanyuan's smooth-talking personality, they unanimously elected her as the second senior brother when ranking her. Although she did not accept this ranking, everyone called her that, and after a few days of anger, she could only silently accept it.

Everyone seemed to have a special affection for this second senior sister. Seeing that she was eloquent and spoke as if she were a golden lotus, they secretly gave her the nickname "Golden Lotus". In addition, since her surname was Pan, everyone secretly called her "Pan + Golden Lotus"!

The taciturn man with glasses sitting next to Wang Chuan is named Hao Renyuan. He is from Tangshi City, Hebei Province, and was ranked third in the public vote.

He remained silent from morning till night, doing whatever the law firm assigned him. He was the kind of hardworking and dutiful man who had no presence in the firm but was extremely popular. He would probably receive a lot of friend cards in his life. His second senior brother, Pan Jinlian, personally gave him the nickname "Hao Renyuan" (meaning "Good Popularity").

The female intern lawyer who just sent Wang Chuan a QQ message is named Zheng Shuang. She is from Heilongjiang Province and just submitted her internship application materials last week.

Zheng Shuang's forthright and generous personality is well-liked, and her distinctive Northeastern-accented Mandarin is easily recognizable. She also initiated the ranking of her fellow intern lawyers at Zhengyang Law Firm.

She ranked fourth and was dubbed the "Number One Mouth of Zhengyang Law Firm." Her nickname was "Zheng Mouth," which, incidentally, was given to her by her second senior brother, Pan Jinlian. Zheng Shuang felt this nickname suited her perfectly!

The remaining junior brother, ranked fifth, was named Wei Ping. She was from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. She was a graceful beauty, about 1.65 meters tall, with a slender figure. Her voice was always soft and gentle. Every time Wang Chuan heard her speak, he would feel a tingling sensation all over his body, as if he were being slightly electrified.

Director Niu once thought that she spoke too softly and lacked assertiveness, making her unsuitable as a litigation lawyer. However, after taking her to court for the first time, he completely abandoned this idea.

It seemed as if a ferocious beast was hidden within Wei Ping's frail body. Once she entered courtroom mode, she was like a completely different person, revealing her sharp edge and speaking with a powerful and resounding voice.

Her speaking rhythm was very engaging, but it had a fatal flaw—she was not easily understood! Her Mandarin was not very good, and she spoke very fast. When she spoke quickly, she would blurt out a phrase or two in Zhenjiang dialect, which few judges in the north could understand. So the judges had to patiently remind her again and again…please speak Mandarin. Of course, that's another story.

The reason for using "fellow students" instead of "senior brothers and sisters" is because of Zheng, a critic. In her words, what's the point of distinguishing between male and female intern lawyers? They're all just laborers used like male donkeys anyway!

Wang Chuan sighed silently, sent a smiling emoji, and thought to himself: Where there are many women, there is much trouble!

The client that Director Niu mentioned was a man in his thirties, slightly thin, with a fair complexion, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and looking refined and cultured, as if he had received higher education.

The lingering chill of early spring in Beijing hadn't quite dissipated, and the law firm was comfortably warm with the air conditioning on. The client wore a thick, open cotton-padded coat, paired with jeans and cotton boots—a casual look, reminiscent of a typical engineer.