Grassroots lawyers also have their day

"Clerk, give the disc to the plaintiffs and let them play it," the young female judge said.

Wang Chuan inserted the disc into his laptop's CD-ROM drive, and soon the computer played a video of the plaintiff falling and receiving treatment. Halfway through the video, Wang Chuan pressed the pause button.

"Judge, you see, there were no signs outside the restaurant's private room at the time, and the footage is very clear," Wang Chuan said, pointing to the computer screen.

"Defendant's representatives, you two come over here." The young female judge looked coldly at the defendant's dock.

A hint of panic flashed in the eyes of the square-faced lawyer, while the middle-aged man with the buzz cut looked even worse, glancing anxiously at the square-faced lawyer beside him. After the two approached and looked at each other, they returned to their seats without saying a word.

The young female judge looked at them: "Defendants, what's going on here?"

"Maybe we picked up the wrong photos!" the square-faced lawyer finally said after a long pause.

"You took the wrong one!? Is it really that much of a coincidence?"

According to Article 102 of the Civil Procedure Law, if someone forges or destroys important evidence and obstructs the people's court from hearing a case, the people's court may impose a fine or detention depending on the severity of the circumstances; if the act constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

The photos you provided are crucial evidence for determining liability in this case. Now, your actions are suspected of providing false evidence, and I will report this to my superiors.

If you are found guilty of providing false evidence, you defendants will face fines and detention. Go back and think it over. Okay, court is adjourned now. The reconvening date will be announced later.

The young female judge gave the square-faced lawyer a cold look, and casually pinned the blame for providing false evidence on him. Beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of the middle-aged man with a buzz cut standing nearby.

Around 5 p.m., Zheng Yi and Wang Chuan signed the court transcript and walked out of the courthouse.

"This case is interesting. I reckon the opposing lawyer is in for trouble. Alright, all that's left is to wait for the court to notify us of the hearing." Zheng Yi breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Wang Chuan.

"If the injury is classified as a disability, the client can receive more compensation. In the current situation, the client probably won't get much money. I'm going straight home. Attorney Zheng, see you next Monday!" Wang Chuan said, heading straight for the subway station.

Previously, the client, a man wearing glasses, had consulted someone who said that his wife's injuries did not qualify as disability and that she would be fine after a period of rest.

Hongjie wasn't at the bar on the weekend, and Sixth Brother, watching Wei Meinu strumming the strings, almost couldn't resist advising her to give up learning the piano. Wang Chuan, listening to Wei Ping's playing, really wanted to bang his head against a wall. Well, it seems Wei Meinu really has no musical talent. But Wei Meinu seems to be enjoying learning it.

Days passed, and it was soon mid-May. Wang Chuan still hadn't received a court notice. His client, the man with glasses, had called to inquire, but since the court hadn't scheduled a hearing, the lawyer was helpless and could only wait.

That day, Wang Chuan was busy helping a client draft a lawsuit when his cell phone rang.

"Hello, is this Attorney Zheng Yi?" A man's voice came from the phone.

"I'm Attorney Zheng's assistant. What can I do for you?" Wang Chuan asked.

"I'm the manager of XX restaurant. We're the defendant in Ms. Zhao's case, handled by Attorney Zheng. Could you please ask if Attorney Zheng has time? We'd like to discuss a settlement with the plaintiff," the man on the phone said.

"Okay. I'll ask Attorney Zheng first, and I'll get back to you this afternoon. Your phone number is..." Wang Chuan's heart skipped a beat, and he was overjoyed.

The defendant called on his own initiative. What does that mean? The defendant backed down, probably intimidated by the judge's words. The restaurant must have no other choice but to try and negotiate compensation with the plaintiff to get the plaintiff to drop the case. That must be it. Wang Chuan thought for a moment and smiled.

"What? The restaurant wants to settle? That's great! I'll call the client in a bit to discuss the compensation amount. Wait for my message, stay calm and don't rush!" Zheng Yi said excitedly.

In the afternoon, following Zheng Yi's instructions, Wang Chuan scheduled the negotiation with the restaurant for 10 a.m. the next day.

The next morning, the bespectacled client arrived at the law firm. His demands weren't high; he only wanted the restaurant to compensate his wife, Ms. Zhao, for all expenses and lost wages, plus some additional compensation, totaling 50,000 yuan. Actually, Ms. Zhao had been working from home during this period and hadn't suffered any wage loss.

At 10:05, the restaurant's representative, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, arrived. This time, the square-faced lawyer did not come with him.

The middle-aged man with a buzz cut sat in the conference room with a conflicted expression, looking at Zheng Yi, Wang Chuan, and the man with glasses opposite him.

"We are very sorry about Ms. Zhao's situation. I'm here mainly to discuss compensation with you. If we can reach an agreement, we hope the plaintiff will withdraw the lawsuit," said the middle-aged man with the buzz cut.

The client, a man wearing glasses, was suing to find a reasonable place to resolve the issue of his wife's injury; to put it bluntly, it was for money. So when the other party offered compensation, his eyes lit up.

"Alright, we don't want things to get so tense. If you're willing to compensate us, we can talk. How much are you prepared to pay?" Zheng Yi said expressionlessly.

"We have seen the photocopies of the invoices provided by the plaintiff, which total a little over 30,000 yuan. Of course, there may be a need for follow-up examinations at the hospital, but the cost of those examinations should not be too high."

"We discussed it and agreed to pay the plaintiff 45,000 yuan in a lump sum. 40,000 yuan should be enough to cover the treatment costs, and the remaining 5,000 yuan is a small compensation," the middle-aged man with the buzz cut said unhurriedly.

After listening, the bespectacled man looked at Zheng Yi. His demands were not high. Although the amount offered by the other party was somewhat different from his expectations, it was still acceptable.

Zheng Yi turned his head, leaned close to the bespectacled man's ear, and whispered, "Listen to me, don't say anything!"

"We are very pleased that you came to the office to discuss compensation with us, but I feel that your sincerity is insufficient. The expenses and compensation we are claiming are much more than this amount. Even if you had not come to discuss a settlement, I believe the court would have supported our request."

Furthermore, even if the court doesn't raise the issue of false evidence, we will continue to appeal if the judgment does not meet our requirements, and raise the issue of false evidence in the second instance.

I can tell you clearly that we don't care whether you are fined or your legal representative is detained; what we care about is the amount of compensation.

Zheng Yi's words struck a nerve with the other party. The restaurant's legal representative was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, and he certainly didn't want to be arrested and thrown in jail. If the court fined him another ten or twenty thousand, he'd rather just pay the money and be done with it.

"Attorney Zheng, we are actually victims as well. The photos we provided were all his ideas. He said he was guaranteed to win the case, so we hired him. We never expected that this bastard would ruin us."

We have already filed a complaint against him with the Bar Association. I told the judge about it a couple of days ago, and the judge took a statement. I heard they will send a recommendation letter to the Bar Association.