Grassroots lawyers also have their day

"There's a fee for legal consultations at our firm, as I mentioned before," Old Niu said with a smile.

"Okay, it's fine. I'll swipe my card!"

The man in his thirties reluctantly took out his bank card. Wang Chuan quickly asked the accountant to bring the POS machine and handed it to him.

After seeing the man in his thirties off from the law firm, Wang Chuan returned to his seat. His second senior apprentice, Pan, hurriedly approached him: "How did it go? Did you sign it?"

Wang Chuan shrugged like a foreigner: "He hasn't signed yet, he needs to think about it."

"He's obviously a gigolo, a total scumbag. He acts all respectable on the surface, but he's a complete scoundrel in the dark. This kind of guy deserves more lawyer fees," said Pan the Second Senior Brother, looking indignant.

Wang Chuan glanced at her with a chuckle, guessing that Pan Jinlian had been angered by the woman's lecherous gaze in the conference room earlier.

As soon as Brother Pan left, QQ started flashing rapidly; Zheng the troll had sent a message.

"Did you charge a consultation fee?"

Wang Chuan smiled, his fingers rapidly tapping on the keyboard, and replied, "Received, one thousand!"

"Not bad. It wasn't a waste of time!" Zheng replied instantly.

"Don't even mention it. If I hadn't brought up the consultation fees, he probably would have left!" Wang Chuan replied.

"How can someone be so shameless? Didn't we tell him there would be a charge before we came? How can he still try to renege on his payment!"

Trying to get something for free?!

If I were there, I would have slapped him across the neck without paying... What a jerk!

"@#$%&++！ @#￥%6778……" Zheng the troll went berserk and unleashed a torrent of abuse.

Sigh! Wang Chuan knew that no matter how much Zheng troll talked on QQ, she wouldn't get this agitated if things really got serious. At most, she'd just vent her frustrations with her words.

Because Zheng, the troll, often says: "If I hadn't passed the bar exam and was preparing to become a lawyer, I would have taken him down long ago!" This shows that she still has some self-awareness and won't act recklessly!

What surprised Wang Chuan the only thing was Zheng's typing speed; it was almost like a stenotype machine. Whenever he chatted with her on QQ, once she started rantting, she would have already flooded the screen before he could even finish a sentence! That's how amazing she was! That's how awkward it was!

There's a saying that goes: As long as you don't feel embarrassed, it's always others who feel embarrassed!

While Wang Chuan was awkwardly chatting with his fourth senior brother, Mu Huaijin walked out of the partners' office, stood in front of everyone, and asked with a smile, "Who among you is interested in labor law?"

The five intern lawyers sitting at their desks exchanged glances and almost simultaneously raised their hands!

The five people sitting at their workstations had all recently passed the bar exam (except for Wang Chuan, who had been away from the bar exam for a while longer). They still had some recollection of the labor law knowledge points, and none of them wanted to miss the opportunity before them.

"Okay, I'd like to share a case with you all." Mu Huaijin was in a good mood and thought for a moment before saying, "I have a former client of ours, who hasn't signed a consulting contract yet, but I'm planning to develop the relationship and close the deal with him."

Okay, let's get back to the main point. One of the employees at the client's company has been on sick leave for six months in a row.

Every time he took sick leave, he would submit a medical certificate from the People's Hospital to the company. The company didn't want to keep dragging this on, so they asked us if there was any way to terminate the employment relationship with this employee.

"I remember that sick leave has a medical leave period. Could his sick leave have already expired?" Pan Jinlian asked, her eyes darting around quickly.

Mu Huaijin smiled: "The company checked, his medical leave period is nine months, and each time he takes sick leave it is only one week or three days, so it only adds up to six months."

According to Article 40 of the Labor Contract Law, if an employee is unable to perform his/her original work or any other work arranged by the employer after the expiration of the prescribed medical treatment period due to illness or non-work-related injury, the employer may terminate the labor contract after giving the employee 30 days' written notice or paying the employee an additional month's salary.

"Once the employee's medical leave is over, we'll see if he can continue working. The company can terminate the employment relationship and provide compensation according to this regulation," Hao Renyuan said, frowning as he thought.

"Hmm, Xiao Hao's recitation of the legal provisions is quite good, which is a method, but it's too passive," Mu Huaijin nodded.

Hao Renyuan is absolutely right; if it were an exam, he would definitely get full marks! But the problem is, this is real life. If companies simply followed the law and waited for things to happen, what would be the point of having lawyers? The reason for hiring a lawyer is to see if there are other ways to resolve things quickly, or if there are any loopholes to exploit. Most business owners hire lawyers for this reason.

When Hao Renyuan heard Mu Huaijin praise his ability to recite the legal provisions, his face flushed slightly. However, his suggestion was then criticized as being "too passive," which made him feel a little embarrassed.

Mu Huaijin's words were interpreted differently by the other four people.

Wang Chuan: Sigh, Hao Renyuan is just reciting from the script, this is a very bad strategy!

Pan Jinlian: Bookworm!

Zheng the troll: Pshaw! (A thousand words omitted here.)

Wei Ping: ...

"Should we check if the 'diagnosis certificate' this person provided is genuine?" Wang Chuan thought for a moment and tentatively suggested.

"People's Hospital is a top-tier hospital, so the diagnosis certificate shouldn't be fake, right?" Pan Jinlian said, glancing at Attorney Mu, trying to see the expression she wanted on his face.

However, she was clearly biased and forgot that there is an ancient profession in this world... forgery!

"Okay, Wang Chuan, contact someone at the company later and go to the People's Hospital to check the 'Diagnosis Certificate'," Mu Huaijin said after a moment's thought, looking up at Wang Chuan.

Since the company's boss had asked him, he felt he had to do his best. After thinking it over, he couldn't come up with any other good ideas, so Mu Huaijin could only send Wang Chuan to the People's Hospital to try his luck. But he didn't expect that Wang Chuan's visit would actually uncover some problems.

The reason Wang Chuan was chosen was because it was Mu Huaijin who made the suggestion, and Mu Huaijin also felt that it should be verified. However, he was "extremely busy" every day, so this small task naturally fell to the intern lawyer Wang Chuan. Another important reason was that Wang Chuan had previously worked on two cases with Mu Huaijin, and he was quite confident in Wang Chuan's reliability.

Seeing Wang Chuan entrusted with an "important task," Pan the Second Senior Brother felt a little jealous. Zheng the troll, not far away, glanced at Pan the Second Senior Brother almost imperceptibly, secretly gloating: Serves you right for showing off!

"Attorney Mu, ...can I go with Wang Chuan?" Wei Ping asked timidly.

"Go ahead! Get your work done and don't let it interfere with your work," Mu Huaijin said after thinking for a moment, then turned and went into his office.

At 12:01 p.m., Wang Chuan and his four colleagues walked out of the office building, chatting and laughing. They went to a small restaurant a little over a kilometer away from the law firm and each ordered a rice bowl to solve their lunch problem.