What's wrong with this lawyer?!

Chapter 49: Chapter 45: Educating Lawyers with Law? Sounds Interesting!

Across from Tang Fangjing, Ju Haiqing continued, dropping his pained expression, "Mr. Tang, there was of course a reason for that. At that time, many of us neighbors were thinking about protecting our rights, but we had no idea how to go about it. That's when lawyers started approaching us."

"However, we later discovered that the people contacting us weren't actually lawyers; they were legal consultants from their law firm. They told us they could help sue and get our money back."

"Their fees were very expensive, and the other neighbors didn't want to get involved. Only I and one other person went through with the lawsuit. I remember they charged us more than one hundred and sixty thousand in legal fees..."

Today's law firms aren't what many people think, that lawyers spend their days welcoming guests. The big firms employ their own sales teams—externally known as legal consultants, who never claim to be lawyers.

They are the main force for drumming up cases. And of course, everyone knows how sales work: they are bold in their promises and even bolder in what they claim, knowing that ultimately everything comes down to the contract—unless you record everything the salespeople say...

The insurance industry used to be criticized for the same reason; many people can't understand the complicated contracts and just listen to what the sales agents say. In the end, they discover they can't be indemnified, and they're even less likely to win a lawsuit...

Tang Fangjing didn't need to hear any more to know what likely happened afterwards. If there was a victory in the lawsuit, there wouldn't be a problem; with a contract in hand, a win was certain, as the court wouldn't possibly deliver a loss in such a matter.

But then why do some people say that it's the lawyers themselves who deliver the final blow to the owners of unfinished buildings?

Execution is the difficulty; enforcing judgments on unfinished buildings is even more difficult...

Are legal measures useful? Of course, they are. How else can you determine your rights if you don't go to court? If you don't do anything, once the statute of limitations for litigation has passed, you can forget about getting your money back.

But the fees are exorbitant, and the owners of unfinished buildings still end up with nothing. This has undoubtedly left a bad taste in many people's mouths.

Ju Haiqing continued to ramble on. The situation was largely the same: they won the appeal, but they couldn't execute the judgement. This year, the court had already declared that the other party had no assets available for execution and therefore terminated this execution process.

"But even if the lawyer you hired had lost the lawsuit, they wouldn't have been responsible for that. It has nothing to do with how much money they took from you, not to mention they actually won the case," Tang Fangjing said once again.

"Mr. Tang, I understand that. Now, there's just an issue. I'm a novelist, see, and I often look up legal information online, so I know a little bit," Ju Haiqing said.

"Back then, I asked that lawyer if we could apply for property preservation, and they said we could try, but it was unlikely that any significant amount of money would be frozen. Considering I had already paid so much in legal fees, I figured I might as well go for the property preservation."

"I still remember, the judge handling the preservation was surprised that we actually managed to freeze some of the real estate company's funds. I'm not sure how much exactly, but it was definitely more than what I had paid for my house. I was really happy at the time, thinking there wouldn't be any issues."

Tang Fangjing thought it must have been a stroke of luck for this guy, and the judge he encountered must have been conscientious.

"So if the funds were frozen, why was there no money left when it came time for execution?"

Ju Haiqing replied excitedly, "Mr. Tang, that's what I found out later—the freeze has a time limit. When it expires, you have to apply for an extension, or else the freeze is lifted. You see, I knew nothing about this. It should be the lawyer's job to handle these things, right?"

"When I approached them about it, they told me it wasn't their responsibility. Property preservation isn't a necessary step in litigation. And since I initiated the preservation, I should have been the one to handle the renewal. They blamed me for it."

"But when I signed the contract, I signed what they called a special authorization. They said that although it was expensive, I wouldn't have to worry about anything, so I didn't bother with it. Who could have anticipated this would happen..."

"I complained to the Lawyers Association, and they told me the lawyer wasn't responsible. If I had any further concerns, they suggested I take a legal route. But they're lawyers; how could I possibly sue them!"

This is why Ju Haiqing stopped looking for solutions. Suing a lawyer, even a law firm, seemed to him as futile as picking a fight with Mike Tyson.

The one thing that gnawed at him was the fact that he had signed some special authorization agreement to make things easier, spent over one hundred and sixty thousand, and in the end, it was still deemed his fault. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't accept it.

As for the developer, that path to rights protection was a different story, and it has never stopped over the years.

Tang Fangjing had already sat down again. You know, this story really is interesting.

"Which law firm was it, and what's the name of the lawyer who handled your case?"

Tang Fangjing didn't display any particular reaction, and Ju Haiqing was already feeling a bit disappointed.

He had approached other law firms before, but no one was willing to take the case. Most lawyers said that the failure to execute wasn't the lawyer's fault since property preservation isn't part of the regular litigation process.

Still, when asked for the name, he answered, "The law firm was called Shengda Law Firm, and the lawyer's name seemed to be Li Changming..."

As his words fell, he noticed Tang Fangjing across from him seemingly frozen in place.

"Mr. Tang? Mr. Tang?"

"Ah, oh, Li Changming, this matter is quite serendipitous, isn't it? I'll take your case, but you know, I can't take cases independently right now... Old Song, Old Song!"

Old Song from outside hustled in and asked, "What's up?"

"I've taken this brother's case, so hurry up and draw up a contract, let's see if he prefers risk representation or something else, anything will do."

What? This time it was Ju Haiqing's turn to be dumbfounded. You dare to do risk representation for this case?

Although Old Song didn't catch on right away, he still led Ju Haiqing outside to inquire about the situation before drafting the contract, only to suddenly realize, didn't I just do an assistant's work?

However, nobody knew Tang Fangjing was grinning so wide his mouth was about to split!

It was exactly what he wanted. While he was still waiting for the last task to end, the new one had already arrived!

This was really good, at least it proved one thing, even if the old task wasn't completed, new tasks would still be activated.

Task objective: Educate the lawyer through legal means

Reward: ... Completion 200%, award half a year of life

Only the task objective was a bit bizarre, but whatever, some lawyers indeed need to be taught a lesson by the law, taking advantage of the rule that "lawyers cannot promise a victory," earning all sorts of money and ending up well-fed, while the ordinary folks spend a heap but achieve nothing.

The most important aspect, though, was that this Mr. Li was the lawyer hired by President Hou's wife, and he had long disdained these "Oscar-winning lawyers."

Just as Tang Fangjing was about to lie down to sleep, Old Song barged in, flustered and frantic.

"Old Tang, have you lost your mind? How can you take this case? We may litigate, but we're not responsible for ensuring enforcement, and property preservation isn't a necessary procedure!"

Old Song considered more factors, thinking about how taking the case would affect the industry and the bar association's perspective, and questioning if in the future, lawyers should be liable for enforcement issues.

Colleagues are competitors by profession, but forcing a law firm to pay up is another type of conflict altogether.

From his massage chair, Tang Fangjing lifted his head and said, "Old Song, don't be so agitated, the case is manageable, we lawyers live off professionalism, so when a lawyer happens to be unprofessional, it's only natural to take responsibility, isn't that normal?"

"Under the current situation, some lawyers are mere placeholders. Are we not supposed to help the common people to assert their rights? If you're not taking it, I'll find someone else."

Old Song hesitated. Anyone else talking big like that he would have ignored.

But Tang Fangjing was different. For him to speak this way meant he truly believed it because he would surely act on it, even if it meant going all out.

Remembering the cases about overtime pay and the joint committee's public revenue, Old Song clenched his teeth and said, "Old Tang, this is really... well, if you're crazy, then I'll join the madness. The subject amount for this case won't be small, let's do it and be done with it!"

Old Song felt confident the other party wouldn't screw him over, though they had only known each other a few months, he believed he had a good sense of character.

Old Wang naturally disagreed, but it didn't matter, Old Song had already started pushing back, and in the end, they managed to get the contract signed.

It was risk representation all the same, yet the subject amount wasn't calculated based on the lawyer's fee of over 160,000, but on more than four million.

When Tang Fangjing handled things, he always aimed high; a few tens of thousands meant nothing even if the lawsuit was won, the completion degree probably wouldn't even reach 50%.

But as for how to proceed specifically, that would need some thought.

During this wait, the second trial between Yuefu Residential Complex and the property management company concluded, and the appeal was rejected, upholding the original verdict!

The property management's accounts had long been frozen, with over five million in them, and as for the account of public revenue, it contained a pitiful two million.

The bulk of it was with the executives; if you really wanted to track it down these days, your funds transfers and cash withdrawals could be traced.

Moreover, all evidence had been unearthed by the economic investigation department, how much was misappropriated and how much was embezzled was crystal clear. Cash that should be returned was refunded, and assets that should be auctioned were sold off.

This also needed time, but Tang Fangjing could afford to wait now, especially eager for this reward since he was confident the completion would exceed 200%. The whole property management company was going bankrupt, and the bosses were all going in— you could say the lesson was well learned!