Fiona Cafe.
Sitting by the window were Lu Ming and Li Guan.
"Little guy, aren't you too stingy? You treated me to coffee and you're still here? It doesn't match your wealth, does it?" Li Guan said with a smile.
Lu Ming coughed and said, "It's just about feelings. Every time I come here, I think of how good you were to me, Li Guan!"
"Stop talking so slickly. I think you shouldn't drink coffee. You drink honey oil every day, right?" Li Guan smiled, but his eyes became more kind.
Looking at Lu Ming, Li Guan said, "I recently accepted a little apprentice. Christine introduced her to me. She suddenly became interested in law. Of course, it is also a required course for her. She just got started a little early. I think that little girl is smarter than you. I will introduce you to each other when there is a chance."
Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself, Grandma Li, please stop messing around. You wanted to match me up with Christine, the daughter of the Crown Prince, but until now, that girl still doesn't like me, even though I don't know who she is from the beginning to the end.
"Don't get the wrong idea! She's just a little thing, and of noble status. You, a local rich man, are not worthy of even ten of them!" Li Guan sneered. Obviously, he guessed what Lu Ming was thinking from the bitter expression on his face.
Lu Ming breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."
"Congratulations, you have been successfully promoted to the third level!" Li Guan smiled again.
"Thanks to your support... But, is it really impossible to reach the fourth level right away?" Lu Ming said with a playful smile.
Li Guan glared at Lu Ming and said, "As a lawyer, and a third-level lawyer at that, you don't want to follow the rules anymore. Do you just want to take shortcuts?"
Lu Ming scratched his head and picked up the coffee.
"Qianxing, what do you think about the industry monopoly of large enterprises or certain organizations?" Li Guan suddenly asked.
Lu Ming was startled and said, "This is too trivial to say."
Li Guan pondered and said, "What about from a legal perspective? What do you think of our current anti-monopoly laws?"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Then I have a lot to say. I don't agree with the basic principles of the current antitrust law. For example, the most important antitrust principle we have now is the guiding ideology of Judge Burton. He mentioned in "The Antitrust Paradox" that the only indicator of antitrust is "consumer" welfare, and no other goal can be used to weaken this goal. The maximization of consumer welfare is reflected in prices. Therefore, to judge whether monopoly behavior should be interfered with, to evaluate whether antitrust measures are implemented well, and the ultimate correctness, is to see what kind of impact they have on prices."
“I don’t agree with that.”
Lu Ming pondered and said, "In addition to economic efficiency, I think economic democracy should be the goal of anti-monopoly. Some hidden trusts, through covert means, form economic alliances to unify prices, which may bring about high economic efficiency in the short term and reduce costs. Or, they would rather suffer a short-term loss to exclude competitors from the market. When they truly form a monopoly over the market, they will have complete pricing power, and consumers will become fish on the chopping board, to be harvested at will! By then, it will be a bit too late to fight against monopolies and attract new investors to enter the field again, and it will also make a good industry suffer."
These all had models in previous lives.
Li Guan pondered and nodded, "Oh, you think so."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "If I were to elaborate, I would like to say more, but since we are having coffee together today, I will not discuss this."
Li Guan smiled and said, "Okay, then go to court and tell the truth. The case is yours!"
"What?" Lu Ming was stunned.
"It's a case involving a farmer in Milton State and the state's beef association. I'll have someone send the files to you later." Li Guan smiled and said, "Qianxing, handle this lawsuit well. In terms of anti-monopoly, you can also establish a Lu School in the future."
Milton State? It was a western state. Lu Ming was even more stunned. He didn't pay attention to what Li Guan said later. He asked, "Who do I represent?"
"Farmer, Douglas and I were classmates in college, but he didn't study hard and dropped out early. He went back home to raise cattle. He was a good man." Li Guan smiled, with some memories and longing in his eyes.
Lu Ming suddenly realized: "You mean, I've been promoted to the fourth level this time?"
Only when you reach the fourth level of senior lawyer can you take cases anywhere in the empire.
Of course, federations such as the Western Region, Japan and the four provinces of the Northern Region are another matter and depend on local laws.
Li Guan was helpless: "You guys always know how to bargain. You, a third-dan lawyer, really can't go to fight this case? Take it in the name of your law firm. Don't you have several fourth-dan lawyers in your law firm? When the time comes, won't it be easy for you to become the chief lawyer from the deputy lawyer? Do you need me to teach you?"
As he spoke, Li Guan took out a check and handed it over.
Lu Ming was stunned when he saw the amount. It was a check for 10,000 yuan.
"This is all I can give you. Fight the lawsuit well. I'll consider you as my employer. Don't charge the Douglas family any fees."
Lu Ming was helpless, "Grandma Li, although I made some money, I didn't do it by being a rogue lawyer. Your friend, can I charge you randomly?"
He handed over the check and said, "I can't accept it." Although judges have high salaries, 10,000 yuan is still a very high sum of money. It is not only Li Guan's life savings, but probably half of his life savings. Li Guan should have some investments, but adding up his total assets, 30,000 to 50,000 yuan is already very good.
Of course, I heard that Li Guan’s family was originally wealthy, which is another matter.
"Then I'll transfer the money to you later. This money is not from me. I will settle it with the Douglas family. Otherwise, wouldn't it be like I kidnapped you and asked you to fight the lawsuit for me for free?" Li Guan smiled and said, "I gave him a big discount, so I'm doing my best to repay my old classmate."
Lu Ming nodded and decided to find a way to return the money to Li Guan when the time comes.
Is the farmer crazy? He is willing to pay 10,000 yuan to fight the lawsuit, and I am afraid that most of it will be paid by Li Guan.
Come to think of it, I have some time recently. Everything in Longgang is going on in an orderly manner. The railway line has begun to requisition land for construction. I have temporarily eased the relationship with the Hu family. When Commander Hu finds out that I don't want to give him any shares, I will just have to prepare for the next storm.
As for going to Zhenjiang to go to school, summer vacation is about to start, so I have to wait until school starts before going there.
"Okay, I'll study it carefully when the file arrives." Lu Ming said with a smile.
Li Guan said, "In addition, there is the case in Hanzhou. The two states are adjacent, so you should handle them together. This case is your specialty and involves Lu's doctrine. It is best for you to come."
Lu Ming was stunned: "Luism?"
"It's your theory of adverse possession! Christine has summarized it, and you have published several related articles in legal journals. Now, some people call your theory the Lu Doctrine. However, it is just a prototype. After you win this lawsuit, you will also perfect your Lu Doctrine."
Li Guan glanced at Lu Ming and said, "After these two lawsuits, as long as you perform normally, you will have enough time to rest for a year."
Lu Ming smiled bitterly: "What kind of lawsuit is this?"
"It's a village in Hanzhou, a village formed by reclaiming wasteland. Now the original owner of the wasteland has returned, and it's quite troublesome."
"I am the special consultant of the Law School of Tunghai University. Sometimes I go to give lectures to students. One of the school's security guards came from Hanzhou to make a living. He is a relative of the village chief." Li Guan smiled. "A few days ago in the cafeteria, he plucked up the courage to ask me about this issue, and I thought of you. Sometimes, the courage of the disadvantaged groups needs to be rewarded, right?"
Lu Ming was helpless, "Okay, I'll take it. I'm his prize."
Li Guan smiled happily.
Lu Ming rubbed his nose. Hanzhou? I'm going to visit Xiao Meizhen on the way. Summer vacation is coming soon. I want to see if she needs to do anything by herself.