The Chief Justice's office is elegantly decorated, with medieval-style curtains.
Chief Judge Christine is actually around 40 years old, but she is well maintained and looks like a beautiful young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a unique and attractive temperament in her black judge's robe. It is probably because the judge's uniform represents something extraordinary.
Lu Ming and the plaintiff's lawyer sat in front of the judge's desk, both looking at Judge Christine's expression.
Christine was looking through the motion submitted by Lu Ming.
It is a motion for the court to open the trial as soon as possible. There are three main reasons. Although Baoyin Bank is not a big bank in the entire empire, it has many depositors in the Donghai and Beiguan areas. The freezing of the bank's assets has affected the lives of tens of thousands of depositors. Many companies cannot obtain further loans from Baoyin Bank and have encountered difficulties in production and operation. Secondly, the plaintiff's attorney's reason for waiting for the police to arrest the fugitive boss of the film and television company is totally unrealistic. The plaintiff's attorney is just delaying time to delay the bankruptcy of Baoyin Bank. This is an irrational act to vent the plaintiff's personal anger and violates the professional code of attorneys. The third point, which is the most important point, is that this case is simply ridiculous. I hope the trial will be held as soon as possible so that I can make a detailed explanation on this point in court.
Next to Lu Ming sat the attorney for the plaintiff Bi Dong, Michael Smith, a Western lawyer from Johnson, Smith & Stewart.
This is one of the largest law firms in the East China Sea, on par with Reed & Smith. Michael Smith is an elite figure in the law firm and a barrister with the sixth degree.
In the legal profession, senior barristers above the level of barrister are rare.
Moreover, it is no longer a promotion based on points, but is awarded by the Imperial Bar Association based on contribution.
As for the Royal Counsel, they need to be certified by the Royal Court and have made special contributions. Moreover, from a certain perspective, it can also be regarded as an honor. There are only a dozen Royal Counsels still alive in the entire Federal Empire.
Moreover, more than half of them received the royal honors after they announced their retirement.
Therefore, for the vast majority of elite lawyers, the title of great lawyer is the dream and destination of a lifetime struggle. Moreover, most elite lawyers are still far from their dream by the end of their legal careers.
But Johnson, Smith & Stewart has seven or eight barristers, and even a senior barrister.
Of course, as one of the most powerful law firms in the East China Sea, it is naturally on the list of the entire empire and should be among the top ten.
The Baoyin Bank case is of course one of the most important cases for any law firm. Johnson, Smith & Stewart formed a legal team consisting of two barristers to serve this case.
Reed Smith had originally sent out a similarly strong team, and as you can imagine, their fees were high.
Now Michael Smith glanced at Lu Ming. Although the other party was only a second-level martial artist, Michael did not underestimate him, especially because this young lawyer had just technically won a lawsuit that attracted the attention of the entire East China Sea. It was said that basically, those bizarre strategies were all thought up by this young man.
Very good! Michael Smith nodded. This young man looked neither arrogant nor impatient. He had a bit of aura, unlike someone of his age.
However, this is an economic dispute, which is completely different from a criminal case. I don't know much about criminal cases, but after looking at the detailed files of this case, I can feel from the entire process that this young lawyer must be a genius in criminal defense. However, no one can be a jack of all trades. Economic disputes do not require any fantastic ideas to find evidence, but require reading and truly understanding those obscure legal provisions and collecting as many relevant precedents as possible from all over the country. At the same time, choosing the right judge is also very important.
Judge Christine, although the youngest chief judge in the Eastern Circuit, is actually a conservative.
We attach great importance to previous precedents, especially those that are cited frequently.
Not to mention, the "neighbor principle" is already a principle that the legal community unanimously recognizes should be followed in current economic disputes.
Therefore, it shouldn't be a big problem to win this lawsuit.
It’s just that his client felt that winning the case was not enough to satisfy him, so he insisted on dragging it out until it would bankrupt Baoyin Bank.
As a lawyer, if the client has a clearly specified strategy and the client still insists after I have given legal advice, then I can only follow the client's wishes, even if I lose the case in the end. There is nothing I can do.
Fortunately, according to the wishes of the parties involved, this lawsuit will not be lost.
However, the compensation that the parties finally received may not be fully paid out.
In fact, if the judge approves the trial to begin as soon as possible, it will be a good thing for your client.
Behind the desk, Judge Christine turned to the last page of Lu Ming's motion, looked up and said to Lu Ming: "You think this case is ridiculous, so, what are your reasons? It doesn't have to be in court, you can tell me now, right?" She leaned back, as if she was listening attentively.
"Maybe, if what you said makes sense, I will cancel this case now!"
Obviously, he was quite dissatisfied with the wording in Lu Ming's motion, and the last sentence was even a bit sarcastic.
Moreover, Lu Ming always felt that there was something wrong with her eyes when she looked at him. They were very picky. It should not be the look of a judge looking at a lawyer. It was more like a mother-in-law choosing a son-in-law, and she was very dissatisfied with her son-in-law.
"I, I'm not ready yet..." Lu Ming smiled bitterly. Of course it wasn't that he wasn't ready, but he had directed a big show. If he convinced her now, the show would end before it even began, which would be unpleasant.
Christine frowned, with a look of dissatisfaction in her eyes.
But he seemed to have suppressed his unhappiness. "Okay, but the first few points in your motion make sense. The day after tomorrow at 3 pm, Courtroom 1!" He looked at Michael, "Lawyer Smith, do you have any objections?"
Michael Smith nodded: "Your Honor, the plaintiff has no objection!"
Christine hummed, took out a fine pen and made a simple note in the notebook.
Lu Ming and Smith both stood up, and Christine suddenly said, "Lawyer Lu, please stay for a moment!"
Lu Ming sat down again.
After Smith went out and closed the door, Christine looked Lu Ming up and down again.
"I know, my teacher, that you are very special, but my daughter has just graduated from military school and is only eighteen years old..." He paused, probably remembering that in the empire, if the guardian agrees, the minimum age for marriage is twelve years old. Especially in the eyes of traditional Central Plains people, eighteen-year-old daughters are probably not very young. The young man opposite is only nineteen. "Anyway, my teacher, I hope you can meet. I will not go against her wishes, but you have to consider it carefully!"
Lu Ming was stunned. No wonder he couldn't stand me. So that's why.
Li Guan once told me that if the Japanese won the lawsuit, he would introduce me to a princess girlfriend or something like that.
It is rumored that Judge Christine's husband's family is of high status, but I heard that she is divorced and lives alone with her daughter.
Could it be the princess that Li Guan mentioned
After coughing, Lu Ming said sternly, "Don't worry, Your Honor. How can I be worthy of your daughter? I won't meet her. I will tell Li Guan that I don't want to meet her, and I will never tell her about our conversation today!"
Christine's expression eased a little and she waved her hand, "Okay, go ahead. You don't have to be so modest. You are still an excellent lawyer!"
But when Lu Ming walked out, Christine suddenly felt something was wrong. Why did this guy's statement of "whether she is worthy of him or not" seem perfunctory? It seemed as if he was saying, don't worry, I wouldn't like your daughter even if we met, so it's best not to meet.
The other person spoke sincerely, without any sarcasm in his tone, but it still made people feel that way.
Christine frowned, and suddenly, she heard a noise outside, and the sound was getting louder and louder.
After a while, the noise died down. The female assistant knocked on the door and led a bailiff in. "Sir, did you feel disturbed outside?"
"What's going on?" Christine asked casually. It was not uncommon for quarrels or even fights to occur in the court.
"It was Lawyer Lu's apprentice. He had a fight with Smith's agent and even attracted reporters who kept taking pictures."
“Oh.” Christine didn’t take it seriously and waved her hand for them to leave.
But in the evening, when I saw the evening edition of Le Monde, I actually saw a report about the commotion outside my office that morning, with a subtitle that read, "The Baoyin Bank case has become a farce, with a brawl between the defendant, the plaintiff and the lawyers, and a bottle blasting a person's head outside the chief judge's office!"
Christine was stunned for a moment, flipping through the pages, frowning and thinking.
…
In the restaurant of Room 408 of the Wendebao Club, Lu Ming put down the newspaper, smiled and picked up a chicken leg for Tie Xiaojia, and said helplessly: "You are a great contributor, but don't be so hot next time!"
Tie Xiaojia said "Oh" and then said: "That guy is so annoying!"
Chen Qinghua and Tong Xiaoe were sitting at the dining table covered with a snow-white tablecloth. Chen Qinghua looked very restrained and seemed to be on pins and needles.
On the other side of Lu Ming sat a plump woman in a silver uniform. She said in a somewhat annoyed tone, "Lawyer Lu, I hope you won't use me to cross the bridge next time!"
She was the reporter from the Daily Empire News that Cheng Ye had introduced to her before, her name was Li Xuemei.
Originally, Lu Ming had arranged to interview her today, saying that they were going to the Ninth Circuit Court to shoot a few scenes, especially for his current case involving Baoyin Bank, and he wanted her to take a photo of herself and the other Western lawyer in the same shot.
Who knew that when she got there, she encountered Lawyer Lu's young female disciple hitting the other party's affairs officer with a wine bottle. The sensitivity of a journalist immediately prompted her to take pictures.
However, this kind of thing was incompatible with the style of her newspaper, so she forwarded the photos to her good friend, a gossip reporter from Le Monde Evening News.
Li Xuemei also vaguely guessed it. Although she didn't know why, it seemed that Lawyer Lu wanted to bring this case back into the public eye, but his methods were too underhanded.
Lu Ming could see Li Xuemei's dissatisfaction and felt helpless. This was really not what he designed.
I originally wanted Li Xuemei to take a photo of myself and Smith in the same frame, a showdown between a second-duan lawyer and a sixth-duan lawyer, hoping to attract attention.
But who knew that the Western affairs officer brought by Smith was the typical Westerner with a condescending mindset. While waiting on the bench with his three disciples, he teased Tong Xiao'e and his words were particularly rude and unpleasant, which is why Tie Xiaojia hit him on the head with a beer bottle.
"Reporter Li, I actually didn't want to explain what you said, but according to your understanding, it seems that I asked my apprentice to seduce the other party to cause trouble. This is a great insult to me, especially to several of my disciples!" Lu Ming's face was very serious.
Li Xuemei was stunned for a moment, then nodded gently: "Okay, I apologize, I misunderstood you!" After thinking for a while, "What about our interview?"
"We'll get started in a minute. Before that, Reporter Li, you should eat more. I'm afraid we'll be busy until very late today!"
Li Xuemei immediately became excited, "Okay, okay, I've been waiting for this day for a long time!"
I originally had the idea of doing an exclusive interview with this youngest second-level lawyer in the history of Donghai. Unexpectedly, this young lawyer made a big splash in the case involving the Japanese man. From a technical perspective, he almost convicted the Japanese man. In that case, this young lawyer could be said to have been the lead defense lawyer.
It is very difficult to interview him now. He is very low-key and never accepts any media appointments.
Today, the clouds finally cleared and the moon appeared.
Lu Ming was just about to say that it was best not to include frontal photos in interviews, when he suddenly glanced to the side.
But Tong Xiao'e was seen timidly thanking Tie Xiaojia, and seemed to be crying, and was comforted by Tie Xiaojia who was hugging her shoulders.
But no matter how you look at it, Tie Xiaojia's actions and expressions are a little strange. Even when Tong Xiaoe cried in her arms, Tie Xiaojia's face immediately turned red.
People today might not think much about it, but Lu Ming felt helpless. Could it be that Tie Xiaojia likes women
When Wen Laosi called her "young man", was there some hidden meaning behind it
But in this era, if someone announces coming out, especially if they are a woman, it means they are socially dead!
If not only did he accept three bad disciples, but also caused such a scandal, then what is the point of having these three traitors