Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 126 - 125: February ends, team building encounters Group 2

Chapter 126: Chapter 125: February ends, team building encounters Group 2

(Ah, these recent days spent typing have really been off, I’m at my wit’s end!!! Every day there’s fireworks outside, ranging from firecrackers, aerial fireworks, to children’s toy guns, plus the New Year’s midnight fireworks and those early morning ones signifying the start of the New Year. This Author Germ has hardly gotten any good sleep these past few days, with dark circles under my eyes, I’m almost turning into a giant panda...)

PS: The quality and content of the updates have noticeably dropped these past few days, and I, Author Germ, am well aware of it, but it’s the festive season after all, so one ought to be understanding, it’s just once a year... But tm, who’s going to spare a thought for me, Author Germ, braving the cold, typing away in the freezing weather? Who will consider this year-round typist’s plight???

After the New Year celebrations, not only is my wallet empty (from giving out red packets to kids), but my spirit is also sapped... It’s so annoying o(╥﹏╥)o

...

End of February.

At Jincheng Law Firm, the criminal department’s office.

Tie Ruyun sat at his desk, beginning to draft the monthly report for the criminal department.

As he added row after row of content, the corners of his mouth turned up uncontrollably.

"Although Jin Mingming left, since the day we wrapped up Sister Bai’s case, our team has finally blossomed!"

He sighed with contentment, just as Tie Cuilan happened to look up in timing, catching his eye.

They shared a knowing smile, unable to hide the joy on their faces.

The criminal department’s case success rate and client approval rating were both steadily increasing.

If there was one drawback, it might be that the attorney fees were a bit lacking.

But in criminal litigation, most of the cases they took on were public interest cases, so the fees were naturally not that high.

Fortunately, Jincheng didn’t mind the litigation fees for criminal cases, the firm cared more about the success rate, and when it came to attorney fees, they could be covered by deducting a small portion from the earnings of other departments.

Lin Xiangtian, as the Boss of the firm, valued public interest cases highly, and the treatment for criminal defense lawyers who won cases was quite good.

It’s just that previously, the newcomers couldn’t withstand the high pressure of the firm, and since the civil and commercial departments made more money, many applied for transfers, resulting in the criminal department being understaffed all year round.

Now, that problem still existed, but Tie Ruyun was already quite satisfied.

"We’re back~"

At the office door, the voice of a cute girl rang out.

Lin Yumeng was the first to breeze in, her walk brisk and breezy.

Following her were Li Yueqin and Zhang Wei, who were comparatively more low-key.

"Chief, I won my case~"

The excitement in the heart of a cute girl could never be hidden; Lin Yumeng’s happiness clearly indicated her success.

"Xiao Meng, don’t get too excited. It was just a case with a summary procedure, not a big one at all. Look how overjoyed you are!"

Although Tie Ruyun said this, he couldn’t conceal the smile at the corner of his mouth.

"And you two?"

He then turned his gaze to the other two.

"The other party withdrew the case, thanks to Zhang Wei, who helped me find an alibi for our client," reported Li Yueqin.

"Old Tie, I was just the muscle!"

Zhang Wei humbly made a remark, then proudly held up his thumb and said, "This time in the trial, Li Yueqin did a great job, or else the opponent wouldn’t have decided to withdraw the lawsuit so quickly!"

"Well done, although they are public interest cases, there are subsidies for victories!"

Tie Ruyun nodded in approval, then looked at Zhang Wei with an inquiring glance.

Both girls have won their cases, so what about you?

"I had the client plead guilty, and the prosecutor from Central District agreed to halve the sentence, 1 year and 3 months."

"You didn’t go to court?"

"The client wasn’t innocent anyway. What use is there in defending a guilty person in court? Getting a guilty plea is already fortunate. He was originally facing 4 and a half years, I negotiated it down to 15 months, that’s as far as my obligations go!"

Hearing Zhang Wei’s "willful" reply, Tie Ruyun could only nod resignedly.

"Alright, that’s not bad either. But if you had taken it to court, maybe the other party would have withdrawn the case too, and that would have been another victory!"

As he spoke, he jotted down a note on the report.

It was a shame. Zhang Wei was quite selective about his clients, refusing to defend clearly guilty people on innocence, instead he was proactive in negotiating guilty pleas.

And the opposing prosecutors often worked in tacit understanding, usually preferring to avoid taking Zhang to court, negotiating plea terms after meeting, and after some haggling, they would reach a mutually satisfactory outcome.

"Alright, report the outcomes of your cases to Sister Cuilan, she’ll gather the stats for my report soon!"

"Awo~"

Lin Yumeng hopped over and reported first with excitement.

Zhang Wei and Li Yueqin also duly informed of their cases’ outcomes.

It didn’t take long for Tie Cuilan to print out all the data and hand it to Tie Ruyun.

"Let me see, Lin Yumeng won, Li Yueqin got the case withdrawn, which counts as a victory, and Zhang Wei’s client pleaded guilty with a reduced sentence. Adding to the earlier cases..."

This month, the criminal department had taken on a total of 8 cases, which was still a decent number, considering they only had three new lawyers.

In the beginning, Zhang Wei and Lin Yumeng had wins, while Li Yueqin and Jin Mingming suffered losses.

Afterward, Jin Mingming applied for a transfer to the second commercial group, but this one loss was still tallied under the criminal department.

Next was a case entrusted by Bai Ruoyun, handled by Zhang Wei, and the result was naturally joyful for everyone involved.

Zhang Wei added another successful case to his record

Afterwards, Li Yueqin and Lin Yumeng, energized as if they had been injected with chicken blood, both wanted to make a final push at the end of the month. Zhang Wei didn’t plan to be idle either, and the three each took on a case.

Lin Yumeng won her case, Li Yueqin won hers, and Zhang Wei settled out of court.

So this month, there were five victorious cases, two defeats, and one settlement, with a success rate of 62.5%.

Tie Ruyun was already looking forward to the monthly meeting at the beginning of the month, wondering if the leaders would be surprised when they saw this report.

You see, over the entire last year, their criminal division’s highest monthly win rate was just over 50%, and most months it was even below 40%.

Compared to that, this was a huge improvement!

The team members were impressive, winning cases, and naturally, as their leader, he was happy.

Seeing Zhang Wei consulting with Lin Yumeng and Li Yueqin about the details of their cases, Tie Ruyun felt quite emotional.

Initially, he thought this guy was a troublemaker, but now he felt that recruiting Zhang Wei into the criminal division was the wisest decision he had made.

Not to mention anything else, at least Li Yueqin and Lin Yumeng’s success in winning cases was all thanks to Zhang Wei’s good coaching.

Although he was the leader, the work of helping the other two newcomers with their cases was mostly handled by Zhang Wei, who was busy helping them out.

Thinking like this, he felt that he wasn’t quite up to par as a team leader.

"Do you three have plans for tonight?"

Having written the last part of the report, Tie Ruyun suddenly asked.

"Old Tie, what are you up to, asking us this all of a sudden? Are you going to treat us to dinner?" Zhang Wei guessed immediately upon hearing this.

When the leader asks if you’re free tonight and it’s directed at all the team members, nine times out of ten, it’s for team building.

On hearing this, both Li Yueqin and Lin Yumeng’s eyes lit up.

Team dinners are something all new employees have to experience.

Generally speaking, team building is the best avenue for communication between colleagues and between employees and their leaders.

Of course, there were not many people in the criminal division, and everyone casually joked and talked on a daily basis. Whether they did team building or not didn’t really matter.

Especially since Zhang Wei always called Tie Ruyun "Old Tie," which led to Li Yueqin and Lin Yumeng sometimes not even calling him Chief—instead, they followed suit and also called him "Old Tie"—the atmosphere in the criminal division was very good.

Therefore, in the eyes of the two women, this team building was essentially an outing to eat and have fun together.

"Yes, you’re right. The firm offers each department the opportunity to have a team building once a month, spending at Jincheng Group’s establishments can be reimbursed!"

"JinchengGroup’s establishments, where shall we go?"

"Where to? Of course, to eat by the Dongjiang Bank. Since it’s reimbursed, we naturally choose the most expensive!"

Seeing Tie Ruyun say this, Zhang Wei was a bit surprised.

He had thought Old Tie wasn’t the type to be extravagant.

But then he remembered the expenses were covered by the law firm, so it didn’t matter.

After all, if the law firm is footing the bill for our outing, then naturally, the more expensive the meal, the better.

"Great, I’ll call my mom and tell her I won’t be home for dinner tonight!"

Xiao Meng was the first to jump up excitedly and make the call.

"I need to let my family know as well." Li Yueqin also stepped out to make a call.

"Hey, then I need to send a message to my second daughter too!"

Tie Ruyun was somewhat surprised. Who was this second daughter?

Muttering to himself, Zhang Wei also began typing a message.

After receiving an "OK" emoji in reply from his second daughter, he put down his phone and also gave Tie Ruyun an OK gesture.

"Alright, it’s the end of the month, and none of us have much on our hands, so let’s set off at 4 p.m.!"

Tie Ruyun instructed and then got back to his tasks.

He didn’t have much on his plate today, and being the leader meant less pressure and less micromanaging.

Look, even without tasks assigned by Tie Ruyun, Zhang Wei and the others got down to work, each busily starting on their tasks.

What do you call this? Self-motivation!

"Okay, I’m going to submit a report!"

After printing out the monthly report, Tie Ruyun took the document and left.

"Hey, the boss has finally gone. Time to slack off a bit and chat with Silly!"

Seeing Tie Ruyun leave, Zhang Wei immediately started to "slack off," pulling out his phone and opening WeChat to click on Xia Qianyue’s profile.

"Master, I almost forgot to add you on WeChat!"

Upon hearing Zhang Wei’s remark, Lin Yumeng remembered this matter.

"Right, we’re all on the same team, so let’s add each other on WeChat. Sister Cuilan, you should add it too!"

Li Yueqin immediately chimed in, and after calling Tie Cuilan, she pulled out her phone to exchange QR codes with Zhang Wei.

"Alright then!"

Since they were all colleagues, Zhang Wei had no objections.

[Sweeter than Cotton Candy has sent you a friend request]

[Jincheng-Li Yueqin has sent you a friend request]

[Jincheng Human Resources Department-Tie Cuilan has sent you a friend request]

Seeing his little apprentice’s ID, Zhang Wei smiled knowingly. This was the essence of a young girl’s heart.

He changed Lin Yumeng’s remark to "Cute Little Apprentice", while there was no need to change the remarks for Li Yueqin and Tie Cuilan.

The enjoyable day passed with slothfulness and chatting with simple-minded people.

When it was 4 o’clock, Tie Ruyun returned and after greeting his team members, they started to set out.

...

Dongfang Capital.

Dongjiang, along the riverbank.

Jincheng Group owned many enterprises, with subsidiaries sprawling across various industries.

And in Dongfang Capital’s most bustling riverbank, there was also a property of Jincheng Group.

To be precise, it was on the riverbank, not beside it.

"Jincheng Restaurant, is it still a ship-type hotel?"

Seeing the massive ship restaurant moored at the dock, towering four or five stories high, Zhang Wei was surprised at the financial power of Jincheng Group.

"Not bad, this is the place our law firm’s departments come to most often for team-building because it’s the most expensive. The company reimburses only once a month, and everyone chooses this place!"

"The river delicacies here are fresh. Some of the fish are caught and killed on the spot, so the taste is exceptionally fresh!"

Hearing Tie Ruyun say that, Zhang Wei noticed Lin Yumeng trying to hold back her tears as she looked at the ship.

"Little apprentice, have you been here before?"

"Yes, the fish here is delicious. I used to come here with my mom every week!"

Seeing his little apprentice’s explanation, Zhang Wei knew the chefs here must be of a high caliber.

"Let’s go in then. We’ve come early today, so we should be able to get a good spot."

With the restaurant’s waiter’s guidance, they arrived at a window-side six-person table on the second floor, overlooking the night view of Dongjiang through the window.

Unfortunately, it was February and the wind by the river was a bit cold.

"Waiter, bring us your signature dishes, a set of river delicacies for sure. We are from Litigation Department Group 7, charge it to the law firm’s account!"

Tie Ruyun, familiar with the process, took out his work badge for the waiter to register him.

"So you’re lawyers from Jincheng Law Firm. Please wait a moment, I’ll notify the kitchen to prepare!"

The waiter’s attitude became even more enthusiastic after seeing Tie Ruyun’s work badge.

Before long, the food and drinks were served, and the members of the criminal group began to eat.

Of course, drinking alcohol was out of the question, since they had to consider the three ladies in the group. Zhang Wei had Old Tie specifically order fruit drinks.

They turned out to be quite sweet.

Just as Zhang Wei and his group were starting to eat, a noisy commotion came from the staircase on the second floor.

"Chief, today is our Group 2’s first dinner after the New Year, and you specially chose this place. I’m really touched!"

"Yes, Chief, having a leader like you who cares for his subordinates, all of us in Group 2 are ready to give our all without regret!"

"Chief Tian, you are the light in our lives."

With such sycophantic words, it was difficult not to draw attention.

Zhang Wei saw about a dozen colleagues in suits heading up the stairs, including several familiar faces.

"Isn’t that Jin Mingming?" The sharp-eyed little apprentice pointed at one of the fawners, her tone somewhat resentful.

Jin Mingming, the traitor from the criminal group who turned around and joined the Business Group 2, was now fawning obsequiously.

When he was in the criminal group, why didn’t he bootlick the leaders like this?

And the man surrounded and fawned over by everyone in the middle, including Jin Mingming, revealed his identity.

Chief of the Business Group 2 in the Litigation Department, Tian Bin.

Tian Bin wasn’t exactly handsome, nor did he have a striking appearance. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his eyes occasionally shifted, giving off the impression of sharpness.

But that was to be expected. Lawyers in the business groups were mostly shrewd with calculations.

After all, business litigation required examining more documents, especially for major company cases where one might have to scrutinize hundreds of files.

If you were not clever in calculations and document review, you could easily be outplayed by your opponent, falling into contract traps by mistake.

"Everyone take a seat, take a seat!"

Tian Bin showed his leadership qualities by stopping the flattery and urging people to sit down.

In the Litigation Department, which had around a hundred people minus the four from the criminal group, the remaining six groups averaged about twenty people each.

The Business 2 group took up two entire tables of ten, and upon seating, they could just make out the members of the criminal defense team by the window.

"Chief Tian, isn’t that the criminal group from our department?"

A junior approached Tian Bin and pointed in the direction of the window.

"Well, indeed it is..."

Tian Bin adjusted his glasses, though he wasn’t exactly surprised.

Jincheng Law Firm had the habit of monthly dinners, and Jincheng Restaurant, located at the bank of Dongjiang, was the most frequented spot for these gatherings.

With the firm covering the expenses, it was almost certain to run into colleagues nearly every visit.

But while running into colleagues was common, seeing Tie Ruyun here was somewhat unexpected.

Everyone in the litigation department knew that their criminal defense team had the lowest performance every month.

Let alone the attorney fees—the criminal defense team naturally made less money than the others, even with an equal number of members as the business groups, they naturally made less.

To be more practical, in terms of the win rate and client satisfaction, the data for the criminal team was also dismally poor.

But after all, they were lawyers defending criminals, a bunch of extremely vicious individuals; expecting them to leave a good review was like hoping they would reform after being released from prison.

For this reason, Tie Ruyun seldom came here to dine.

"Tie Ruyun!"

Tian Bin, accompanied by his subordinate lawyers, came over to greet.

"Chief Tian!"

Being from the same department and particularly as the head of Group 2, Tie Ruyun naturally showed respect.

"So this is your newcomer? Doesn’t seem to know much about how things are done, does he?"

When Tian Bin saw that Tie Ruyun had stood up, but Zhang Wei and others remained seated, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.

"As you said, Chief Tian, they are newcomers, so naturally, they’re not familiar with workplace conventions."

Tie Ruyun explained briefly before immediately saying, "Come on, everyone say hello to Chief Tian."

"Hello, Chief Tian!"

"Hello, Chief Tian!"

Lin Yumeng obediently stood up, and although Zhang Wei and Li Yueqin were not keen, they cooperated with Old Tie, refraining from displaying so-called youthful arrogance.

Seeing that the criminal team was compliant, Chief Tian involuntarily nodded his head, as if he was very pleased with Zhang Wei and the others’ sensible behavior.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad, very compliant!"

Tian Bin, with his head held high in a condescending tone, said, "Since your criminal team is so compliant, next month, our Business Group, along with the neighboring Civil Group, have quite a few pro bono cases that we could pass on to you. It would be a good chance for your newcomers to gain some experience."

"Pro bono cases, from the business and civil groups, are they not all just unreasonable lawsuits?"

Hearing Tian Bin say this, Zhang Wei kept a straight face, but inwardly he was speechless.

Pro bono cases were both dreaded and feared by all lawyers, but they were inevitable tasks.

Because refusing pro bono cases tarnishes your reputation.

But if you do take on pro bono cases, aside from a bit of good reputation, there’s not much else to gain.

And pro bono cases will never disappear; if you do one today, you’ll still have to do another tomorrow.

Compared to the energy spent on a single case, that bit of reputation was virtually worthless.

So there was an unwritten rule within the litigation department: whichever group was at the bottom would handle the majority of the department’s pro bono cases.

The criminal team was perennially at the bottom, and so this thankless task fell upon them.

When Tian Bin said this, it sounded like giving the newcomers experience, but the reality was, he wanted to offload some of the pro bono cases allotted to his group as well.

After all, the time you spend on pro bono cases could be better used fighting a regular lawsuit, collecting attorney fees, and boosting performance, right?

Lin Yumeng and Li Yueqin may not understand these intricacies.

But Zhang Wei could, and naturally Tie Ruyun did too.

"Chief Tian, our group has been performing quite well lately, and the allocation of pro bono cases might need to be redistributed next month!"

"What did you say, your criminal team isn’t the one bringing up the rear anymore? Tie Ruyun, you haven’t even touched alcohol, how come you’re talking like you’re drunk?"

When Tian Bin heard Tie Ruyun’s words, he burst into laughter on the spot.

"Is the criminal team getting drunk?"

"Hahaha, the criminal team, always at the bottom, and now they think they can set terms with us?"

"Isn’t the criminal team just a bunch of bottom-dwellers, quietly handling pro bono cases for us? How come today they dare to front with us like this?"

Not just him, but his team members also started to laugh along.

They seemed as though they had heard a great joke.

Jin Mingming, mingling in the crowd, also wore a smirk on her face.

Why did I leave the criminal team? Because I didn’t want to work on thankless cases every day. If not the criminal team, then who should handle these pro bono cases, our Business Group 2? Isn’t that a joke?