Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 128 - 127: Hidden Treasures, Public Welfare Association

Chapter 128: Chapter 127: Hidden Treasures, Public Welfare Association

(Yesterday was a big holiday, and I watched a match with the elders at home. We lost as expected, three to one. I was in a bad mood~)

Some prophet: "Shameless!"

...

Treasure?

Is there treasure inside this box on the ground?

Tie Ruyun naturally didn’t believe it.

If you say these cases are treasures, then wouldn’t the commercial and civil departments have taken them on instead of leaving them on the ground like junk?

"Zhang Wei, what’s inside this box are cases that others have discarded, which means they think these cases can’t make money..."

"That’s what they think. Indeed, many of these cases sound quite amusing when it comes to their litigation demands, but there are also quite a few with large claims for damages. All we need is to unearth them with a pair of discerning eyes!"

As Zhang Wei spoke, he took out all the cases from the box and handed them to Li Yueqin, Lin Yumeng, and Tie Ruyun.

"Our task today is simple, to find the treasures we want from these cases!" Zhang Wei instructed after distributing the files.

"You little brat, even daring to boss me around?"

Tie Ruyun looked at the stack of folders in front of him, speechless on the inside.

Alright, who exactly is the leader in this criminal department, you or me?

This isn’t the first time you’ve been insubordinate, don’t you have any sense?

"Old Tie, let me ask you, do you want to improve the ranking of the criminal department?"

"Of course!"

"Do you want to step over the commercial and civil departments to advance?"

"Of course!"

"Do you want to gain the big boss’s appreciation and be promoted to junior partner?"

"Of course!"

Tie Ruyun almost subconsciously responded to each question.

"Well, that settles it!"

Zhang Wei spread his hands and placed the folder on the desk, "What we have in our hands now is the opportunity for our criminal department to rise."

"Inside here, there are clearly many good cases, but the commercial and civil departments refused to take them. It’s just a tremendous waste!"

"Lucky for the clients who have brought their cases to us at Jincheng, haven’t the other departments failed to meet the clients’ expectations?"

Listening to Zhang Wei’s sound reasoning, Li Yueqin and Lin Yumeng both nodded subconsciously.

But it was only Tie Ruyun who felt a hint of doubt.

He always felt that Zhang Wei seemed to be hoodwinking people.

"Well, although I want to be promoted and wish to improve the performance of the Group 7, I also know that one must be pragmatic, and these cases..."

"Old Tie, let’s take a look at these cases before we talk!"

Tie Ruyun wanted to say something else but was cut off by Zhang Wei.

Meanwhile.

In the litigation department, within the private office.

As the head attorneys of the department, both Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren had their individual offices.

Right now, they were meeting in Li Qingshou’s office, discussing something.

"My assistant just told me that some kid from the criminal department took a bunch of cases from the ’garbage heap’ back with him!"

"Garbage heap?"

Hearing this term, both Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren showed looks of distaste.

The so-called garbage heap wasn’t an actual place for trash but rather a pile of useless cases.

To professional attorneys, the demands of these cases seemed utterly unreasonable and outrageous; generally, no lawyer would take them on.

Even though these were cases submitted by clients, if lawyers refused to handle them, they would simply become dead cases.

And thus, the pile was aptly named.

"The cases from the garbage heap are worthless. Even on the rare occasion that a rookie attorney goes digging, 99% of the time, they end either in defeat or not even accepted by courts. What valuable thing could be found there?"

"It should be impossible. Maybe the criminal department is just too idle, and Tie Ruyun has found something for that kid to do in the garbage heap?"

"That’s very possible. But the criminal department being so idle isn’t a good sign, right?"

Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren exchanged glances, and they both could see one thing in each other’s eyes.

"Boss Shen said just now that the task from the Public Welfare Association has fallen on our litigation department’s shoulders, and they want us to select some attorneys to join others from different firms. What do you think about including the criminal department as well?"

"The criminal division is going to join the Public Welfare Assistance Association? But they usually handle civil cases. Do you think the members of the criminal division won’t mind?"

"Hmph, even if they have an opinion, what can they do about it? Don’t forget, we’re the leaders. Tie Ruyun is just a five-year lawyer, and both of us are the firm’s junior partners!"

"Understood. It’s actually perfect to send some people from each team and, with the criminal division, we’ll have enough for thirty people!"

"Then it’s settled. This time at the Public Welfare Assistance Association, everyone from the criminal division has to be on board. The event is a week long, and using up a week of their time—let’s see what kind of face Tie Ruyun will show!"

Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren were indeed no saints. The two were actually in their office discussing making the criminal division partake in the Public Welfare event.

...

Criminal Division, the office.

Zhang Wei and the others, completely unaware of being schemed against, were flipping through documents they picked out from the "trash heap."

"My God, this person actually wants to change their name to Zhang San? How weird is that?"

Lin Yumeng looked at the file in her hands, especially after seeing the client’s litigation request, and her little face was baffled.

"Changing names? That’s not a big deal. Zhang San is nothing problematic, is it?"

Zhang Wei, who was beside her, heard this and thought that there wasn’t anything wrong with that reason.

"No, it’s not that ’Zhang San’ he wants, but this ’Zhang 3’, with the number!"

"Zhang 3?"

Zhang Wei quickly leaned in to look at the document.

Good grief, the client wanted to change their name to ’Zhang 3’.

"Pass on this case, we can’t take it. The name system and the text library only contain Dragon Country characters, no numbers or punctuation. The cost of modifying is too great. It’s not worth it for the powers above to expand the entire name database for one person!"

After a moment of thought, Zhang Wei decided this man who wanted to change his name to Zhang 3 was simply daydreaming. Throwing the case into the trash heap served it right; let it continue to collect dust.

Li Yueqin also flipped open a case and joined in, "What about this case? The client claims they were a king in their past life, so they want to register their own country and crown themselves as king?"

"I think the zoo or Arkham would be more suitable for him, pass!"

Zhang Wei waved his hand dismissively without a second thought.

Being your own king, isn’t that demand a bit too much?

Are you sure the mental hospital hasn’t realized they’re missing a patient?

At the leadership seat, Tie Ruyun also came across a case, "How about this one? A divorce suit, it seems quite credible?"

"A divorce lawsuit, why would the civil division throw this one out?"

While Zhang Wei wasn’t particularly fond of divorce cases, he was aware that they could be quite profitable, especially if both spouses had careers; the attorney fees would certainly be substantial.

"Old Zhang and Madam Wang have been married for 50 years, and they finally had enough of each other and decided to divorce... Uh, we can’t take this case..."

After seeing the case information, Zhang Wei was once again speechless.

Married for 50 years, if the clients got married at 20, they must be at least 70 now.

"If it were a young couple, the divorce suit could make a lot of money, but with elderly divorces, there are too many variable factors. This case should be handed over to the community committee. We can’t handle it!"

Zhang Wei shook his head and passed on the divorce suit as well.

He had seen his subordinate lawyers handle such cases before; the lawsuit would be halfway through and, because of something the children said, the client would withdraw the case!

Great, only a small portion of the lawyer fees collected and the case disappeared. Why bother?

For general divorce lawsuits, it’s either risk representation or semi-risk representation. The more benefits you get for the client, the higher the attorney fees.

In other words, if you get little benefit for the client or nothing at all, it’s basically futile labor.

With elderly divorce cases, unless one party is a billionaire, if it’s just two ordinary elderly people squabbling and seeking a divorce in a fit of anger, who knows when they might reconcile and withdraw the suit?

So yeah, the risk is too high. Not considering it!

"Zhang Wei, what about this case?"

Sitting on the outermost edge, Tie Cuilan also spoke up while browsing through a file.

"What case?"

"It’s an insurance company case, about a claim!"

"Insurance company? That could be a big case. Why doesn’t the civil division want it?"

Surprised, Zhang Wei listened to Tie Cuilan’s explanation.

It’s difficult for an individual to claim from an insurance company, but reaching a settlement isn’t impossible.

Though insurance companies only refuse to pay for two things... that’s not paying for this, nor for that!

But if an individual sues an insurance company, typical juries tend to be sympathetic, and even if it doesn’t greatly influence the judgment, it can be used to increase the settlement amount by leveraging the jury’s favor.

The more pitiful the client’s situation, the larger the settlement amount tends to be.

Zhang Wei found it odd. Such a sure-win settlement case, and the civil division actually passed on it?

"No, it was discarded by the commercial division because the client isn’t an individual, it’s the insurance company itself!"

But Tie Cuilan’s next words completely extinguished Zhang Wei’s enthusiasm.

So it wasn’t a civil case after all, but a commercial one!

Representing an insurance company in a lawsuit, that’s really... like lighting a lamp in a restroom.

"Did the insurance company provide any details about the case?"

"Let me check, it seems like a terminal patient can’t get the insurance payout, and their life is hanging by a thread..."

"Stop there, this case is tough to win!"

When Zhang Wei heard the words "terminal patient" and "life hanging by a thread," he knew this case would be extremely difficult.

Once the case goes to court, unless one of the jurors happens to work in the insurance industry, the sympathy will all be one-sided.

"Sister Cuilan, put this case aside for now. If we really can’t find any treasures today, then we’ll go see that insurance company!"

Zhang Wei hadn’t completely passed on the case, but he also wasn’t pinning his hopes on any insurance company; he could only say to put it on hold for now.

If it gets to the last week of this month and there’s really no other option, Zhang Wei might consider the case.

The fact that the commercial division threw the case in the trash isn’t for no reason; they probably also know it’s unwinnable.

"Master, how about this case? Does the client want to claim compensation from the cigar company?"

"Cigar company, claim what?"

Zhang Wei’s eyes lit up at the mention of Lin Yumeng’s case.

Because this time it’s not about representing the strong against the weak but the weak fighting against the strong.

The client is the victim’s family, and the opponent is a wealthy and powerful company, a stark contrast to the insurance company case.

"Wait a minute, let me see. It looks like their loved one smoked cigars and then died of lung cancer, so they want to claim..."

"This..."

Well, the light in Zhang Wei’s eyes immediately went out.

"Xiao Meng, put this case together with the one from the insurance company earlier. If we’re really out of options at the end of the month, we’ll consider it then..."

"Criminal Division, there’s a new assignment!"

Zhang Wei was about to say something when a familiar voice came from outside the door.

Jin Mingming!

Because he used to be in the Criminal Division, and now it seemed he had become the messenger for other departments to the Criminal Division.

"Group Leader Tie, the boss told me to pass on the message that your Criminal Division also needs to attend this time’s Public Welfare Assistance Conference!"

"Jin Mingming, what did you say?"

Jin Mingming’s words were unbelievable to Tie Ruyun.

The Public Welfare Assistance Conference is usually all about civil assistance. Since when does the Criminal Division get involved?

The Criminal Division handles criminal cases; it wouldn’t be appropriate to attend a Public Welfare Assistance Conference, right?

"Humph, anyway, it’s the boss’s orders. Prepare yourselves this afternoon and set off with us, Division 2, and Division 6 from next door!"

Jin Mingming dropped this remark and left without looking back.

His task was to deliver a message, and since he completed his task, he was too lazy to stay in the Criminal Division any longer.

"Why does the Public Welfare Assistance Conference need the involvement of the Criminal Division? Is this the big boss’s intention?"

Tie Ruyun sat at his desk, lost in thought.

"Old Tie, why does the Criminal Division need to show up for the Public Welfare Assistance?"

"You’re asking me? I have no clue..."

"If you don’t know, does that mean this task was not originally meant for us?"

"Yes, every year the boss arranges two public welfare assistance activities, as well as prepares charity evenings and charity auctions, but these matters have nothing to do with our Criminal Division. Before, Boss Shen didn’t nominate us to participate, and it’s implicitly understood that we don’t get involved in these events, right?"

"If Shen Zhengyi didn’t mention it, that means it wasn’t his idea. Besides him, the only ones who can give orders are that pair of ’inhuman scumbags,’ right?"

Li Qingshou, Wang Jianren!

Zhang Wei instantly thought of them.

Goodness, so they saw Division 7 gearing up for a sprint and decided to trip us up from behind!

"How long is this Public Welfare Assistance Conference supposed to last?"

"It’s always a week each year. If we go in the afternoon, we might finish by Friday, or we might have to arrange for someone to be on duty on Saturday and Sunday, considering today is only Tuesday."

"So you mean to say, during the first week of March, our whole division can only spend it attending the Public Welfare Assistance Conference?"

Zhang Wei’s eyes were moving swiftly, pondering.

The Public Welfare Assistance Conference, as the name suggests, is about doing public service and doesn’t involve collecting attorney fees.

At the same time, the Public Welfare Assistance Conference wouldn’t involve handling any major cases.

It generally involved resolving civil disputes, such as receiving fines that required payment, or cases like children fighting, workplace bullying, and complaints about the company not being good.

Although being involved in public welfare sounds nice, and the big boss pays it a lot of attention, he himself would never participate; he always arranged for his subordinates to do it.

The boss gets the credit, but it’s the subordinates who suffer—that’s the true nature of the Public Welfare Association.

"Since it’s the big boss’s assignment, it seems we can’t really refuse."

Zhang Wei felt helpless but still tried to look on the bright side.

"However, Old Tie, even if we do participate in the Public Welfare Association, we can still outperform the other groups. When the end of the month comes, and our performance surpasses the others, won’t their faces hurt even more!"

"We’ll have to wait until after we’ve attended the assistance session to talk about that. And do you really think it’s so easy to find good cases among these?"

Tie Ruyun let out a sigh and ordered, "Alright, let’s get ready. After we finish lunch, we’ll join the others at the site of the Public Welfare Association."

"This week, we’ve got our work cut out for us!"

The whole morning was spent "treasure hunting" to no avail; in the end, they didn’t find any good cases.

Zhang Wei felt helpless and could only jot down the cases from the insurance company and the cigar company, planning to consider these two cases after dealing with the Public Welfare Association’s affairs.

After lunch, Jin Mingming came by again.

"The leader has asked me to inform you that the people participating in the aid association should head over now!"

He dropped the message and returned to Commercial Team 2.

Commercial Team 2 and Civil Team 6 next door were already beginning to organize their people.

When the members of the criminal team arrived under the leadership of Tie Ruyun, approximately thirty people had already gathered on the scene.

Among them was Chief Tian Bin of Commercial Team 2, while the chief of Civil Team 6 was not accompanying them, clearly not participating in the aid association.

"Everyone from the aid association has gathered; once we’re on the bus, listen to my commands!"

Chief Tian was now in charge and began to direct everyone where to go.

However, he did not look very happy.

After all, participating in the assistance session involved running around outside, a thankless task, much less comfortable than being at the law firm.

"Let’s set off for the shuttle bus downstairs!"

The group of over thirty people moved en masse and soon went downstairs, gathering on the shuttle bus outside the Jincheng Building.

Zhang Wei and his colleagues followed the people from Teams 2 and 6 onto the shuttle bus, squeezing into the very back seats.

"Old Tie, how come you’re not the one issuing orders? Aren’t you and Tian Bin both five-year lawyers?"

Seeing Tian Bin starting to instruct everyone on the shuttle bus, Zhang Wei quickly nudged Tie Ruyun beside him.

"I don’t have experience with the aid association, so it’s more appropriate for Tian Bin to take the lead."

"Aren’t you worried he’ll make things difficult for us?"

"I trust Chief Tian’s character!"

"Well, I don’t...."

Zhang Wei looked at Tian Bin only to notice him casting occasional glances in the direction of the criminal team, his gaze somewhat unfriendly.

Zhang Wei knew this old boy surely didn’t have anything good on his mind.

Indeed, that was the case.

Ever since Boss Shen had "scolded" him for a good thirty minutes, Tian Bin had felt very annoyed with the criminal team.

You guys get scolded every month; how come you suddenly made a push in February?

Aren’t you just pushing me into the fire?

Just thinking of Shen Zhengyi’s powerful shouting, Tian Bin felt a chill.

That was one of the senior partners, a high-level executive in the law firm; he, a mere team leader, naturally didn’t dare to resent the man.

So, Tian Bin directed his anger from being scolded toward Tie Ruyun.

Damn this criminal team, causing me to get scolded—that was what Tian Bin was thinking.

Especially hearing that your criminal team has even taken quite a few cases from the "junk pile," are you planning on making another push?

If the criminal team’s performance rises again next month, won’t that put me in an even more dangerous position?

If the criminal team comes last, it can’t be helped; that’s their level.

But if Team 2 comes last, then my position as team leader might not be secure anymore.

Both publicly and privately, Tian Bin needed to prevent this from happening.

By extension, he also began to loathe the people from Team 7 in his heart.

This time at the Public Welfare Assistance session, he was determined to give Team 7’s people some "trouble."

Consider it revenge!