Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 136 - 135: Signing with Chengyi Insurance, Alarming the Leadership?

Chapter 136: Chapter 135: Signing with Chengyi Insurance, Alarming the Leadership?

(The Chapters of the past few days have been a bit lackluster, and I, Author Germ, admit that I’m not in the best form. As for the apologies, I’ve already expressed them in the forewords, so I won’t say much more here...)

PS: Dear readers, please bear with me, Author Germ has been swamped with the New Year festivities, and I’ve fallen behind on my writing, I apologize!

...

Sunday, a day off.

Zhang Wei got up early, made breakfast for Zhao Xiaoxiao, and then went next door to Zhang’s Martial Arts School to exercise.

In the afternoon, he had an appointment for psychological counseling with Jessica. After spending a pleasant two hours in Jessica’s office, he returned to Lin Mansion once more.

By evening, after allowing himself to completely relax, he began to sort through the Chengyi Insurance Company’s case.

The case wasn’t overly complicated; it was just a common insurance claim dispute.

However, the tragic personal history of the plaintiff added a level of difficulty to the case.

The plaintiffs were a married couple, Ding Chuntian and Yao Liting. They were clients of Chengyi Insurance.

The couple worked in Dongfang Capital. The husband was a staffer at an ordinary company, and the wife, due to a frail constitution, could only work at home doing data entry.

They had two children, both of whom were still in kindergarten.

The one with health issues was the wife, Yao Liting. During her second childbirth, doctors discovered she had endometrial cancer, and after giving birth, she began chemotherapy.

She underwent surgery to remove a tumor in her body.

At the time, doctors believed the tumor had been excised, but later it was found that the cancer had metastasized to her liver.

Yao Liting resumed medical treatment last year and underwent microwave therapy, during which a medical accident occurred that caused her liver to rupture.

This ordeal could only be described as tragic, very tragic...

Zhang Wei opened an email, which contained a medical accident report mentioning that the extent of Yao Liting’s liver rupture was about the size of an infant’s fist.

One could imagine what kind of impact such a significant rupture on a vital organ could have on the human body.

Additionally, her previous cancer had severely damaged Yao Liting’s immune system, and the doctors predicted her condition was very serious. Without a liver transplant, she would only have one to one and a half years to live.

The problem arose!

The doctor’s assessment was written last year, so by now, Yao Liting probably only had about half a year left to live.

Therefore, the couple decided to file a claim with the insurance company, demanding Chengyi Insurance pay 500,000 yuan for the surgery.

The result was that Chengyi Insurance rejected the couple’s request.

Yao Liting subsequently sued the hospital where she was treated, the surgeon who performed the operation, and the manufacturer of the equipment that caused the medical accident, but medical dispute cases typically take at least a year or two to resolve.

In the end, Yao Liting decided to sue Chengyi Insurance, demanding the company pay the full surgery costs plus a substantial sum in compensation.

"After reading Yao Liting’s information, I can only say I’m on the verge of crying %"

To be honest, Zhang Wei was also rather moved.

Anyone who heard this story couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the plaintiff.

Compared to the "unscrupulous" insurance companies in the eyes of ordinary people, he would rather represent the plaintiff Yao Liting to sue and demand compensation from the insurance company.

But he didn’t have a choice. He didn’t even know Yao Liting, while the insurance companies had sent out applications to all the major law firms.

For the sake of performance, Zhang Wei could only become complicit with the insurance company.

"Why do I feel like I’ve become the bad guy?"

After analyzing the case, Zhang Wei always felt like he was doing something wrong and started feeling a bit of a burden on his conscience.

"No, I need to find someone cheerful to chat with to alleviate my psychological burden!"

He shook his head, took out his phone, opened WeChat, and immediately clicked on Xia Qianyue’s profile.

Before long, Zhang Wei was happily chatting with Xia Qianyue.

...

The next day, in the morning.

"Indeed, chatting with a Silly person can effectively relieve work stress!"

While eating breakfast, Zhang Wei browsed through the newspaper.

When it was about 7 o’clock, he walked to the stairway.

"Second daughter, time for breakfast~"

"Ao~"

Hearing this response, Zhang Wei smiled knowingly and set off for work.

Taking the subway, he arrived at the law firm and went straight to the criminal department office.

Once at his desk, Zhang Wei got busy, pinning all the details of the case he prepared yesterday onto the clue board.

However, this case was not a criminal case; there was no need for him to solve it by finding the murderer.

Before long, Tie Ruyun and Tie Cuilan arrived, followed by Li Yueqin and Lin Yumeng.

"Zhang Wei, did you really take on the insurance company’s case?"

As soon as Tie Ruyun got to the firm, he immediately asked.

"Old Tie, we have to make a push for performance. I know you’ve seen what’s on the surface."

Zhang Wei shook his finger, emphasizing, "You’ve only seen the helplessness of Ding Chuntian, the husband and Yao Liting, his wife, but have you seen anything else?"

"What else?" Tie Ruyun and Li Yueqin, along with the others, looked at each other in confusion.

"That is, the case can bring the firm an annual consultancy fee of 10 million, plus a single case litigation fee income of 500,000. By the way, Old Tie, how is our share calculated?"

Although Tie Ruyun was somewhat speechless, he still instinctively said, "The lawyer’s profit share is uniformly 30%, junior partners 40%, and senior partners 50%, and after becoming a partner, there’s an annual bonus."

After hearing this, Zhang Wei was slightly surprised. The share wasn’t much, but it was still decent.

"Based on 30%, could I take 3 million from the 10 million consultancy fee?"

"No, unless you fully represent the insurance company and help them resolve all litigation throughout the year, otherwise this is the project department’s job, and the share goes to them, too. You’d only get a small part of the client’s bonus, around 1%, which is about 100,000 a year."

Tie Ruyun shook his head, bringing Zhang Wei back to reality.

You’re a criminal attorney and can’t handle corporate affairs for the insurance company, yet you still think about getting the lion’s share? Isn’t that daydreaming?

"Alright, then based on 30%, if I win the litigation, could I get a lawyer’s fee of 150,000?"

"That’s true, but the precondition is that you can win. As for the case... well, I don’t think it’s winnable..."

It’s no wonder Tie Ruyun thought this way. Everyone felt it was unwinnable; otherwise, why would the commercial department toss out this lawsuit.

They had good reasons for not wanting to fight it.

"I acknowledge this case is indeed tricky, but..."

"Hold on, Zhang Wei, your client has arrived; they’re downstairs!"

Zhang Wei wanted to say more, but Tie Cuilan interrupted him.

She opened a chat window on her computer, with a message sent from the receptionist.

"Alright, I’ll go sign the contract first!"

Zhang Wei, having no choice, took his criminal division colleagues down to welcome Cheng Liang.

25th floor, in the reception room.

Zhang Wei met Cheng Liang.

He wasn’t alone; he was accompanied by two women in suits.

One was a middle-aged woman in her forties wearing glasses, and the other a twenty-seven or -eight-year-old with a respectable career line.

"Lawyer Zhang, you’re here. Let me introduce you, this is Sister Yang from our company’s legal department, and this is Xiao Fang from finance. From now on, we three will be your points of contact. If it’s a legal matter, you can talk to Sister Yang. For financial fund applications, Xiao Fang is your person, and for other issues, you can contact me!"

"Representative Cheng, Sister Yang from legal, Xiao Fang from finance, hello!"

Zhang Wei said with a smile as he shook hands with the three of them, then both parties sat down to begin negotiations.

The negotiations did not take much time. Cheng’s boss, the executive president of Chengyi Insurance, had already finalized Zhang Wei, so signing the contract and other matters was no big deal.

However, Cheng suddenly doubled the consultancy fee and litigation fees during the discussion.

"Representative Cheng, how come the consultancy fee has become 20 million, and the litigation fee has also doubled to 1 million?"

"Lawyer Zhang, this is a decision made by our executive president. He believes that you will definitely win this lawsuit, so he’s increased both this time’s lawyer fees and the subsequent consultancy fees by double, saying that it’s what you deserve."

At that moment, Cheng Liang’s respect was quite evident, even bowing his head slightly unconsciously when facing Zhang Wei.

This surprised both Sister Yang and Xiao Fang who had come along.

Representative Cheng was a confidant of the executive president, and in Chengyi Insurance Company, he was second only to one and above tens of thousands. How could he be so polite to a young lawyer today?

There was another point—today’s signing was supposed to be for one representation contract. Why were they also signing a consultancy contract?

If their side lost the lawsuit, did they still plan to hire the opposite lawyer as a consultancy attorney?

Although Cheng was very polite in front of Zhang Wei, within the company, he maintained his authority, so Sister Yang and Xiao Fang did not dare to interrupt.

The signing was quickly concluded. After both parties had signed their names, Chengyi Insurance officially employed Zhang Wei as their external attorney to take on this first lawsuit.

"Lawyer Zhang, we entrust this case to you!"

"Representative Cheng, our criminal division will indeed go all out!"

"Uh..."

Hearing Zhang Wei commit full effort on behalf of the criminal division made Cheng Liang feel somewhat uneasy.

Why is Lawyer Zhang from the criminal division, and is it really appropriate for our company to hire the criminal division to fight this lawsuit?

Cheng Liang thought about it and decided not to delve deeper into this issue.

After all, everything was directed by the leadership, and he was simply following orders.

Just as Zhang Wei and Cheng Liang had finished signing the contract, the firm’s logistics staff recorded the contract in the firm’s system.

...

At the same time.

Many senior executives sitting in their offices saw the system notification.

"Hmm, the litigation department has just signed a new employment contract, with Chengyi Insurance Company?"

As the head of the litigation department, Shen Zhengyi naturally paid close attention to the department’s business.

As soon as the new contract was signed, he became aware of the news.

"Isn’t Chengyi Insurance Company the one that has recently been worrying about claims? How come our litigation department took on this case?"

Chengyi Insurance, being a billion-level giant company in Dongfang Capital, was certainly a company that Shen Zhengyi had heard some news about.

"And who is this signing lawyer? Zhang Wei, a newcomer from the commercial team?"

"No, I have to ask Li Qingshou, signing a contract without even notifying me!"

Since there was a new case and it involved Chengyi Insurance, Shen Zhengyi definitely wanted to find out more.

He quickly dialed Li Qingshou’s desk phone, and the call was immediately answered on the other end.

"Boss, do you have any instructions for me?"

"Li Qingshou, did a newcomer from your team sign a case with Chengyi Insurance?"

"Boss, that’s impossible. We tossed that case into the ’trash heap’, no one signed it!"

"Then why did I receive a notification that the litigation department took on a case from Chengyi Insurance?"

"This..."

On the other end, Li Qingshou hurried back to his office, logged into the computer system, and soon also saw the case information.

"Zhang Wei, is he someone from our commercial team?"

Although Li Qingshou was the leader of the commercial team, he managed three teams, and with many newcomers lately, he wasn’t sure who Zhang Wei was.

"Boss Shen, I’ll go ask around!"

Li Qingshou quickly responded and waited for Shen Zhengyi to hang up the phone before rushing into the commercial team’s area.

"Who is Zhang Wei, who took on the Chengyi Insurance case without even telling me!"

After he shouted out, his subordinates all looked at each other in confusion, with someone murmuring in surprise, wondering why the leader suddenly came in fuming.

"Director, no one from our team took the Chengyi Insurance case!" said the leader of team 1, approaching Li Qingshou and quietly replying.

"No one took it?" Li Qingshou’s eyes flickered with confusion.

"Director Li, I know who Zhang Wei is!"

Finally, Tian Bin, the head of team 2, realized who it was.

"Zhang Wei is in the criminal division, a subordinate of Tie Ruyun!"

Tian Bin was all too familiar with Zhang Wei, who was the reason for his suffering this week.

Usually, during legal assistance events, Tian Bin was the one who did nothing but watch over the event.

However, after what Zhang Wei pulled, during last week’s assistance event, every day Tian Bin had to deal with hundreds of consultations, and now he was practically traumatized.

Tian Bin swore he would never again attend a legal assistance event; it was not a place for humans.

It was hell!

"So it’s someone from the criminal division!"

Hearing Tian Bin’s response, Li Qingshou was taken aback.

Damn it, was the criminal division not doing proper work? Taking a case that the commercial team rejected?

"Tian Bin, call Tie Ruyun over here. No, call that case-taking Zhang Wei over here; I need an explanation from him!"

Li Qingshou was angry upon hearing that the criminal division dared to snatch a case from the commercial team, especially one that the commercial team had given up on.

If the criminal division dared to create trouble, then as a leader, he wouldn’t spare any sentiments.

"Jin Mingming, you came out of the criminal division, go call them!"

Tian Bin’s legs were somewhat weak these days, and he didn’t feel like walking, so he ordered Jin Mingming to go and call them.

Upon receiving the command, Jin Mingming quickly rushed out of the commercial division’s office area and headed straight for the criminal division’s office.

It wasn’t long before he returned, but his complexion was very poor.

"Director Li, Chief Tian, people from the criminal division, Zhang Wei, they said, they said..." Jin Mingming seemed to have difficulty speaking.

"Said what!" Li Qingshou and Tian Bin shouted in unison.

"They said they have taken on the case and they need to discuss how to win the lawsuit, they don’t have time to deal with Director Li."

"What!"

Li Qingshou could hardly believe that he, himself, had actually been ignored by a newcomer, and that the criminal division dared to disregard his orders.

It was simply outrageous!

He was the managing attorney of the litigation department, a junior partner of the law firm, and the highest-ranking person on the 26th floor other than Boss Shen.

Unbearable, it was absolutely unbearable!

"You go back and convey my message, tell them that if people from the criminal division dare not come over, I’ll make sure they regret it!"

Jin Mingming, helpless, could only rush back again in haste.

Minutes later, he came back.

"Director Li, Zhang Wei said, he said that the case is the most important thing, the leaders’ tasks should all stand aside, I..."

Jin Mingming felt like crying, because Zhang Wei’s refusal to come over meant facing Li Qingshou’s fury himself.

He was also a newcomer, did he have it easy?

"Damn, this newcomer really has guts, daring not to give me any face!"

Li Qingshou’s face turned red, his teeth grinding with a squeaking sound, so angry that steam seemed to be coming out of his head, his fingers twitching like chicken claws.

He swore that he would have to make that new guy named Zhang Wei suffer today, otherwise his, Li Qingshou’s, face...

"Director Li, I heard that people from the criminal division took on the case we had rejected, is that true?"

"Oh, it’s Lawyer Bai, you’ve heard the news too? Ah, I’m discussing this matter with my subordinates right now. You know, they from the criminal division, taking on a case without even notifying our commercial division."

Hearing the voice behind him, Li Qingshou performed an extravagant face change; his previously enraged expression instantly turned pleasant and agreeable.

When he turned to look at the person coming, he had already put on a fawning expression.

The members of the commercial division, seeing such a change in their supervisor, all secretly admired him.

This was probably what they call acting!

Li Qingshou demonstrated to them what it meant for a true man to bend and to stretch, having only moments ago looked ready to tear someone apart, he could now bow and scrape to please others.

If he were in the movies, there’d be no use for those Best Actor and Best Actress winners.

Li Qingshou sidled up to Bai Meiqi, all smiles and fawning.

"Indeed, the criminal division took on a case from the commercial division without even a word to us, it really is their fault."

"Lawyer Bai is right, they’re way out of line in the criminal division."

"But regarding the case, wasn’t it passed by you guys? Now that they’re picking it up, it doesn’t seem improper, does it?"

The next sentence from Bai Meiqi made Li Qingshou pause for a moment.

Jincheng Law Firm was affluent and influential, allowing them to selectively choose their clients. If they truly couldn’t win a case, they had the confidence not to take it on.

But if one department refused a case, other departments could take it.

Cases rejected by the commercial division or the civil division did not mean the criminal division could not take them. There were people in the criminal division who understood commercial and civil law, and they could handle commercial and civil cases too.

Of course, this only applied to cases that were confirmed as unwanted by the commercial and civil divisions.

"Director Li, your voice was a bit loud earlier, I heard it even as I passed by, the one taking the case is Zhang Wei, right?"

"Lawyer Bai, I was just thinking about something infuriating, so my voice might have been louder, if it disturbed you, I immediately apologize."

"That’s not necessary, but I am quite looking forward to this case. I’ll attend the hearing to see how the criminal division is going to defend the insurance company."

"This..."

"Director Li, since they’re handling the case, let’s not bother them. What Zhang Wei said is not wrong; if the law firm has taken the case, we should go all out. This is what the big boss has said himself, you don’t have any objections, do you?"

"I dare not, I dare not, how could I dare to question the big boss’s words..."

"Good, then let’s wait and see what the criminal division does."

Li Qingshou repeatedly denied any dissent, but Bai Meiqi left after dropping those words, going on her way.

Since Bai Meiqi had spoken thus, Li Qingshou didn’t dare to disturb the criminal division anymore.

After all, in the litigation department, Lawyer Bai was a standalone figure, even Boss Shen had to show her some courtesy.

If possible, Li Qingshou would have been willing to kneel down and become Bai Meiqi’s dog!