Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 99 - 98: Self-Introduction, Who is Lawyer Bai?

Chapter 99: Chapter 98: Self-Introduction, Who is Lawyer Bai?

Jincheng Building, 26th floor.

Jincheng Law Firm.

The 26th floor was spacious, with each level covering more than a thousand square meters. Assuming an office space of 2 square meters per person, it could accommodate up to 500 people working at the same time.

Of course, that was the extreme case.

In reality, the litigation department’s leadership had individual offices, and each department had its own delineated area, partitioned from others to prevent work disturbances.

In the most corner position, also the backlit area of this floor, was a small office that was home to the criminal group where Zhang Wei and his peers were based.

Now, Tie Cuilan had distributed Jincheng Law Firm’s "newcomer guidance document" to Zhang Wei and the other three, who were flipping through it.

The so-called newcomer guidance document essentially told you the rules at Jincheng Law Firm, what you could and could not do.

It also introduced the management structure of Jincheng Lawyers, making you familiar with the leadership team.

When you walk through the office and you see a leader, remember to definitely say hello.

"Jincheng Law Firm has so many senior partners apart from the decision-makers?"

Zhang Wei was now looking at the introduction of the top leadership, which listed more than 20 senior partners.

The first page featured the top decision-maker of Jincheng Law Firm - Lin Xiangtian.

"Lin Xiangtian, the supreme decision-maker of Jincheng Law Firm, shareholder of Jincheng Group, Chairman of Dongfang Capital Lawyers Association, standing member of Dongfang Capital Judicial Oversight Committee, Honorary President of Dongfang Capital Law Aid Association, Chief Trustee of Dongfang Capital Charity Foundation, Dongfang Capital..."

As he looked at the dense rows of titles, Zhang Wei curled his lips.

This was way too high-profile!

Although he was quite famous in the legal domain in his former life, the average person really couldn’t reach him.

Unlike this person, who’d take a full 5 minutes just to finish listing his titles.

He imagined what it would be like if Lin Xiangtian met with a client.

After handing over his business card, he would say,

"Hello, I am Lin Xiangtian, the supreme decision-maker of Jincheng Lawyers, shareholder of Jincheng Group, Dongfang Capital..."

After a lengthy introduction, the client would probably have fallen asleep by then.

Zhang Wei flipped past the leadership page and looked at the middle layer.

"That’s strange, why do so many senior partners hold positions like Director of Legal Affairs or General Manager in other companies? Don’t they take on cases at the law firm?"

Zhang Wei, after seeing the page about the senior partners, raised the question to Tie Ruyun.

"These companies have all been acquired by Jincheng Group; some are subsidiaries. Since they’re part of our own enterprise, of course we need our own people to oversee them. Jincheng Group will send professional managers, and our law firm will send senior partners to act as part of these companies’ management teams. Although it’s mostly in name only, they occasionally visit, but the majority of their time is spent in the offices on the 30th floor."

"I see!" Zhang Wei nodded, then asked, "So what does it take to be promoted to senior partner?"

No sooner had he asked this question than Jin Mingming, sitting opposite Zhang Wei, and Li Yueqin, sitting next to him, suddenly looked up at Tie Ruyun.

It seemed they were also very interested in this question.

"Why are you even thinking about this? Becoming a senior partner is still too far off for you. Don’t aim too high," Tie Ruyun immediately scolded, prompting Zhang Wei and the others to refocus.

Look at Lin Yumeng for example: the cute girl had no interest in such things, still looking down at the guidance manual.

What’s this called?

This is called being pragmatic!

"Old Tie, what you said isn’t fair. We’re setting goals for our future. I don’t think there’s a lawyer who does not want to be a leader. There’s a saying, isn’t there? ’A soldier who does not aim to be a general is not a good soldier.’ Doesn’t the same logic apply to us lawyers?" Zhang Wei chuckled, completely undeterred by the rebuke.

"You..."

Although Tie Ruyun disapproved of being called "Old Tie" by Zhang Wei, he also noticed the expressions in Li Yueqin and Jin Mingming’s eyes.

After some thought, he decided to answer.

"In our field, ranking is based on seniority, and it’s the same here at Jincheng. You are currently intern lawyers, which means assistant lawyers. Once your internship ends and you become official, you’ll be regular lawyers. After being officially employed for 3 years, you’ll be known as a three-year lawyer, and after 5 years, a five-year lawyer. Only five-year lawyers are qualified to become junior partners. After junior partner, you need to make significant contributions to Jincheng Law Firm before you can be promoted to senior partner."

Tie Ruyun then added, "Don’t assume that just by sticking around for a certain number of years that you’ll automatically get promoted. Becoming a junior partner is not so easy. Each department has only 1-2 recommendations per year. Lawyers who are nominated must also pass through the assessments of senior partners and decision-makers to be officially promoted. I’ve heard that the assessment is extremely difficult. Of the more than 500 attorneys at Jincheng Law Firm, nearly half are already five-year lawyers, but there are only just over 50 junior partners."

"Really, it seems quite tough!" Zhang Wei inadvertently nodded.

The two people across from him had different expressions: Jin Mingming, upon hearing about the assessment, looked somewhat dejected.

But Li Yueqin was different; her eyes were shining, seemingly looking forward to such an assessment.

The reaction of someone lacking confidence is naturally different from that of someone self-assured.

Zhang Wei shifted his gaze away from the two people and turned to Tie Ruyun.

"Old Tie, I see you’re no longer young and even a leader in our department, so why haven’t I seen your name on the list of partners?"

Tie Ruyun was at a loss for words.

Young man, how can you speak like that, always putting me in a spot?

"Cough cough, the higher-ups said I still need to train at the grassroots level..."

The implication was clear: without any special contribution, one could only spend a lifetime on the frontlines at the grassroots level.

Zhang Wei noted the fleeting dimness in Tie Ruyun’s expression and memorized this scene.

While he heard the subtext, it was not certain that others did.

While Zhang Wei and others were talking with Tie Ruyun, a female assistant came over from outside.

"Group Leader Tie, there’s going to be a staff meeting later. Remember to come with your criminal division!"

"Got it!"

Tie Ruyun responded, glanced at his watch, and also left the office.

"You all come out later with Sister Cuilan; she’ll take you to the meeting place."

He dropped this line before leaving.

With that, aside from Tie Cuilan seated near the door, only Zhang Wei and the other four newcomers remained in the office.

"Fellow colleagues, we’ll be working together from now on, shall we get to know each other?"

Li Yueqin stood up; she took the initiative like a leader.

"My name is Li Yueqin, a graduate of Dragon University Law Course, with a major in criminal and financial law. Nice to meet you all!"

Her introduction was succinct, giving a brief overview of her name, alma mater, and areas of legal expertise.

"My name is Jin Mingming, graduate of Jinying University, residing in Inner Ring Dajin Village of Dongfang Capital..."

Jin Mingming quickly followed suit and said quite a bit, particularly lifting his head high when mentioning where he lived.

Zhang Wei knew that Dajin Village, a well-known urban village within the Inner Ring, housed old houses that were worth tens of millions each due to their central city location.

If the area underwent urban redevelopment and demolition, this guy would surely become a second-generation beneficiary.

As Jin Mingming spoke, his gaze shifted expectantly toward Li Yueqin and Lin Yumeng, eager to see the girls’ reactions.

This bit of cunning, Zhang Wei spotted immediately; the guy thought highly of himself.

"My name is Lin Yumeng, a graduate of Jinnan University Law Course, majoring in civil law, with minors in criminal and commercial law. My family is also from Dongfang Capital, over by Dongjiang..."

Lin Yumeng didn’t stand up and spoke timidly from her seat.

"Over by Dongjiang, isn’t that where those riverside properties are, with even a square meter costing at least over a hundred thousand?"

Zhang Wei hadn’t anticipated that the seemingly meek girl was actually a hidden tycoon.

Seeing that the others had finished introducing themselves, Zhang Wei smiled and stood up.

"I’m Zhang Wei, Zhang as in archer, Wei as in greatness. A graduate of East University Law School, specializing in criminal law. As for my family background, I won’t hide it from you. I lost my parents at a young age and grew up in an orphanage. I’ve come to Dongfang Capital just to make a living!"

Upon hearing Zhang Wei’s self-introduction, Li Yueqin seemed contemplative.

An orphan who grew up in an orphanage, yet managed to get into the decently-ranked East University and graduate from the law school; that was already quite impressive.

As for Jin Mingming, he showed contempt and didn’t even bother planning to get to know Zhang Wei.

"You’re actually an orphan?"

On the contrary, Lin Yumeng looked at Zhang Wei with a somewhat complex expression, perhaps even she didn’t know what her gaze meant.

Zhang Wei didn’t mind and smiled before turning to Tie Cuilan.

"Sister Cuilan, you’re listening too, right? Tell us about Old Tie’s background. We’re going to be mixing with him for the next few years!"

"Yeah, yeah, where does the group leader hail from?" The meek girl immediately chimed in, full of interest.

Tie Cuilan smiled and was not secretive:

"My cousin and I are both from Longdu, but we’re from a small town in the suburbs, nothing significant. I wasn’t good at studies and can only be an assistant. But my cousin was promising; after graduating from Dragon University, he even passed the bar. After that, though..."

As she spoke, her gaze dimmed slightly, as if something had happened to Tie Ruyun afterward.

"...Ah, it’s time for the meeting!"

But suddenly, a message popped up on Tie Cuilan’s computer, and she immediately stopped talking.

"Quick, quick, follow me. The new employee meeting is up next. We’re going to listen to the leaders speak!"

With no other option, Zhang Wei and the others had to follow Tie Cuilan out.

The meeting was taking place in a large conference room on the 26th floor, which was equipped with an internal television that had already been switched on.

Tie Ruyun was already waiting there, and when he saw Zhang Wei and the others come over, he quickly waved them over.

Zhang Wei and his three companions, led by Tie Cuilan, entered and stood with Tie Ruyun in the corner of the conference room.

The conference room, or perhaps more appropriately the conference hall, was spacious, measuring an estimated 150-200 square meters, and could easily accommodate a hundred people.

"Old Tie, why can we only stand in the corner?"

Zhang Wei was a bit displeased after seeing where they were positioned upon arrival.

From this distance, if the leaders spoke, they might not even be able to hear the content.

Without uttering a word, Tie Ruyun raised his thumb and pointed at a performance chart hanging on the wall behind him.

Zhang Wei quickly looked over.

The performance chart ranking was listed from top to bottom as:

Business Group 1

Civil Group 4

Business Group 3

Civil Group 5

Civil Group 6

Business Group 2

Criminal Group 7

There were a total of seven groups in the litigation department: Groups 1, 2, and 3 were business groups; Groups 4, 5, and 6 were civil groups; and Group 7 was the only criminal group.

As the criminal group was at the bottom in terms of performance, it naturally lacked status.

Even in meetings, they could only stand in the corner...

Well, Zhang Wei accepted this fact.

Besides the litigation department on the 26th floor, there was a smaller department, the family department, which focused on family dispute litigation and children’s court.

Since they were different departments, their performance evaluations were separate from those of the litigation department, but today’s meeting was held jointly.

Therefore, Zhang Wei saw a woman with a warm smile leading a group of similarly "friendly and kind-hearted" female lawyers into the room.

Most of these female lawyers were married, some wearing rings, some with marks of rings on their fingers.

Zhang Wei could tell at a glance that these women were adept at handling children’s issues.

"That’s Lawyer Bai Ruoyun, the managing lawyer of the family department, and she is skilled in handling family disputes and juvenile crimes!"

Tie Ruyun introduced her to Zhang Wei and the others.

Lawyer Bai was polite to everyone, even nodding and greeting Tie Ruyun from afar.

After that, other members of the litigation department arrived as well.

Groups 1, 2...6 of the litigation department had many people show up, crowding into the conference hall all at once.

The originally spacious conference hall became slightly noisy.

But fortunately, it was large and there was enough space.

Zhang Wei glanced around and realized that the litigation department indeed had many competent lawyers.

"Old Tie, introduce us to the leaders of the litigation department, will you?"

He quickly approached and asked Tie Ruyun.

The latter, a bit helpless, pointed to a scholarly male lawyer with glasses and introduced:

"That’s Lawyer Li Qingshou, one of our litigation department’s managing lawyers, who specializes in handling business disputes, and he is in charge of Groups 1, 2, and 3."

Then he pointed to another male lawyer with a somewhat sleazy expression:

"That one is Lawyer Wang Jianren, another managing lawyer, who specializes in handling civil disputes and is responsible for Groups 4, 5, and 6."

"Two managing lawyers, one named ’beast’ and the other ’cheap man’?"

Zhang Wei inwardly exclaimed when he heard their names.

"Why are there two managers? Is there a boss above them?"

"Our litigation department’s boss is Shen Zhengyi; he’s a senior partner of the law firm and doesn’t join us downstairs, so those two are the leaders we interact with the most in the litigation department."

"Oh, is that so~"

Zhang Wei nodded, taking note of all this information.

He looked ahead and saw Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren huddled together, glancing toward the entrance from time to time as if they were waiting for someone.

But they were already the highest leaders of the litigation department, who could they possibly be waiting for?

Old Tie had also said that the boss, being a senior partner, would not be holding the meeting downstairs.

"Maybe they’re waiting for Lawyer Bai?" Old Tie noticed the two men’s demeanor and muttered softly.

"Lawyer Bai?"

Zhang Wei quickly nudged Old Tie, showing great interest.

"Lawyer Bai is our litigation department’s ace attorney. Her name is Bai Meiqi. She joined us 4 years ago, and she stood out during her probationary first year by winning a significant number of lawsuits. Her performance was the best in the litigation department during her second year. In the last two years, she’s been even more impressive; her win rate and achievements soared to the top of the firm, making her the undisputed ace attorney of Jincheng."

As Old Tie got to this point, he looked around and continued in a low voice, "Although she is only in her fifth year with the firm, there’s a rumor that the ’big boss’ has plans to promote her exceptionally to a partner."

The big boss referred to was Lin Xiangtian, the decision-maker of the firm. With the big boss in charge, she could indeed be promoted exceptionally.

"I really want to meet this Lawyer Bai!"

Zhang Wei nodded, full of anticipation.

Similarly, Li Yueqin and Jin Mingming, having heard these words, were also very curious about who Lawyer Bai was.

Actually, not only them, but also Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren, guarding the TV, wanted to meet Lawyer Bai as well.

"Why hasn’t Lawyer Bai arrived yet? Today, Young Master Lin said that after the meeting, he wants to see her."

"What can we do? Lawyer Bai is not someone we can order around!"

Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren were anxiously spinning in circles, but they were helpless.

"Assistant Wang, has Lawyer Bai not arrived yet?"

Li Qingshou looked at the female assistant beside him and asked anxiously.

The female assistant, who was Bai Meiqi’s dedicated assistant, flipped through the schedule and reported helplessly, "Lawyer Bai said she would be back today, but she didn’t specify a time. I’m not sure either~"

It was at this moment that the television finally showed an image.

"Hello to all my colleagues at Jincheng Law Firm, I am Lin Yufeng, the managing attorney of the project department. I will be hosting the meeting today. Likewise, as the start of the new year, I will also share the leadership’s expectations for our Jincheng Law Firm for this year."

"First, let’s give a warm welcome to the new partners who joined the law firm today. I know that various departments in the firm have welcomed a lot of new blood today, and on behalf of Jincheng Law Firm, I welcome you all..."

There was a round of applause on TV, and naturally, the conference room followed with applause.

"Wait, how can this Lin Yufeng be so young?"

Zhang Wei, looking at the person speaking on TV, was again puzzled.

This young man was a junior leader in the project department, which should put him on the same level as Li Qingshou and Wang Jianren, or maybe just a junior partner at most. Plus, he looked too young, as if he had only graduated two or three years ago.

How could someone like him be representing Jincheng Law Firm and giving a speech? That didn’t make sense.

However, Old Tie had anticipated this and smiled at Zhang Wei, "Didn’t he introduce himself? His last name is Lin."

"So what if his last name is Lin? Our team’s Lin Yumeng’s last name is also Lin, isn’t it?"

"But Lin Yufeng has a father named Lin Xiangtian!"

Hearing this, Zhang Wei fell silent.

It turned out he was the big boss’s son. No wonder.

Although Lin Yufeng did not seem like a formidable attorney, sometimes, being formidable does not depend on the lawyer’s skills; having a powerful father can be just as effective.

Zhang Wei glanced at Lin Yumeng beside him and thought, this cute girl is also named Lin; she couldn’t possibly be the big boss’s daughter, could she?

He shook his head, dismissing the "unrealistic" thought.

What followed was the leadership’s speech process, discussing new year goals and the like, typical ceremonial talk.

Zhang Wei was not interested in these. After all, once the leaders finished speaking, they would be given their tasks, and all they had to do was to complete them.

If Lin Yufeng didn’t have a powerful father, he wouldn’t be standing at such a height.

His speech was actually not that good; it nearly put Zhang Wei to sleep.

"Lawyer Bai is here!" But just then, someone in the crowd up front suddenly shouted.

Everyone looked toward the elevator entrance, including Zhang Wei, who was also drawn to look.

There stood a woman dressed in pure white office attire, exuding an extremely cold presence, entering the office.

"An extremely competent attorney, walking with purpose, her gaze confident, sharp, and commanding. Is this Bai Meiqi?"

Seeing this woman, Zhang Wei knew why she had become the litigation department’s ace.

This was the first time he had given such high praise to a fellow colleague.