Although judges could not rule without any legal basis, once they leaned toward one side, the outlook for the verdict was far from promising.
Inside White Jun Law Firm.
The more Su Bai read about this female judge, the more his head hurt.
She was thirty-two, had no children with her husband, and argued with him so often that even the court's rank-and-file staff knew about it.
"If this judge hears the case, things will be tricky. We need to find a way to get her removed or bring her over to our side."
"The best option would be to get a different presiding judge."
Su Bai rubbed his brow.
He called Li Xuezhen into his office, laid the judge's information on his desk, and said pleasantly, "Assistant Li, you don't want us to lose this case either, do you?"
Li Xuezhen looked at the judge's information, utterly bewildered. "Lawyer Su, what do you mean?"
Su Bai leaned close to Li Xuezhen's ear and whispered a few things.
Li Xuezhen's eyes widened as she stared at Su Bai in disbelief. "Lawyer Su, isn't that a bit improper?"
"Ahem."
Su Bai cleared his throat twice. "This judge has an unhappy marriage. If she presides over our case, which side do you think she'll favor as a woman?"
"The woman's side?"
"And if she favors the woman, don't you think that could affect our client?"
Seeing that Li Xuezhen was still hesitating, Su Bai spoke again. "Think about the second rule I taught you."
"The second rule was... do the job you're paid for?"
Li Xuezhen sounded a little uncertain.
Su Bai nodded solemnly. "As a lawyer, don't you want to win? Our client entrusted his case to our firm because he trusts us. Besides, what we're doing breaks neither the law nor the rules. What are you afraid of?"
"But..."
Seeing that Li Xuezhen was still hesitant, Su Bai brought out his trump card. "Don't you want to win?"
"Yes!"
Li Xuezhen looked utterly serious.
"Lawyer Su, when should we do this?"
"The sooner, the better."
"All right, Lawyer Su."
Guanlan Residential Community.
Xu Meng, a judge at Nandu Basic Court, lived in this residential community.
Li Xuezhen stood at the entrance, anxiously waiting for something. When she saw a woman in a white blouse approach the entrance, her eyes lit up, and she pattered over to her.
"Hello. Are you Judge Xu Meng?"
Xu Meng frowned slightly, looked at the young woman in front of her, and nodded. "Yes, I'm Xu Meng. What can I do for you?"
"It's nothing much. I just wanted to ask you, Judge Xu Meng, if you were presiding over a marriage case, would you judge it with any preconceived bias?"
Xu Meng shook her head solemnly. "Absolutely not!"
"All right. Thank you, Judge Xu Meng."
Watching Li Xuezhen leave, Xu Meng looked puzzled. What was that about?
She asked me one question, then just walked off for no apparent reason?
After leaving the residential community, Li Xuezhen went around a corner. Seeing Su Bai fiddling with his phone, she asked excitedly, "Lawyer Su, did you get the shot?"
"I did!"
Su Bai showed Li Xuezhen the photo. It clearly captured her and Xu Meng chatting at the entrance to the residential community.
"All right, job done."
Su Bai sent the photo to Zhang Tongwei, along with an instruction.
"Let your wife see this photo. Hint that we have connections."
Watching from beside him, Li Xuezhen asked worriedly, "Lawyer Su, will this work?"
The corners of Su Bai's mouth lifted slightly. "Of course it will."
Under the rules governing a presiding judge's recusal.
First, the judge could not be a relative; second, the judge could not have an interest in the case; third, the judge could not have another relationship with a party or legal representative that might affect a fair hearing; fourth, the judge could not accept meals or gifts from a party or litigant, or meet with a party or legal representative in violation of the rules.
Li Xuezhen's interaction fell into none of those categories.
They knew it did not, but the opposing law firm did not. Judging solely from the photo, if the other side felt uneasy about it, they would very likely request recusal.
In a situation like this.
The court would generally grant the request.
After receiving Su Bai's message, Zhang Tongwei soon put on an air of certain victory and let Xie Li see the photo.
He hinted that he had connections!
Once Xie Li learned about this, she hurriedly contacted Ye Fei.
Ye Fei frowned at the photo. Taken on its own, there was nothing wrong with it, but what if there was more to it?
Better safe than sorry.
If some unexpected complication arose, her legal fee of several hundred thousand would slip right through her fingers.
They were certain to win this case anyway. There would be no surprises, and they could win regardless of which judge heard it.
"Girl! Don't worry. Our courts have a sound system. We can file a recusal request, and the court will generally accept it. It's no big deal. Don't panic."
Ye Fei offered Xie Li some reassurance.
She submitted a request for the judge's recusal based on the photo.
The court quickly reviewed it.
After confirming that Li Xuezhen was a trainee lawyer at White Jun Law Firm, the court granted the recusal request.
Xu Meng: ????
Just because I said a few words at the entrance to my residential community, I lost the case?
She felt helpless, but there was nothing she could do. The court's procedures were what they were.
Besides, Li Xuezhen had only asked her a question. That was not a violation, so there would be no penalty for the law firm. The judge would simply recuse herself to prevent any flaws in the proceedings.
In particular, the request had come from Nanyuan Law Firm, not White Jun Law Firm, so it did not count as deliberately disrupting judicial proceedings.
Even if she knew that was what they were doing, she had no evidence and little chance of challenging it.
Xu Meng knew perfectly well why White Jun Law Firm, representing the plaintiff, wanted her recused. Nandu Basic Court knew too.
The other side simply had not raised Xu Meng's unhappy marriage and the potential bias it might cause as grounds for review.
Once they were in court.
If that reason were raised, she would most likely still have to recuse herself.
The court swiftly
replaced the judge, and the lawyers on both sides entered out-of-court mediation.
Facing Ye Fei, Su Bai proposed his settlement terms.
"Our side is willing to accept an out-of-court settlement, but we have the following conditions."
"First: Xie Jing must leave the marriage with no share of the assets and compensate Zhang Tongwei for three years of lost youth.
Second: Xie Jing must apologize to Zhang Tongwei.
Third: Xie Jing must cover the relevant litigation costs."
Those three settlement conditions made Xie Jing and Ye Fei frown in fury.
What the hell? Are you out of your mind?
You're a grown man, and you want the woman to compensate you for your lost youth?!
Mediation!
Mediation, my ass!
We're done negotiating!
"Our side categorically rejects these settlement demands. They are utterly unreasonable, and we see no need to continue mediation!"
"Since Attorney Ye won't agree to an out-of-court settlement, we'll have no choice but to proceed with litigation."
Su Bai spoke with a smile.
"Go ahead. See you in court!"
Ye Fei gave Su Bai a cold look, then turned and left.
(End of chapter)
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