124: Claiming one million?

As they spoke, the staff member kept sizing up the other person.

Her name was Chang Zi Yi, and she could be considered a fan of Zhou Yun; in reality, there was no way they could have any connection, but online, whenever she saw someone speak ill of Zhou Yun, she would immediately retort.

The main reason she was a fan was that Zhou Yun’s style of doing things was perfectly to her liking.

But fans are fans; meeting in real life, not recognizing each other was still not recognizing each other…

Zhou Yun said naturally, “If you’re talking about the Zhou Yun who was stabbed twice, the one who pushed for cracking down on illegal labor agencies and helped nearly 100,000 people, then you’re right, I am that person.”

Hearing this, Chang Zi Yi inside was stunned.

It took her a while to react and she laughed, “Lawyer Zhou is truly quick-witted.”

Zhou Yun chuckled, “Of course, I love telling the truth.”

Chang Zi Yi decided to stop this topic; indeed, it’s better to admire idols online.

Zhou Yun, of course, said that on purpose; people always need some flaws, being too perfect looks a bit fake.

After reviewing the materials for a few minutes, Chang Zi Yi looked up and said, “Lawyer Zhou, I see you’re saying that these two people jointly infringed upon your client’s spousal rights?”

“Yes, spousal rights!” Zhou Yun quickly replied.

“But… but it seems there’s no such right as spousal rights in our country’s laws, is there?”

Zhou Yun directly said, “There isn’t in the current laws, but civil rights don’t necessarily require explicit provisions, right?”

“Anyway, just report it up. If it’s not accepted, then I hope you’ll issue a decision not to accept it as soon as possible, what do you say?”

“Also, my client has no intention of mediating this case.”

In the past, it could be said that everyone who had been to Court knew how difficult it was to file a case.

The simplest was pre-litigation mediation, which meant they wouldn’t even accept the case for filing; they’d just throw your case into the pre-litigation mediation center, and then it would slowly hang there.

Some places were more particular, stipulating that if mediation failed within thirty days, they would file your case; in other places, you just waited slowly, some even waited for half a year.

However, fortunately, in December 2024, the Supreme Peoples Court issued a new regulation called “Opinions on Strictly Regulating Civil Case Filing and Mediation Work in Accordance with the Law,” which came into effect on January 1, 2025.

The main content of this opinion is to strictly file cases according to regulations, and to firmly file any case that meets the filing conditions.

After filing, if both parties have a willingness to mediate, then in-litigation mediation will be conducted, and this mediation time does not count towards the trial period.

The difference compared to before is that previously, pre-litigation mediation was mandatory, and then case filing was delayed during mediation.

Now, cases that meet the regulations must be filed, and then it is decided whether to mediate after filing.

Of course, in a sense, this opinion from the Supreme Peoples Court is also the result of patching up previous issues.

Was it a case filing registration system before? Of course it was; in 2015, the Supreme Peoples Court issued relevant opinions called “Opinions on People’s Courts Promoting the Reform of the Case Filing Registration System.”

It clearly stated that for lawsuits that comply with legal provisions, the complaint shall be accepted, and the case shall be registered and filed on the spot.

If it cannot be filed on the spot, it must be reviewed for filing within the prescribed period, which is seven working days.

So, were the previous regulations strict? Yes, they were strict. Then why did they go astray? The reason lies in another provision of the 2015 “Opinions.”

This regulation states:

Further improve the diversified dispute resolution mechanism that organically connects and coordinates mediation, arbitration, administrative rulings, administrative reconsideration, and litigation, strengthen the effective connection between pre-litigation mediation and litigation mediation, and provide more dispute resolution methods for the people.

See? The original intention was good: a diversified resolution mechanism, and the connection between pre-litigation and in-litigation mediation.

As a result, it was messed up by various Courts; pre-litigation mediation is good, no need to worry about deadlines, so all cases were first thrown into pre-litigation mediation.

Perhaps after a period of delay, those people themselves would lose the idea of litigation.

Of course, the root cause lies in too many cases and too few people, but it can be said that in recent years, many people have been disgusted by “mandatory” pre-litigation mediation.

Even if you clearly stated that you would not mediate and the conditions proposed by the other party were unacceptable, they didn’t care; they just wanted to mediate, and if you didn’t agree, they would take their time.

So, the Supreme Peoples Court has now patched it up again: you like pre-litigation mediation, right? Stop mediating. File all cases for me, and then mediate after filing.

This step is crucial because once a case is filed, it’s not so easy to withdraw it.

Chang Zi Yi naturally understood Zhou Yun’s words, nodded and said, “Lawyer Zhou, I’ll remember that. I’ll tell the leader when I report it.”

Some people’s words can be ignored, but some people’s words, you must take seriously.

This person said he would not accept mediation, so mediation must definitely not happen.

But Chang Zi Yi quickly said again, “But Lawyer Zhou, what if the other party agrees to your demands?”

This is another issue; if all demands are agreed to, then the trial becomes meaningless.

Zhou Yun immediately laughed, “I personally don’t think the other party can possibly agree to the demands, you can see.”

Impossible? Chang Zi Yi took out the complaint and then saw the demands there.

“One million? Lawyer Zhou, isn’t this a bit too much?”

Zhou Yun said calmly, “Too much? I don’t think it’s too much at all. The other party’s actions caused such great harm to my client, is one million too much?”

“Emotional distress, my client suffers from insomnia night after night, closing his eyes and all he sees is… ahem, anyway, I’ll pay the litigation fees normally.”

Is it allowed to ask for an exorbitant amount in civil litigation? Of course, it is.

But remember, civil litigation allows it, but your private dealings depend on the situation.

Why is it allowed to ask for a lot of money in litigation? The reason is simple: you must have a valid reason for asking for money, otherwise the Court will not support you.

Compensation for emotional distress is an exception; theoretically, there is no upper limit to the amount you can ask for.

But no one does that; litigation fees are determined by the amount of money you ask for, so the more money you ask for, the higher the litigation fees, and the plaintiff has to pre-pay them.

Some people say that if you win the lawsuit, won’t the other party bear the cost?

That’s true, but a Court judgment isn’t just about winning or losing; it might partially support you. For example, if you ask for one million, and after reviewing it, the Court believes that compensating you three hundred thousand is normal.

Then you would have to bear the litigation fees for the seventy thousand portion, while the defendant would only need to bear the litigation fees for the three hundred thousand portion.

So, unless they’re out of their mind, a normal person wouldn’t do something that results in a loss.

Therefore, Chang Zi Yi, looking at the complaint in her hand and then at Zhou Yun, had a thought: Is this Lawyer Zhou’s client mentally ill?

Zhou Yun laughed, “Don’t misunderstand, these are all my ideas, and I advanced the litigation fees, so it has nothing to do with my client.”

Chang Zi Yi subconsciously wanted to blurt out, “Lawyer Zhou, are you not quite right in the head?” but suddenly remembered that proof of his…

Damn it, that sentence was forcefully swallowed back.

She could only say, “Then, Lawyer Zhou, this case is quite special, we can’t file it right now, could you please go back and wait?”

Zhou Yun nodded, “Try to be quick, I’m in a hurry here.”

He was genuinely in a hurry; although Zhang Yunfan seemed to be adapting well, it was still better to be as quick as possible.

With one million, he wouldn’t have to worry about the other party agreeing to the demands, unless Liu Jiale was insane.

So, the Court definitely had to try it once; as long as it could be tried, there was hope.

There should be no problem with the case filing; Zhou Yun was confident in this aspect.

Because he could genuinely appeal step by step all the way to the Supreme Peoples Court if the case wasn’t filed.

Other lawyers wouldn’t be as idle as him, nor would they be as persistent, because they had to make a living.

Just like that, on the morning of about the third day, Zhou Yun received a call from Nanyun District Court: the case of Zhang Yunfan v. Liu Jiale for spousal rights infringement had been filed!