155: Let’s warm up with a case first

Zhou Yun naturally kept President Lan's instructions firmly in mind.

He expressed that he would definitely work hard after returning and would never bring shame to their Lawyers Association and Jiangdong University of Political Science and Law.

The short meeting was over; it was truly short. The leaders simply offered some encouragement, and everyone was very happy, except for the two professors from Jiangdong University of Political Science and Law, whose expressions were not very good.

Soon, the group got into the car and set off. The first stop was Lüshan City, next to Jinghai.

The two places were not far from each other. When bored in the car, everyone chatted. As legal professionals, they naturally talked about law.

The two professors from Jiangdong University of Political Science and Law originally didn't dare to speak much, as they knew that Judge Li had been pulled in for a good scolding just for laughing once.

However, to their surprise, this Zhou Lawyer was unexpectedly quiet after getting into the car and showed no intention of participating in their discussions, looking completely like a good-natured old man.

This situation felt a bit off!

But others didn't know, for example, Vice President Chairman Yan Ruiyang of the Provincial Lawyers Association. He had never met Zhou Yun before, and everything he knew about Zhou Yun was from hearsay.

So, at this moment, he also felt that those rumors were truly misleading. Look how quiet Lawyer Zhou was; how could he be a mad dog as the internet claimed?

Moreover, as the leading official, he also needed to manage the atmosphere within the team.

So, Chairman Yan Ruiyang spoke, "Director Zhou, you can share any opinions you have. We're just chatting casually."

Hearing this, Zhou Yun, who had been silent, smiled and said, "President Yan, you all can chat. I usually don't like to talk much. You go ahead."

Chairman Yan Ruiyang smiled when he heard this, "Alright then, but after we get to Lüshan City, Director Zhou, you'll have to speak more. You're the main force in our legal popularization activities."

Zhou Yun nodded reservedly.

Just like that, at three in the afternoon, the group arrived in Yinshan District, Lüshan City.

Although it was only a semi-official team, someone from the Yinshan District Justice Bureau still came to receive them, as this was inherently a legal popularization and publicity task from the Jiangdong Province Justice Department.

Everyone was familiar with each other. Such activities happened every year, so they greeted each other warmly upon meeting.

"President Yan, welcome, welcome! Oh, it's been a while since we last met."

"Indeed, Director Wang, we'll have to trouble you a lot this time..."

"President Yan, what are you saying? It's no trouble at all..."

Zhou Yun stood by like an outsider. Among this group, he was actually the most noticeable because he was young.

Besides him, the youngest in the team were already in their late forties, nearing fifty. This kind of activity was essentially for a casual outing, combined with some legal popularization.

And Zhou Yun, at twenty-six years old, stood out as a pure handsome young man among a group of old folks.

After a few pleasantries, Chairman Yan Ruiyang quickly introduced, "Director Wang, let me introduce you. This is Director Zhou Yun of Zhentian Law Firm."

"This is Director Wang of the Yinshan District Justice Bureau."

Hearing this, Director Wang stepped forward and smiled, "Director Zhou, it's truly an honor to meet you. Seeing you today, you indeed have an extraordinary demeanor."

Zhou Yun smiled and said, "Hello, Director Wang. We'll be causing you some trouble this time."

Director Wang laughed heartily, "Director Zhou, you're too polite. How could it be trouble? Come, come, let's eat first."

Zhou Yun nodded. He was telling the truth, because he really would cause the other party trouble.

Many people might not know that since around 2019, various regions have begun exploring having the Bureau of Justice take responsibility for administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation cases.

From every perspective, the Bureau of Justice was perfectly suited.

Think about it, if the other party initiates administrative litigation, they will definitely need to find a lawyer, right? Who manages lawyers? The Lawyers Association. Who manages the Lawyers Association? The Bureau of Justice...

Ahem, this is, of course, a conspiracy theory and has nothing to do with hiring out-of-town lawyers for administrative litigation. The reason it's suitable is, of course, because its own nature is suitable.

Those who frequently handle administrative litigation know that many administrative litigations now require administrative reconsideration as a prerequisite.

It's like labor disputes; you must first go to arbitration. Without arbitration, the Court will not accept your case.

And administrative reconsideration is usually handled by the Bureau of Justice. So, for administrative litigation after reconsideration, the normal arrangement is for people from the Bureau of Justice to appear in Court along with people from the defendant administrative unit.

Zhou Yun had already thought it through for this outing: since someone had already vouched for him, saying "they'll cover everything for him," then the more enjoyable it was, the better.

He absolutely had to take on a few administrative litigation cases; otherwise, he wouldn't be doing justice to President Lan's kindness.

This would certainly cause trouble for the people at the Bureau of Justice, but the other party didn't seem to realize it... Never mind, they'll know once things get started.

Eating and drinking, everyone was in high spirits.

After dinner, Zhou Yun walked back, playing with his phone. He definitely needed to find case sources from other avenues, as he certainly wouldn't find any through this activity.

Tomorrow's schedule included, first, going to a district unit for legal popularization and holding a symposium to provide consultations.

Then, in the afternoon, going to an association to hold a symposium...

This simply wouldn't uncover any problems, and even if there were any, these people wouldn't possibly bring them up.

So, he had started filtering in his phone's backend early on, but he hadn't found anything suitable yet.

During dinner today, he saw something interesting and wanted to go back and check it out quickly.

As he was walking back to the hotel, he was stopped by Chairman Yan Ruiyang.

"Director Zhou, oh, there's something I need to tell you. You're here to take cases, right? For now, can you temporarily avoid taking administrative litigation cases?"

"Huh?" Hearing this, Zhou Yun said with a hint of surprise, "President Yan, what's going on? You said I could take any cases I wanted, and now that I'm here, there's a discount?"

"If you can't cover me, then forget it. I can leave this team right now, no problem."

Chairman Yan Ruiyang quickly said, "Director Zhou, don't be anxious. That's not what I meant."

He hadn't expected Zhou Yun's reaction to be so strong, threatening to leave the team at the drop of a hat.

It was a joke; Zhou Yun was the main draw for this trip. If Zhou Yun left, there would be no fun to be had.

"Director Zhou, it's not that you can't take administrative litigation cases, but our activities still have to run through several places, and we've just started."

"If you start administrative litigation now, others will see it and wonder if they should even receive us. So, how about waiting a bit first?"

Zhou Yun frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "President Yan, I can only say that I will try my best not to take administrative litigation cases, but if I encounter a suitable case, I can't control myself."

"Huh?" Chairman Yan Ruiyang immediately looked bewildered. What did he mean, "can't control himself"?

He wanted to say more, but Zhou Yun had already turned and left.

Chairman Yan Ruiyang had no choice. Zhou Yun was very special in this team. If it were other lawyers, they would certainly have to give the Lawyers Association some face.

But Zhou Yun was different... There was simply no way to control him.

But never mind, administrative litigation is administrative litigation, it doesn't matter.

In his hotel room, Zhou Yun lay on the bed, then took out his phone and continued to look at that case. Coincidentally, the party involved in this case was in Yinshan District.

It was a very simple case. The party involved had years ago been affiliated with a construction company in the city.

Then he took on a project for the Yinshan District Education Department, constructing a school building there.

A very old-fashioned plot: the project was completed, but he couldn't get paid.

He went to the construction company, and the company said the Education Department hadn't paid. He went to the Education Department, and got many different explanations; some said they had paid, others said they had no money now.

Eventually, that construction company also went bankrupt, and he couldn't find anyone.

This client, Luo Hongxuan, might not have explained some things clearly, such as the circumstances when he took on this project.

It's common knowledge that for projects like these in the past, you couldn't get them without some connections.

But the connections might have become useless later. Anyway, he just didn't get paid. This old man was somewhat conscientious and paid the migrant workers under him out of his own pocket.

The price was a return to square one overnight.

He tried many methods to get the money, but none were effective, including but not limited to petitions, lawsuits, and other channels, but all had no effect.

He had also sued two years ago, but ultimately lost the case due to insufficient evidence.

The affiliated company had already gone bankrupt and been deregistered, and the boss couldn't be found, so there were no relevant contracts or anything.

However, whether the evidence was truly insufficient, and what the actual situation was, remained unknown.

Although local protectionism is often denied, anyone who has experienced it knows that it has always existed.

What the specific case was about and why it was lost is really hard to say.

Moreover, over time and with changes in leadership, this case will slowly become a "historical issue," a phrase many people seeking justice have likely heard.

Once something is labeled a historical issue, just wait, it will be extremely troublesome.

It's like the unfinished building project encountered before: the new leader comes in, tries to understand the situation, and just when he's almost figured it out, a new leader takes over again…

Back and forth, year after year, you just have to wait.

Zhou Yun had already decided to take on this case because after he finished reading all the information, the system, which had been as good as dead, finally refreshed with a new task.

"Use legal means to help the client Luo Hongxuan and ensure the client's satisfaction!"

Well, one good thing about the system refreshing with a task is that this case is definitely real, so Zhou Yun doesn't have to rack his brains to make a judgment.

However, he still needs to be careful; it would be a huge joke if he didn't succeed in the case and ended up in trouble himself.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yun immediately replied to the other party with a message.

"Hello, Mr. Luo, I am Zhou Yun. I am quite interested in your case. Can we meet to discuss it?"

At the same time, on the other side of Yinshan District, Luo Hongxuan was waiting for the elevator to deliver food.

This had been his job for the past few years; he had no choice, he had to live.

Delivery drivers, they seize every moment they can to relax, like reading novels or watching videos while walking.

Luo Hongxuan was no different; he was currently watching videos.

Just then, he saw a private message notification, clicked on it, and was stunned: that Zhou Lawyer had actually replied to his message!

He knew that his inquiry had been sent out many days ago without any news, and he had originally given up hope.

When Zhou Yun live-streamed before, he had shown the backend to his viewers, and the private messages were densely packed.

So, Luo Hongxuan knew that the probability of his case being selected was very low, and thus he hadn't held much hope.

But he never expected to get a reply!

Without hesitation, Luo Hongxuan quickly sent a message: "No problem, Zhou Lawyer, you can say anytime for a meeting, I'm available!"

His project payment was about 3 million yuan. Not to mention getting it all back, even if he only got one-third, he could escape his current predicament.

Soon, Luo Hongxuan saw the reply from Zhou Lawyer.

"I'm in Yinshan District. How about now?"

The surprise came so fast that Luo Hongxuan was a bit slow to react. This Zhou Lawyer was actually in Lüshan City.

Of course, he had no problem with it, even though he had consulted many lawyers about this case, and they all said it was very difficult. He wondered if Zhou Lawyer would have a solution.

But when the name Zhou Yun was mentioned, the feeling was different!

They quickly added each other on WeChat. This WeChat account was also a work account, usually handled by Xiao Duan, and was generally deleted after a case was finished.

On WeChat, Luo Hongxuan received the address. He paid to transfer all his orders to others, then rode his electric bike straight to the hotel where Zhou Lawyer was staying.

Upon arriving at the hotel lobby, Luo Hongxuan rushed upstairs, but was stopped by someone.

He was feeling anxious when he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Luo Hongxuan?"

He quickly turned his head and saw a tall young man in casual clothes with bright eyes.

"That's me. Are you Zhou Lawyer?"

The young man in front of him was Zhou Yun. He looked Luo Hongxuan up and down, smiled, and nodded, saying, "Let's go, let's sit over there and talk for a bit."

"Haven't eaten yet, have you? Let's talk while we eat."

Without waiting for Luo Hongxuan's reply, he turned directly to the front desk and said, "Excuse me, beautiful, could you please send two glasses of water and some food over?"

Sitting down nearby, Luo Hongxuan said with gratitude, "Zhou Lawyer, you don't have to do this. I should be treating you to a meal…"

Zhou Yun waved his hand and said, "These are minor matters. Tell me, what exactly is the situation? Did you bring the original judgment?"

Luo Hongxuan said awkwardly, "I didn't bring the judgment, but I can tell you what happened."

"Zhou Lawyer, at first, after the project was completed, the Education Department said they had to wait for an audit. Later, after much urging, they finally gave the project materials to a cost consulting company for settlement review."

"But after giving the materials, they didn't pay the audit fees, so that company kept refusing to issue the audit report, and the process was stuck."

"Later, I really had no choice. The workers' money and material costs were all paid by me, so I advanced the settlement review fee, and only then did that company issue the report."

"But the Education Department didn't recognize it, saying I obtained it privately."

"It wasn't until the year before last that I completely couldn't hold on anymore and sued the other party. But too much time had passed, and I was still affiliated at the time. That construction company had also been deregistered, so the Court said I was not a party to the contract and lacked sufficient evidence, so they dismissed the case."

"And also…"

Zhou Yun listened quietly. What the other party said was very detailed, and based on his experience, it should be true.

When he was almost finished, Zhou Yun spoke, "So, currently, it has already gone through litigation. If you want to pursue legal action again, you need to appeal, right?"

"The reason for the loss was that you were not considered a party to the contract and lacked sufficient evidence. So, knowing the problem makes it easier. Our primary task is to collect sufficient evidence, right?"

Luo Hongxuan nodded, "But Zhou Lawyer, there's no way. All I can provide is the cooperation agreement between me and that construction company."

"And as for whether the Education Department actually paid, how the specific project payment was calculated, there's no evidence. If I ask now, they all say they don't know."

This was also the biggest problem now.

Affiliation in the construction industry was truly as numerous as ox hair, no, even more than ox hair.

And what should an affiliated person do if the project owner doesn't pay? The answer is to directly sue the project owner on the grounds of a de facto contract.

But here comes the problem: how to prove the existence of a de facto contract? This requires a lot of supporting evidence.

The current problem was that Luo Hongxuan had no evidence in his hands.

Zhou Yun picked up his water glass, took a sip, and said, "The Education Department says they don't know because you just went and asked them like that."

"Here, you and your previous lawyers overlooked a problem: what is the Education Department? It is an administrative agency!"

"And administrative agencies are different from enterprises in ordinary disputes; they have many characteristics. One of these characteristics is that they have an obligation to disclose information!"

"So, think about it, for the project you handled back then, shouldn't the Education Department have disclosed the information?"

"You don't have any evidence, and that construction company is bankrupt and has no evidence, but administrative agencies are different; they must retain records."

Hearing this, Luo Hongxuan felt it suddenly click. Right, he could make them disclose it!

They say that false teachings are like a thousand books, but the true teaching is one sentence. This is the reason.

Many times, you are just a thin sheet of paper away from the path to success, but you just can't break through it, you just can't think of it.

Zhou Yun was already smiling and said, "Our first step is to apply for information disclosure for that project back then, through official channels."

The advantage of official channels is that the other party cannot say they don't know, because according to regulations, they must have detailed archives of these things!

Don't have them? If not, that's dereliction of duty, and you can use that as a reason to directly report them to the Discipline Inspection Department. The Discipline Inspection Department loves this kind of report with clear direction and evidence.

This case was neither too big nor too small, just right for a warm-up, and Zhou Yun hadn't handled administrative litigation either, which was great.