181: Lawyer Zhou always does things that make people feel dizzy.

At Fengxian County Court, Dean Fan had been having a very good time recently.

He had been in the director position for many years, and coupled with the perfect resolution of that matter last time, he was promoted to Vice Dean.

Moreover, after that, as Zhou Yun's reputation grew, Dean Fan's situation also improved.

He just didn't know why his eyelids kept twitching after waking up this morning, and then he saw this familiar incoming call notification.

Without hesitation, Dean Fan answered the phone, as his relationship with Zhou Yun had actually become quite good later on.

“Hello, Mr. Zhou Lawyer, what made you suddenly think of calling me?”

Zhou Yun's voice came from the phone: “Dean Fan, I recently took on a case that happens to be at Fengxian County Court. I’m coming over to file a lawsuit today, just giving you a heads-up.”

Dean Fan immediately laughed upon hearing this: “Oh, Mr. Zhou Lawyer, does your case sound rather unusual? It’s fine, just sue… Ahem, Mr. Zhou Lawyer, tell me what kind of case it is first.”

Lao Fan had originally intended to show off a bit, after all, he was now the local Vice Dean, what could possibly be beyond his control?

But halfway through his words, he remembered the recent outrageous actions Mr. Zhou had pulled off, and quickly changed his tune.

After all, no one could guess what new tricks Zhou Yun would come up with.

Zhou Yun chuckled upon hearing this: “Dean Fan, don’t be too nervous, it’s just a small case. It’s about a few students from your Fifth High School who were bullied by other students from the same school. I’m preparing to help them with a lawsuit.”

“I communicated with the school before, but they just didn’t care, so the students’ parents had no choice but to file a lawsuit. And then I might also need to apply for an investigation order to check the school’s surveillance footage.”

“So I’m just giving you a heads-up. Should be no problem, right?”

Upon hearing this, Dean Fan immediately breathed a sigh of relief: “Oh, that’s nothing, Mr. Zhou Lawyer, you… Wait, Fifth High School?”

Fifth High School was very special. Why? Because a serious criminal case had just occurred there. This was not just a matter for the school, nor was it solely for the education system.

Zhou Yun laughed again: “Yes, it’s Fifth High School. I won’t hide it from you, for the case you’re thinking of right now, I am the defense lawyer for that student.”

Dean Fan suddenly felt his mind was a bit muddled: “No, Mr. Zhou Lawyer, you are the defense lawyer for that case, so now you…”

Zhou Yun said helplessly: “There’s nothing I can do, Dean Fan. You understand me; I can’t stand these things, so I just thought of helping others protect their rights while I’m at it.”

“No, my meaning is, you are suing now, and the defendant is the defense counsel for that case. Is this allowed?” Dean Fan asked again.

“Of course it’s allowed. The Lawyer Law does not stipulate that such representation is prohibited,” Zhou Yun quickly replied.

There are situations where lawyers cannot represent. Article 39 of the “Lawyer Law” stipulates that lawyers shall not act as agents for both parties in the same case, and shall not represent legal matters that have a conflict of interest with themselves or their close relatives.

Then, the “Code of Conduct for Lawyers’ Practice” formulated by the National Lawyers Association further elaborates on this, stipulating a total of eight situations where lawyers cannot represent.

The first seven of these are specific enumerations, and the eighth article is a catch-all provision, which means that if a lawyer judges based on experience that there may be a conflict of interest, then they need to recuse themselves.

This code is formulated by the Lawyers Association and cannot be considered a law or regulation; it must still be based on the Lawyer Law.

Moreover, it is generally to avoid conflicts of interest. However, in a case like Zhou Yun’s, where the defendant in another case being represented is the victim in this case, there is theoretically a conflict of interest.

If you sue the victim, it may lead to your criminal case being unable to obtain a letter of understanding. But to put it plainly, as long as your client feels there’s no problem, then there’s no problem.

Dean Fan hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: “Then, Mr. Zhou Lawyer, you go ahead and file the lawsuit. Just follow the normal procedures.”

One can only say that this Mr. Zhou Lawyer often comes up with some operations that make people’s minds go blank.

It’s obvious that this is a case of “Xiang Zhuang performing the sword dance with the intent to attack Pei Gong,” and the other party’s goal is definitely still that criminal case. This was Lao Fan’s conclusion after studying multiple videos of the other party.

But now he couldn’t refuse. Since this case was targeted by Zhou Yun, there was no way to cover it up.

Unless their county could find a way to make Zhou Yun shut up, but obviously, Fengxian County didn't have that ability.

Since there was no way, they could only enjoy it. Everyone would win again together.

“Okay, thank you, Dean Fan. I’ll hang up now.”

After saying that, Zhou Yun hung up the phone. He had to admit, Lao Fan was still a good person.

Although it felt like the other party didn't help, anyone who has been involved in a lawsuit knows that being allowed to follow normal procedures is already very good.

We mentioned before that every Court has its own procedural law, and situations where they delay and refuse to register a case are far too common.

Zhou Yun entered the Court with his bag slung over his shoulder, queued up, and submitted the relevant materials at the window.

Dai Xinrong at the case filing window recognized Zhou Yun at first glance.

There was no other way. She had worked there for many years, and it was the first time she had encountered a complaint where the defendant's name was that of a leader of their Court.

So, after Zhou Yun came over, she greeted him with a smile: “Mr. Zhou Lawyer is here again? You’re not here to sue our Court this time, are you?”

Zhou Yun laughed loudly upon hearing this: “Oh, what a coincidence, was it you who handled it before? Oh, I was just young and reckless back then. This is a new case.”

Saying that, he handed over the materials in his hand.

Young and reckless… Dai Xinrong looked at the handsome young man in front of her and didn’t respond further. After taking the materials, she was a bit surprised, looked at them carefully a few more times, and then said: “Mr. Zhou Lawyer, this time it’s an on-campus infringement?”

Zhou Yun nodded: “Yes, an on-campus infringement caused by campus bullying.”

It needs to be clarified here that in the past, guardians were not defendants, but participated in lawsuits as legal representatives.

Because Article 57 of the “Civil Procedure Law” stipulates that persons without litigation capacity shall have their guardians act as legal representatives to conduct litigation.

However, it was found through practice that doing so was not conducive to the unification of litigation procedures.

Why? It didn’t matter during the litigation, but mainly during the enforcement stage.

The legal representative was not the defendant, yet they were to be the object of compulsory enforcement. Although the reasoning was understood, litigation procedures required consistency from beginning to end.

Therefore, in later judicial practice, it basically became fixed: guardians were directly listed as co-defendants, so that when a lawsuit was won, there was a legal basis for enforcement.

Dai Xinrong carefully organized the materials in her hand and continued: “Mr. Zhou Lawyer, I see you’ve also included the school, right?”

“Yes, I believe the school failed to fulfill its educational and management responsibilities. You see, I have several pieces of evidence there; my client reflected to the school after being beaten, and the school did not take any measures.”

How schools bear responsibility is an old topic. Many people know that, simply put, for persons without civil capacity, which means under eight years old, schools bear presumed fault liability.

For persons with limited civil capacity, which means from eight to under eighteen, or those sixteen years old who rely on their own labor income as their main source of living, schools bear fault liability.

These two are easy to understand. Presumed fault liability, you can understand it as the burden of proof being reversed; as long as something happens, the school is responsible, unless it can prove that it has fulfilled its management and education responsibilities.

Fault liability means the plaintiff normally bears the burden of proof; as long as it can be proven that the school failed to fulfill its educational and management responsibilities, the school must bear a portion of the tort liability.

Here, Zhou Yun's chain of evidence was the video of the beating, as well as the communication records between the student's parents and the teacher afterwards, which was already enough.

The burden of proof now falls on the school; it needs to prove that it took appropriate measures to stop campus bullying. If it cannot prove it, then it is considered to have failed in its responsibility.

That is, by means of evidence, a part of the burden of proof is shifted to the school, which is often used in lawsuits and is very effective.

As for surveillance, honestly, having it is good, but not having it is even better…

“So you also need to apply for a lawyer’s investigation order, right?”

Zhou Yun nodded: “Yes, you just proceed normally here. I’ve already communicated with your Dean Fan.”

Dai Xinrong was even more surprised upon hearing this: “Dean Fan agreed? Then Mr. Zhou Lawyer, you can go back and wait. It should be very soon.”

Speaking of which, this seems to be the first infringement case caused by campus bullying in the county, right?

The key is that they are actually going to issue an investigation order to check the surveillance footage?