83: Director Zhuang, you said you can cover it up!

At Zhentian Law Firm, Old Zhuang was, as usual, leisurely sipping tea in his office.

A lawyer who reached his level rarely handled cases personally anymore; most of his time was spent maintaining his existing “resources.”

Is a lawyer’s most important asset professional skill? What’s the use of being professionally strong? When you’re out in the world, it’s about connections, and the legal profession is no different.

While sipping tea, Old Zhuang was scrolling on his phone when suddenly, the office door was pushed open.

Old Zhuang looked up and saw Xiao Duan, immediately expressing his displeasure, “What are you doing? Don’t you know how to knock?”

Xiao Duan, with an anxious face, said, “Director, I have something extremely urgent to tell you, so I forgot to knock…”

However, before Xiao Duan could finish his sentence, Old Zhuang frowned and said, “No matter how urgent it is, you must knock. Now, go out and knock again!”

Xiao Duan had no choice but to exit and knock. Only after hearing the “Please come in” did he push open the office door.

Inside the office, Old Zhuang leisurely sipped his tea: “You’re a grown man, you need to be steady in your actions. The sky won’t fall!”

“Alright, tell me, what’s so urgent that you’re in such a hurry?”

Xiao Duan, at this point, was no longer anxious. He said calmly, “It’s nothing much, just that Director Zhou brought back over twenty people, saying he’s preparing to help them with labor disputes.”

“Besides these people, there might be over a hundred more.”

Old Zhuang immediately said, “What’s the problem with that? We’ve handled cases involving one or two hundred people before. It’s just that labor disputes can’t go through joint litigation, so it’s a bit troublesome having to do them one by one.”

“Director Zhou bringing in so many people, isn’t that a good thing?”

As he spoke, Old Zhuang picked up his teacup again.

Xiao Duan, in that same calm tone, said, “But Director Zhou said he would handle their cases for free.”

Hmm… Pfft!

Old Zhuang sprayed the tea directly from his mouth: “What did you say? Free? Did Director Zhou really say that?”

Xiao Duan nodded: “Not exactly, but that’s roughly the meaning.”

As he spoke, Xiao Duan looked at his phone and added, “They should be signing contracts now.”

Old Zhuang was stunned and quickly got up, saying urgently, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Why did you waste so much time talking!”

Xiao Duan maintained his tone: “Didn’t you tell me to be steady in my actions, that the sky wouldn’t fall? So I reported everything to you from beginning to end.”

Old Zhuang no longer cared what to say and rushed out immediately.

Although his law firm was large and well-established, it couldn't withstand such a commotion.

Normally, if he saw someone pitiful, or if it was a relative or friend, handling a case for free was fine. Who doesn't have relatives and friends?

Although there are regulations that lawyers cannot handle cases for free, that is to prevent unfair competition.

The meaning of the regulation issued by the Lawyers Association is that lawyers should not engage in internal competition; everyone should make money together, and no one should monopolize the market by offering free cases.

Therefore, there are some unwritten rules within each law firm: if a case is to be handled for free, a simple word with the law firm’s director is sufficient.

Why was Old Zhuang worried? Because he had previously said that Zhou Yun would have a lot of freedom at Zhentian Law Firm, even handling cases for free was no problem, and the law firm would cover all costs!

He had spoken grandiosely at the time, feeling very impressive, but he hadn't expected Zhou Yun to give him such a big shock.

A case involving two hundred people!

He rushed all the way to Zhou Yun’s office, which was already surrounded by people.

After desperately squeezing in, he remembered that he could have just called, but since he was already there.

Zhou Yun, seeing Old Zhuang at his desk, immediately smiled and said, “Oh, Director, you’re here. Perfect, I was just about to tell you that I’ve taken on some cases here.”

Old Zhuang wanted to say something, but there were too many people, so he made a gesture, signaling Zhou Yun to come out.

After Zhou Yun followed him out, Old Zhuang began, “Lawyer Zhou, Director Zhou, Lao Zhou, with so many people, if it’s free, I mean…”

Hearing this, Zhou Yun immediately smiled and said, “Director, don’t worry, it’s not free. The law firm won’t have to pay a single cent, and I’ll pay all the required management fees for each case, absolutely not a cent less.”

Lawyers have to give the law firm a percentage when taking on cases, which is called “management fees.”

So, if a lawyer wants to handle a case for free, he must have a good relationship with the law firm director, so he can save on those management fees.

Otherwise, the lawyer would have to bear these management fees himself.

And Zhou Yun’s meaning was that the management fees would still be paid as usual!

In fact, his operation was the same as before, returning the money through copyright fees.

Hearing this, Old Zhuang was relieved. As long as the law firm didn't have to pay, anything was fine.

However, just as Zhuang Zhenrui was happy for two seconds, Zhou Yun spoke again, “This is just the beginning, consider it a test.”

“There might be more later, because I found that the labor agencies here in Jinghai are a bit too bold.”

“They truly engage in deception and all sorts of evil, so I plan to delve deeper.”

Hearing this, Old Zhuang was dumbfounded: “No, Director Zhou, how do you plan to delve deeper, and to what extent? There are certainly hundreds of labor agencies in our Jinghai, both legitimate and illegitimate. Are you going to…”

Zhou Yun smiled and said, “Then I’ll take care of all of them. The boss of that previous agency told me that all labor agencies in Jinghai are like this, and told me to take care of them all if I had the ability.”

“You know me, I keep my word. Since I promised to take care of them, I must do it. Not one less.”

Old Zhuang’s vision went black; he felt like he was about to see his great-grandmother.

Even if there were five hundred, how many laborers would these five hundred labor agencies involve? Old Zhuang didn't even dare to imagine the situation.

Zhou Yun continued:

“It’s just that doing this might cause some problems. There will probably be quite a few people reporting and complaining about me, but Director, you said before that as the president of the Lawyers Association in a provincial capital city, you could definitely handle it.”

“Right?”

Old Zhuang subconsciously swallowed, a forced smile on his face, “I can handle it, I can handle it.”

“That’s good then. There will be a lot of cases, so I might hire some lawyers to help. Don’t worry, Director, I’ll pay them market price.”

After Zhou Yun finished speaking, he went back to work, leaving Old Zhuang constantly pressing on his heart, muttering to himself, “I can handle it, I can do it…”

Thus, Zhou Yun worked until eleven at night, finally getting all the materials for these twenty-plus people ready.

Originally, there were only a few people, but after hearing his words, everyone started calling friends and relatives.

So, by the time they arrived at the law firm, there were over twenty, almost thirty people.

Most people’s situations were similar to Kang Weilun’s, with only a labor contract and salary transfer records.

However, the cases were easy to handle now, because with Kang Weilun’s case as a precedent, they just had to follow the established procedure.

The total amount involved for these twenty-plus people was approximately 150,000 yuan, with most having worked at least one month.

After all, everyone thought that only by working a full month would they receive the job stability subsidy.

As for Zhou Yun’s idea, it was simple: initiate labor arbitration for all these cases, and then see what that Mr. Wu would think.

Time flew by, and the next day, Zhou Yun and Feng Cuilan met Kang Weilun, who had a shaved head, at the Detention Center entrance.

Friends who frequently enter Detention Centers know that shaving one’s head upon entering is not a strict requirement.

The “Detention Center Management Regulations” do not state that heads must be shaved; they only specify the frequency of bathing and haircuts for suspects, ultimately for hygiene purposes.

The Ministry of Public Security has also stated that criminal defendants are not allowed to have their heads shaved upon entering a Detention Center… but the situation varies by region, and in most places, it is required.

After being detained for many days, Kang Weilun looked a bit dazed, but his condition was still good. Upon seeing Zhou Yun, he thanked him profusely.

Zhou Yun waved his hand, indicating it wasn’t necessary: “Now I have one thing to say: being released on bail doesn’t mean it’s over. You must be careful during this period, preferably staying at home and not going anywhere.”

“Next, I will communicate with Wu Junxian to get you a letter of understanding.”

Hearing this, Feng Cuilan, standing nearby, looked bewildered and said, “Lawyer Zhou, how will you communicate? He previously said that a letter of understanding was impossible without fifty thousand, are you going to pay for it yourself? No need, our family can pool some money…”

Zhou Yun smiled and said, “How could I possibly give him money? I just want to reason with him and talk about the law. I believe Mr. Wu is also someone who can listen to the law.”