An Extraordinary Lawyer’s Subspace - Chapter 177



Only Noblemtl

【Episode 177 – Weight Class Difference】

Boston,

Beacon Hill Apartments.

When Beomsang arrived, Hayoung had not yet returned from school.

Tiring- Tiring-

Just as I was washing up and about to head to subspace, I got a call from Andrew Nasser.

“Hey, Andy.”

-Did I walk too late? New York? Boston?

“Boston.”

-Didn’t you say you had a meeting with Kaiser Dutton today?

“I’m back.”

-You met in New York and then moved to Boston? There was no flash. So, how was the meeting?

Beomsang has already sent Andrew an email with his opinion.

“It’s just a meeting between lawyers, you know. Didn’t you see the email I sent you?”

-I saw it. I was late because I had to check it out and talk to the staff members who were close to Omar Sayed.

It was a pretty long email,

A general opinion on the Omar case.

-Did you also convey your opinion to Kaiser Dutton’s attorney? Marcus Hornby, I think?

“I couldn’t do it. It was so different from the strategy I had in mind… I tried bringing it up, but it seemed like he had no interest at all.”

– Anyway, after reviewing the comments you sent, I spoke to Samuel, a friend of mine from Aramco US who was in charge of the work, and he seemed like a stubborn lawyer.

“Yeah. As a lawyer, being stubborn has its pros and cons.”

-That’s true… But, what do you want me to do?

“Huh? What do you mean? I don’t really want anything.”

Andrew Nasser agreed with the general opinion.

I like his strategy.

However, since it is not something he managed, he is hesitant about how far he should get involved.

– Actually, when the vice president mentioned it in Daran, I didn’t want to get involved that deeply, but after reading your opinion, I changed my mind. After talking to my friends at Aramco US, I think your strategy is better in the long run. Covering up the Omar Sayed incident like this now may be increasing the risk. So, can you make the email you sent me into a formal opinion and send it to me?

“That’s not difficult.”

-Then send it to me. I will talk to the Aramco US representative with it.

“Okay, I’ll send it right away. But you know, Andy.”

-huh?

“I wrote briefly in the email there, but I think the ultimate question will be whether I can continue the work that Omar Sayed was doing without a hitch.”

-I saw it. I thought the same thing.

“I don’t know if I can help you with that, but if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll be right there.”

-Like Flash?

More like Doctor Strange.

-Anyway, if you send me your opinion, I’ll talk about it internally and then get back to you.

“okay.”

-Okay, let’s talk again later.

“okay.”

Click.

Omar Sayed was a lobbying executive at Aramco US.

A politician who supports policies that help Saudi Aramco’s operations in the United States, and seeks to block policies that would hinder them.

He sexually harassed his female secretary.

It was a dirty thing.

An event that one instinctively feels repulsion towards.

Lawyers have to take on that kind of work too.

As if a doctor had to save a dying criminal.

Because legal citizens of that country have the right to fair defense.

Kaiser Dutton was a law firm with extensive experience in these types of cases.

So, I didn’t really have any intention of training him.

If there are too many captains, the ship will likely end up in the mountains.

But I couldn’t just come out without saying anything.

Kaiser Dutton was devising a strategy to quickly reach an agreement and then quietly quell it.

If we look at the specific case, it’s a reasonable strategy.

However, as always, Beomsang looked at the bigger picture.

I decided that if we agreed to Kaiser Dutton’s way, there might be problems later.

So, I emailed Andy Nasser with those thoughts.

Tiring- Tiring-

After finishing the call with Andy, Beomsang called Thomas Muller, the General Counsel of MG Corporation.

-Hello.

“Hello, Thomas. Am I calling too late?”

-What are you talking about? It’s only eight o’clock. Are you treating me like an old man?

“Haha, that’s not it. If you’re off work, I was just asking to call you back tomorrow.”

-You’re lucky. It’s still a company. Even if it weren’t a company, I would have gotten it. What happened? Oh, before that, let me start with this. I got a call from Andy. He said he explained our proposal very well in Daran.

“The Aramco vice president was very interested. Thanks to him, the presentation went smoothly. I think we will soon sign an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) and discuss the partnership in more detail.”

-I’ll look forward to it. You always exceed my expectations.

Experience built up step by step creates great trust.

Even though he didn’t know all the cases that Beomsang had solved, the relationship that had started at the Detroit meeting six years ago was now stronger.

“I’m contacting you to ask you something.”

-Anything, if I can answer it.

“I have some questions about the lobby.”

-lobby?

What you need to know to succeed in America.

···

Clank-

When Ha-young opened the door with the extra key and came in, Beom-sang had already finished his call and was waiting for her.

“Ah! This smell is…!”

“Did you have a good trip? It was hard.”

“Yes- The professor suddenly asked me to do something… But is that smell Samgyetang?”

She had been wanting to eat Gyeongbokgung Palace’s Samgyetang for some time now.

“Go wash up quickly and come back. I’ll get it ready.”

“This looks delicious! Can I just wash my hands and come back? I haven’t eaten anything since lunch.”

“is it so.”

Hayoung ran to the bathroom and came back after just washing her hands.

Looks like you’re really hungry.

If it were a normal day, I would have changed into comfortable clothes and sat down.

Before I knew it, I was sitting at the table, holding a spoon in both hands.

Beomsang placed a pot containing a chicken in front of Hayoung.

“Oh my! What is it? You bought a pot too?”

“Because if I’m going to do it, I want to do it right.”

“Hmm- it smells so good? Can I try it first?”

“of course.”

Hayoung tries the soup first with a spoon.

But, it’s a familiar taste.

The rich flavor of nuts such as perilla seeds and peanuts fills your mouth.

“Huh?! This tastes exactly like Tosokchon Samgyetang!”

It’s probably the same. Because it was packaged there.

“What? Why is it the same?”

“it is delicious?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“thank god.”

“Did Mr. Beomsang make this?”

“Then, I guess I should go to Korea and get it packaged?”

“I know it can’t be… but it tastes so similar. How did you do it?”

“It was on YouTube.”

“No matter how many recipes there are, it’s not easy to make something like this! It’s not an easy dish, and it’s samgyetang… Did Mr. Beomsang really make this?”

It stings a little though.

“yes.”

“Wow- this is so delicious! Mr. Beomsang!”

“why?”

“I knew you were good at cooking, but I didn’t know you were this good. There’s really nothing you can’t do, really!”

“it is delicious?”

“yes!”

“Is that what you wanted to eat?”

“Yes! A lot.”

Okay, that’s fine.

“Ah- I’m happy.”

Ha-young, who had only eaten one muffin and two cups of coffee all day, didn’t say a word until she finished eating the samgyetang.

Couldn’t do it.

Because it’s delicious. Because I’m touched. Because I’m happy.

Only after she had slurped down every last drop of soup did she look at Beomsang and smile happily.

How was your day today?

It was good.

“Oh, right. Mr. Han went to the New York office today. What, was there something special? I’ve been so busy with school work lately that I didn’t even get to ask why you went.”

“There wasn’t anything in particular.”

Nothing special.

Enough to talk about it now, at this moment.

-*-

A week later,

Kaiser Dutton Hill Offices.

A few days ago, Marcus Hornby received a call from Samuel Jones of Aramco US.

The content was an instruction to hold off for a moment while internally reviewing Kaiser Dutton’s strategy regarding the Omar incident.

Samuel Jones didn’t mention his name, but it was obvious.

It was a request that came down three days after the Korean lawyer came to visit and had a meeting and left.

It was clear that his breath had an effect.

“There is definitely merit to reaching a quick settlement with the victim. However, looking at the records, it seems that this is not the only case like this. I think it would not be bad to carefully consider what would be a better decision for Aramco after looking into the circumstances in detail and then proceeding with the settlement.”

That’s what he said at the meeting.

‘What do you know? You’ve never even stood before an American court, let alone been admitted to practice law in New York State.’

I snorted at the time of the meeting.

But three days later, I received such instructions from the client.

Marcus Hornby’s pride was hurt.

I couldn’t accept that my opinion as a partner in Kaiser Dutton’s litigation team would be withheld because of the advice of a ‘foreign lawyer’.

So, I immediately rejected it.

He said he doesn’t work like that.

If you’re going to go to another lawyer, go now.

But if you don’t do it now, you’ll regret it.

He was proud.

He was confident.

however···

dripping-

“Attorney Honbi?”

“why?”

Attorney Asso came in.

“I got a call from Aramco US.”

“To you?”

“yes···.”

“what?”

“That means… I’m going to terminate my contract for the Omar case….”

!!

‘One-day puppy’ Marcus Hornby didn’t accurately recognize Han Beom-sang’s weight class.

Million Dollar Scratch

Kaiser Dutton Hill Offices.

Litigation team senior partner Patrick Bennett called in junior partner Marcus Hornby.

It was to find out what happened with the Omar case.

“What happened?”

“They terminated the contract because they didn’t like our strategy.”

“Were there any signs like that from the beginning?”

“I asked for a second opinion, and it seems to have gone that way.”

Patrick Bennett has put his trust in Marcus Hornby.

Although he tends to overestimate his own abilities, he is a junior who is quick to get things done and articulate.

I thought he was a friend who could easily advance to the next level as long as he didn’t make any big mistakes.

Until now.

“Are you okay?”

“I will be back.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s difficult to deny the sexual harassment. If you don’t quickly reach an agreement with the victim, the situation will obviously get more complicated.”

“Did you explain this clearly to your client representative?”

“yes.”

“And yet you’re saying that you leaned toward the second opinion?”

I don’t quite understand.

Why did you do that?

“It seems like he is a lawyer who is close to the Aramco vice president, but I think he intentionally presented an opinion that conflicts with ours in order to divert the case.”

“Conflicting opinions? So you’re saying that we should go to court instead of settling with the victim?”

“Based on the conversation we had when you came to my office back then, I think that’s what I’d say.”

“You met and talked?”

“yes.”

Patrick Bennett chewed over what he had just heard.

That could be the case.

Because different lawyers may have different opinions.

When office politics get involved, decisions can be made that are obviously unwise.

However, what he considers important is,

“But you’re saying that the reason you didn’t do what the client asked was because you were confident that he would come back?”

The question was whether Marcus Hornby had any good reason to be proud.

“Yes. It’s an Arab male boss versus a twenty-year-old white woman. This is a case you can never win in America. If it goes to trial, you’ll lose 100%. If things go wrong, you’ll come back.”

Even if Aramco doesn’t start giving Kaiser Dutton a big job by wrapping up this one case well, they should avoid the foolish act of fighting over useless things and losing the case.

“Then it doesn’t matter, but···.”

“Don’t worry.”

Patrick Bennett, who was about to nag his bubbly junior partner to be careful, stops.

It was because he was a junior who had been doing well until now.