An Extraordinary Lawyer’s Subspace - Chapter 182



Only Noblemtl

【Episode 182 – The Case That Will Make Kim & Kang the ‘Law Firm of the Year’】

Like all wars, litigation is a battle of money.

Of course, the side with one lawyer and the side with ten lawyers has the advantage.

Of course, there are exceptions.

Cases where there is no law, there is much controversy, or the facts are unclear.

However, even in such exceptions, the above principle holds true to some extent.

They said it was ten out of ten.

If a hundred lawyers review it rather than one lawyer reviewing it, it becomes much easier to do case research, fact check, etc.

In such a world, for an individual to file a lawsuit against a corporation, or for a poor person to file a lawsuit against a rich person, is like starting an unfavorable war.

Even if there is a just cause.

“Hello. My name is Jay Choi.”

Choi Jae-min has a good voice.

It’s not a thick, heavy tone, but it’s solid yet light.

A tone that cannot be ignored even with an accent.

The New York University Law School Pro Bono Office staff member who received the business card he handed over looked at the face of the middle-aged Asian man standing in front of him and then checked the business card.

“I am a partner attorney at Kim & Kang Law Firm.”

‘Kim and Kang?’

This is the first time I’ve heard of this law firm.

But the business card is luxurious.

The location of the office is also on a street with expensive rent.

So I purposely got it on ‘America’s Highway’.

The employee examined the man’s face once more.

“What brings you here?”

Choi Jae-min smiled, half revealing his white teeth.

A confident smile that even receives regular whitening treatments.

“I came here because I thought I had to register here to accept pro bono cases filed at New York University School of Law. Is that correct?”

Pro bono cases are all such adverse wars.

And 99% of them are things that should be stopped from the start.

Even if there is a just cause, it is the same.

Unlike in Korea, American civil procedure law requires that the losing party be responsible for paying all of the winning party’s costs.

What this means is that if a lawsuit is won, the losing party must pay all of the winning party’s legal fees.

Pro bono cases are usually brought to lawyers through charities, governments, community organizations or schools.

There are cases where people don’t even know that their rights have been violated because they really don’t have anything, or they don’t know at all, and then they meet a good person and it is passed on to them.

Most people come to see a lawyer as a last resort before giving up after hearing about the cost.

That means, these are things that the lawyer has already rejected.

If the attorney refuses to pay the full amount of legal fees that the plaintiff or defendant party would have paid if they won the case, it means that the case is not worth fighting for or is of little value.

The reason is that in order to receive the full amount of legal fees, you have to win the entire case, but in reality, that is not easy.

Even if there is a possibility of a settlement, lawyers will not take on a case if they determine that it is not worth the time and opportunity invested in the case.

Those rejected cases are what come to the pro bono center.

Unfavorable events that you don’t want to face.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh, I came to the right place. Our law firm has its headquarters in Seoul. We opened an office here in New York last September, and I am the managing partner.”

“Oh, I see.”

“There are no specific cases that I’m interested in, but since this is a law firm with many lawyers who are comfortable speaking Korean, it would be more useful if you could send me Korean-related cases. Hahaha.”

There are four people.

“Okay, please fill out this registration form and we’ll contact you.”

But, the remaining 1% is worthy of being made into a movie.

There are hidden gems of incidents that could lead to a comeback drama.

-*-

Boston,

Harvard Law School.

Beomsang and Hayoung visited the on-campus Clinical and Pro Bono Program office.

“I came here because of Professor Sandra Chang’s introduction. She said that even though we are international students, we can take on cases through the pro bono office on campus.”

“Are you a JD program student?”

“No. I am pursuing an LL.M. degree.”

“I am a SJD PhD candidate.”

“Both of you, please give me your student IDs. Oh, and if you happen to be a licensed attorney, please let me know as well.”

I wouldn’t have asked this question if I were a JD (Juris Doctor) program student, but I asked because it was a master’s/doctoral program.

It seemed like both.

“I am a member of the Washington, D.C. bar and just took the New York State bar exam.”

“I am a lawyer in Massachusetts and New York.”

Beomsang and Hayoung enrolled in a school program to receive pro bono cases.

“So, would you like to enroll in the general pro bono program that law school undergraduates apply for?”

“No. I spoke with Professor Sandra Chang, and she said that we can take on cases by linking up with a registered external law firm.”

“Have you spoken to any specific law firms?”

“This is Kim and Kang.”

“Kim and Kang?”

As expected, I don’t know.

Beomsang and Hayoung took out their business cards and handed them to the employee.

“It is a law firm with its headquarters in Seoul. It has 1,500 lawyers and also has an office in Vietnam. This time, it opened two offices in New York and LA.”

When active promotion is needed.

The employee who received the business card from Beomsang and Hayoung looked at the thick paper business card and then at the two.

This is my first time hearing the name Kim & Kang, but when I see them together, it feels like a pretty good law firm.

“Then, should I register your law firm for you as well?”

“yes.”

···

After completing their registration, Beomsang and Hayoung left the pro bono office building and started walking toward Harvard Yard.

The weather is neither hot nor cold.

It’s just right.

“But I have a question.”

“What is it?”

Ha-young links arms with Beom-sang and holds him close.

“When on earth did you take the New York Bar exam?”

“I hit it in February.”

“I was in Korea for over 15 days in February, so how on earth did I find the time to study and take the exams?”

It’s truly a magical ability.

I’m used to it now.

Han Beom-sang’s time management skills.

I’m not asking because I’m suspicious, I’m asking because I’m amazed.

“If my schedule doesn’t allow it, there’s nothing I can do, but I applied to take it if it does. I didn’t study separately.”

“This is a class where you don’t need to prepare separately for things like the bar exam.”

“I took a few practice tests before taking the actual exam.”

“A class where a few practice tests are enough.”

“Are you going to keep teasing me?”

“I’m not kidding.”

“I don’t know yet because the results aren’t out yet.”

“I think I would have passed, of course.”

Beomsang loves it when she looks at him like she does now and speaks informally to him.

It’s also good when you’re respectful.

It’ll just be good.

“I don’t know about that.”

“One hundred percent.”

“There is nothing 100 percent in this world.”

“There is.”

“what?”

“I love someone.”

The ordinary man’s heart pounded.

It wasn’t because of her plump breasts touching his arms,

It wasn’t because of the rays coming from her cat-like eyes.

“Ah—you like Mr. Beomsang too?”

You.

Before I could answer that she liked me very much, she took her arm off me and started walking ahead.

At times like this, I feel like a butterfly.

“Do you know how I noticed?”

“no···”

“Heart sound.”

“?”

“The Heartbeat of a Lawyer.”

I really wish there was a ‘door’ here right now.

Then I’d go straight to the Beacon Hill apartment, put her to bed, and…

But, whether she knows that heart or not,

“Shall we walk to our apartment?”

“Ah… Aren’t you tired? Why don’t you just take a taxi… Isn’t the weather cold?”

“now?”

“···No, it might get cold···”

“Um- Okay, then. Mr. Han, take a taxi. I’ll walk.”

Oh, this is really bad.

I think it’ll be hard to walk…

-*-

PIC Insurance’s New York office,

Claims Review Legal Team.

Joshua Morris carefully reviewed the Parks Clean Laundry claim records he had seen that morning.

‘How did it turn out like this?’

As expected, the insurance money should have been paid.

As I recall, when the first claim came in, the management’s mood was to strictly manage the payment of insurance money.

There were so many incidents that I can’t remember exactly.

Whatever the case, the money that should have been paid to the insurer was not paid.

Joshua Morris is considering whether he should file a motion to correct and pay the debt now.

But then the situation becomes difficult.

An incident in which a claim reserve was cancelled.

Although it is not a large amount when looking at the company’s overall expenses, the claim reserve has already been cancelled, so the accounting department needs to review it.

It was obvious that another attorney would review the case file, and that after payment was made, the audit team would investigate.

However, the person who first reviewed it and suggested that it should not be paid was Joshua Morris himself.

‘Why did I do that?’

‘Oh, by the way, Sean, why did that kid pick up this file when I told him to organize the cabinet?’

‘Is it okay?’

After thinking about it for a while, Joshua Morris simply closed the file again.

It seems like they haven’t even hired a proper lawyer, and since the accident happened three years ago, I don’t think there will be a problem.

Even if a reclaim is filed, it can be dismissed on the grounds that the statute of limitations has expired.

Joshua Morris is not so lucky.

Who would have thought that this case would go to Kim & Kang?

.

.

.

Manhattan,

Washington Square.

Mr. Park Jae-hong’s wife, Ms. Yoon Geum-ja, visited the New York University Law School Pro Bono Office with a claim against .

“I came here because I thought someone might be able to help me. I have an insurance issue, so can you help me?”

The business card he had received from Jay Choi that morning was still on the employee’s desk.

“Yes, welcome. What’s the matter?”

Just 10 Million

It is no exaggeration to say that modern society is connected by contractual relationships.

When we buy something, use an internet site, or enter a place, we promise each other obligations and rights.

“Here, as you can see in Article 345 of the special terms of the insurance policy signed by Mr. Park, the water pipe valves of the industrial washing machines installed in the laundry are to be checked regularly, at least once a year. However, according to Mr. Park’s statement, he said he did not do so.”

Five years ago, Jaehong Park, who runs a laundry shop in Flushing, New York, signed a contract with Property & Casualty Insurance, which covers damages caused by fire, flood, and theft.

Mr. Jaehong Park, who had been paying his insurance premiums regularly every month, heard one day that PIC Insurance’s insurance premiums were more expensive than those of competing companies.

So, we terminated our contract with PIC Insurance to use a competitor.

Then, PIC Insurance offered to let Park Jae-hong use the insurance products he had been using under the same conditions as its competitors if he did not cancel his contract.

After much thought, Jaehong Park decided that there was no reason to go to another insurance company and changed his mind about canceling the contract.

Ironically, the accident happened while these negotiations were taking place. A water valve connected to one of the washing machines installed in the laundry broke, causing flooding in the laundry and the store next door.

“The valve that had the accident was a valve that had been inspected six months before the accident. The causal relationship is···.”

“That has nothing to do with it. You violated the terms and conditions. Article 45 clearly states that compensation may be limited or denied if special conditions are violated. Didn’t you review the terms and conditions?”

Our complex modern society has a truly strange business structure.

Within a company, there are different people who advertise the product, sell the product, deliver the product, listen to the problems with the product, and solve the problems with the product.

To put it nicely, you could say that they are specialized, but if they don’t communicate well with each other, it can be difficult to easily find where the problem is occurring.

The PIC Insurance claims handler, who had been unfriendly from the start, just smiled and ignored me.

“I did it.”

Beomsang changed his tone.

The person in charge who tried to respond only according to the manual without even thoroughly checking the facts of the case was not a person who could be properly communicated with.

“The explanation that Article 45 of the Terms and Conditions that you just mentioned is not a legitimate reason for the refusal of payment of this insurance claim is detailed in the opinion I sent you along with related case law, so please take a look again.”

“So, that’s just the plaintiff’s claim···.”

“You are a person who cannot judge a situation.”

“?”

“The fact that I have come here with the plaintiff means that if you continue to ignore the plaintiff’s claims in this manner, I intend to file a lawsuit. Do you understand?”

When I told him that I was a lawyer connected through the New York University Pro Bono Office, he seemed to have no idea that I would be this aggressive.

The claim handler, who had flinched for a moment, went back to the manual,

“Okay, then.”

He answered with a smile. It was a response that could be felt as being sarcastic enough from the plaintiff’s perspective.

The plaintiff stood up together with the plaintiff.

He was an opponent with whom there was no point in arguing any longer.

Before leaving the conference room, Beom-sang asked for the recording file.

“You said before the meeting started that you were recording it for service management purposes. Could you give me a copy of that?”