Chapter 2: A Public Prosecution Case? I Will Take It!
The elderly woman and the elderly man exchanged a glance.
The elderly man slowly began to speak.
"The case we are bringing is a criminal case."
"Could you describe it in detail?"
"It concerns a bank robbery and the alleged offense of aggravated robbery, I would like to hire a lawyer to provide a defense, preferably one that can reduce the sentence."
Su Bai turned his head and looked the elderly man over, bank robbery? Sir, with your physical condition, could you even overpower a security guard in an urban village?
"Not me, my son," the elderly man hastily added by way of explanation.
Su Bai nodded, that made more sense, otherwise given the old man's physical condition, let alone robbing a bank, even the bank's security guard would probably have to serve him with great care for fear of accidentally injuring his legs.
Bank robbery already involved criminal public prosecution, and such cases were generally not easy to handle.
But what Su Bai wanted was precisely a case that was not easy to handle, one that would establish the law firm's reputation.
"Please give me a general account of the case and explain your demands."
Su Bai's expression became earnest and serious.
"Ah."
The elderly man gave a deep sigh and described the general course of the case in its entirety.
As Su Bai listened, he recorded the key information, and from time to time his pen stopped while he raised certain crucial questions, and after two hours of description and questioning he finally understood the general course of the case and some of its basic details.
The elderly man's name was Wang Zizhong, the elderly woman's name was Zhang Cuifang, and both were retired workers from a county district within Nandu, and having had a child in old age they had only one son.
The facts of the case were that the elderly man's son had gone to the bank to withdraw money for the treatment of Wang Zizhong's illness, and the money he sought to withdraw was Wang Zizhong's savings.
Because he was not the account holder himself, the bank required Wang Zizhong's son to prove that he was Wang Zizhong's son, and even presenting an identity card, a household registration booklet, and a notice of critical illness was insufficient.
The bank staff spoke harshly and insisted that Wang Zizhong appear in person and verbally confirm that Wang Zizhong's son was indeed Wang Zizhong's son, otherwise the withdrawal would not be permitted.
But Wang Zizhong was in the intensive care unit awaiting money to save his life.
How was this to be proved?
Was he expected to rise from his hospital bed and stride vigorously to the bank in order to prove that his son was his son?
If that were possible, then there would be no need to withdraw the money at all, it would be a medical miracle.
And just as Wang Zizhong's son was arguing with the bank staff, several robbers arrived and directly robbed the bank.
After learning that Wang Zizhong's son needed money to save his father's life, they gave him a portion of the stolen funds without hesitation.
At that time Wang Zizhong's son could not concern himself with anything else and simply took the money to the hospital.
Afterward the group was apprehended, and because Wang Zizhong's son had accepted the money, he was identified as an accomplice and convicted of the serious offense of aggravated robbery, and because the matter was especially egregious, the sentence was imposed severely.
But because Wang Zizhong's son had acted under exceptional circumstances, the punishment was mitigated and he was sentenced to the maximum fixed term of imprisonment under the mitigated range, together with a fine and confiscation of the illegal gains.
Through this detailed account, Su Bai learned that the present public security conditions on Blue Star were roughly equivalent to those of around the year 2000, and that such audacious incidents had been fairly common under those conditions.
Later, the elderly man filed an appeal, but unfortunately he lost at the second instance, the first instance judgment was upheld, and the case had now entered the stage of final adjudication.
Final adjudication determined life and death in effect, and once the final judgment was rendered, no further appeal could be brought and the case would be fixed conclusively.
As Su Bai listened to the elderly man's description, he frowned slightly, because to apply for a second instance it was necessary to submit new arguments and reasoning in defense.
A sentence of twenty years' fixed term imprisonment in this case was in fact somewhat severe, and if there was new evidence, how could the first instance judgment possibly have been upheld?
"How did the second instance uphold the first instance judgment? Was it a problem with the lawyer?"
When the second instance lawyer was mentioned, the elderly man became so angry that his dentures nearly flew out: "Damn that unscrupulous lawyer, refund the money!"
Su Bai leaned backward to avoid the elderly man's dentures. "Sir, please do not become agitated, whatever you have to say, let us say it slowly, there is no need to resort to physical attack."
Wang Zizhong felt somewhat embarrassed, grunted as he put his dentures back in place, and calmed down considerably, but his tone still remained full of anger.
"The last time we hired one of the top major law firms in Nandu, and that lawyer for the second instance even claimed that he was a top lawyer in criminal cases, and the moment he opened his mouth he demanded a legal fee of one hundred and eighty eight thousand yuan, but in court he spoke only three sentences."
"Mm."
"All right."
"Our side accepts the presiding judge's adjudication."
"He earned a legal fee of one hundred and eighty eight thousand yuan for three sentences, was that mouth made of gold? More than sixty thousand yuan per sentence?"
Wang Zizhong trembled with anger.
At his side, Zhang Cuifen hurriedly patted Wang Zizhong on the back and added:
"Lawyer Su, the impact of this case is very great, we have heard that if it proceeds to final adjudication, the trial may be conducted in the form of a live broadcast, we no longer trust major law firms, and we sought out many small law firms, but none of them were willing to take the case."
"This case."
The case had great public influence? And it was even going to be conducted by means of an online live broadcast of the trial?
Was this not practically an advertisement for the law firm?
Take it, he absolutely had to take it. There was nothing that could not be taken. How could Su Bai, an outright legal outlaw, possibly lose a case like this?
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Bai resolved to stake everything on taking the case and waved his hand decisively. "I can take this case, and I guarantee to you that if your son does not receive a reduced sentence, or if you are dissatisfied with the reduction, I will charge no legal fee."
No legal fee at all if there was no sentence reduction or if the reduction was unsatisfactory?
Recalling that celebrated lawyer who had earned one hundred and eighty eight thousand yuan for three sentences, Wang Zizhong felt that Su Bai was a conscientious lawyer.
"You really are quite a good lawyer."
"It is my duty, I will absolutely not be an unscrupulous lawyer. Shall we sign the contract?"
Su Bai asked tentatively, and Wang Zizhong agreed on the spot.
"Yes, we should sign it."
Su Bai did not delay, and immediately found a contract template, and after communicating with Wang Zizhong in broad terms, he drafted the contractual terms and printed them out.
The legal fee would be calculated according to the term of imprisonment determined in the final judgment, with a fee of five thousand yuan for each year by which the sentence was reduced, and if there was no sentence reduction, only the basic labor fee for legal services would be payable.
Compared with that lawyer with the golden mouth, this was already a conscientious price.
This was also because Su Bai, in order to establish the reputation of his law firm, had deliberately lowered the legal fees.
After signing his own name, Su Bai handed the contract to Wang Zizhong, who signed his own name without hesitation.
At the very moment the pen left the paper, a system notification sounded in Su Bai's mind.
[Congratulations, Host, you have completed the task of undertaking one case, you are awarded fifty thousand yuan in cash, which will be transferred into your account through lawful means.]
[Pending task: achieve a favorable judgment, reward: Bronze Treasure Chest.]
After seeing Wang Zizhong and his wife off, Su Bai kept staring at his bank account, wanting to see by what lawful means the system would transfer the fifty thousand yuan into his account.
Before long, a message notification appeared.
'Lawyer Su, last time I came to you for marital consultation, thank you for the advice you gave me, I spoke to my husband as you suggested, and sob, sob, that domestic abuser has finally agreed to divorce, I am transferring fifty thousand yuan to express my gratitude, let us meet again when you have time.'
Looking at the five figure transfer, Su Bai was momentarily stunned. This worked too?