What's wrong with this lawyer?!

The relative who borrowed the money runs a company—they apparently had cash flow issues, which is why they borrowed money.

It was due five months ago, but they haven't paid back a dime, so there was no choice but to have Old Song sue them.

Old Song had pretty much sorted out all the evidence; there was no promissory note, but there were chat records, transfer records, and everything had already been notarized.

In fact, for a civil loan lawsuit, these pieces of evidence are already enough.

Contrary to what many may think, evidence in civil cases is often not that complete, so as long as your evidence seems more convincing than the other party's, that's what matters.

The principle of high probability, for instance, what if someone borrowed your money and didn't pay you back, but you have no IOU, and the money was given in cash? What do you do then?

The evidence definitely won't be complete, right? What you can do is seek out the original chat logs, call records, and testimony from people who saw you both together.

Furthermore, track down the bank statements from when you withdrew the cash. Combined with the dates, this can also create a high degree of probability. Just remember, the aim of gathering evidence is to convince the judge that there was indeed a lending relationship. That's good enough.

Otherwise, there are too many people these days without promissory notes, and the evidence will never be that complete...

As Old Song said, today was just about going through the process.

Following the application for property preservation, there shouldn't be any major issues with enforcement later on.

And since the other party's submitted evidence wasn't much use, in such a situation, Lawyer Tang was quite relaxed and casually chatted with Lu Xudong while sitting in the courtroom.

Lu Dongxu began to complain: "Lawyer Tang, I really had no other option. Can you believe it? We're relatives, and he told me he was in a rough patch and needed to borrow money. I didn't hesitate and gave it to him."

"And what happened? You know what he said during the last mediation. He said he just wouldn't pay, and that he would definitely appeal if he lost. Just dragging it out, I've never seen someone like this. Is he even human?"

"Sigh, I really don't want to talk about it anymore."

Hearing this, Old Tang replied, "Take it easy. If they delay, interest will be taken into account. Don't worry, the property preservation is in place, there's no need to rush."

"Lawyer Tang, I know, but it still feels so unfair..."

After a while, the other party came in, and upon seeing them, Lu Dongxu couldn't help himself.

"You've got some nerve showing up, borrowing money and not paying it back..."

Lu Dongxu's relative, named Lu Shan, looked to be in his forties, dressed in a suit with hair slicked by pomade, seemingly like a boss indeed.

He retorted: "What do you mean borrowing and not paying back? Let me tell you, Lu Dongxu, don't make it sound so ugly—who borrowed from you!"

"You son of a..." Lu Dongxu was about to curse up a storm but was held back by Old Tang beside him.

"Stop the cussing, it's useless. With that kind of attitude, they clearly have no intention of paying you back. Now that we're in court, let's just follow the proper procedures."

If anyone else had tried to calm him down, Lu Dongxu might have continued his tirade, but Lawyer Tang was someone he certainly would listen to.

Seated in the defendant's dock, Lu Shan found something peculiar. The lawyer representing him seemed different from the one at the previous mediation.

Whatever, it doesn't matter. He was there to stall for time anyway.

He had even consulted with a lawyer from The Capital, who had advised him on multiple ways to delay the process.

For example, not submitting evidence within the given timeframe and then presenting new evidence during the trial. As long as there's a good enough reason, the court won't penalize you.

The court will also make decisions based on the specifics of the new evidence. Of course, the plaintiff will request an extension for the defense period, and the court will reschedule the session.

Not just lawyers, but even ordinary people would consider these tactics scrappy; however, you have to admit, sometimes these underhand methods are very effective.

Some lawyers don't start with the substantial issues. They beat around the bush, first filing for recusal and then raising jurisdictional objections, followed by introducing new evidence in court...

Courts already struggle with scheduling hearings, and with all these maneuvers, it's easy to drag the case out for a year.

For some companies in need of cash flow, a few months could be enough to turn things around.

So Lu Shan was feeling quite relaxed, knowing he was going to lose the case, but thinking about stalling for time.

The judge this time was Old Zhou. There's no need to doubt it; in some basic-level courts, there are only about twenty judges in total, and that's counting all judges combined.

Civil, criminal, administrative chambers, etc., just that many. You can imagine how likely it is to encounter the same judge in local courts. Stay updated through empire

Old Zhou glanced at Lawyer Tang, surprised that he was handling such a low-technical case.

"Would either of you like to mediate?" Old Zhou asked first.

"No way!" Lu Shan's response was clear: "I never borrowed from him, but he keeps insisting. How can we mediate that? I can't agree to it."

Lu Xudong wanted to lash out again, but Old Tang held him back once more.

The trial proceeded normally. Old Zhou's mind had already started drifting off; in such a case with clear evidence, it should be handled through summary proceedings.

Don't think judges don't slack off. In his previous life, Lawyer Tang had seen his share of "accidents" at trial.

But what he remembered most vividly was one particular hearing, where the facts of the case were crystal clear, yet the defense attorney kept throwing around pointless talk.

The judge seemed despondent, idly playing with his feet up there...

Many years ago, many small local courts were nowhere near as solemn as they are now, and they certainly didn't have live streaming.