What's wrong with this lawyer?!-Chapter 1041 - 337: Passing the Buck, huh? Find a place to do it slowly! _2
If you ask like that, the other party will definitely keep evading with excuses. No one will tell the truth.
Although secretly recording is an option, such underhanded tactics are never really a good idea.
For Old Tang, if there were any other alternative, he would never resort to secretly recording or filming. Throughout his litigation activities, he always tried to use open and honest strategies.
What is an open and honest strategy? It means you know exactly what the other party intends to do, but there’s nothing you can do about it, so you just have to follow their lead.
So, why not be straightforward and choose a place where the other party can’t lie?
Where can’t they lie? The answer is the courthouse!
Since the new leader of this organization claimed, "Whoever signed it, go ask them for the money," essentially denying the debt, well fine, if this isn’t a public debt, then it must logically be a private debt, right? There’s no issue with this logic.
It can’t be that a debt is neither public nor private, right? It’s utterly absurd to consume, drink, and take things but not be able to identify a debtor afterward.
It’s like that deliveryman case back then: working here, getting paid by another company, and the company paying was commissioned to do so. It looked like an utter mess.
However, in the end, there must have been some kind of relationship between the deliveryman and one of those companies.
Whether it was labor, employment, or contracting, there has to be some kind of relationship. You can’t be working without having any idea who you’re working for, can you?
So, since it’s private debt, they could directly sue the leader who retired and relocated years ago!
Paying back debts is a moral obligation. You ate my food, and now I’m asking you for the money. Isn’t that completely reasonable?
The only concern is the statute of limitations, but that’s manageable. Before this, the party didn’t know who the definite debtor was, and the statute of limitations begins from the time the party knows or should have known.
After filing the lawsuit, there’s another move: add the organization as a third party without an independent claim!
Although I now know this money counts as private debt, considering how both sides passed the buck back then, and the debt indeed might be related to the former organization, I’ll add them in. Then, let them argue it out amongst themselves.
This is another tactic: when faced with both sides shirking responsibility, never directly approach just one of them. Always find a way to get both parties in the same room!
Don’t argue with them yourself; find a way to get them to argue with each other!
Only by getting them to argue can more information be exposed, and that’s how you get what you need.
As Old Tang walked step by step toward the hotel, he had fully clarified his next plan.
Of course, he wasn’t omniscient. He couldn’t know the other party’s situation out of thin air, so he had to probe using various tactics.
Actually, gaming enthusiasts all know this: many times, you win not because you performed exceptionally, but because your opponent messed up. It’s all about who commits fewer mistakes.
And for this kind of lawsuit, as long as they keep trying to pass the buck, they’ve already lost!
Time flew by, and by the next day, Old Tang had prepared everything he needed and set off for Ningtang County People’s Court.
Upon arrival, he took a look around. Surprisingly, although this was a poverty-stricken county, the courthouse was built opulently—far out of Guangming District Court’s league.
In fact, it was said Guangming District Court had submitted many proposals to build a new courthouse, but every reply they received was the same: wait a while, the budget isn’t available.
Compared to this place, Guangming District Court didn’t even feel like a real court; it looked more like an amateur setup.
Shaking his head to push aside such idle thoughts, Old Tang carried his briefcase and slowly stepped into the filing hall.
Nowadays, lower courts have mostly implemented queuing systems, still the old routine of taking a number and waiting in line.
Finally, it was his turn. Old Tang stepped forward and handed in the litigation documents one by one.
The staff inside took the documents without expression, glanced through them, then frowned and said, "What’s this lawsuit about? Money?"
"Yes, back then this person racked up unpaid meal bills at my client’s restaurant. These are all IOUs they signed," Old Tang replied with a cheerful smile.
"IOUs... How many years has it been? The statute of limitations is long overdue. Take it back, it’s useless now," the staff said as they casually handed the documents back.
Old Tang didn’t take them. He wasn’t even surprised. With two lifetimes of experience as a lawyer, he had seen too many situations like this.
There’s a joke in legal circles: every court has its own version of the Civil Procedure Law.
Although we have three major procedural laws and countless judicial interpretations and regulations issued by the Supreme Court, when it comes to filing cases, every court has its own set of explicit or implicit rules.
So, Old Tang wasn’t at all surprised. He silently reached into his briefcase, pulled out a book, and on it was written "Civil Procedure Law."
Flipping it open, Old Tang found Article 122, pointed at the provision, and said to the staff, "Comrade, according to the Civil Procedure Law, as long as the conditions listed here are met, the People’s Court must accept the case."
"And the statute of limitations is not included in these conditions, so what you said about it being useless is not a valid reason..."
The staff inside stared blankly at Old Tang. Over the years, she had encountered many lawyers, but this was the first time she saw one carrying the Civil Procedure Law with them.
