What's wrong with this lawyer?!-Chapter 1072 - 348 Complicated Relationships

After discussing other matters, the conversation quickly shifted to the most practical issue: money.

"Lawyer Tang, your legal fees... our family... we’ll try our best to scrape together the money..." Lin Nannan stammered hesitantly.

Old Tang smiled upon hearing this and replied, "No need to rush about it. I’ll cover your legal fees for now. Your case has a high likelihood of making the other party bear the legal costs."

Originally, this case would’ve been best handled through legal aid, but considering the possibility that the other party might bear the legal fees, Old Tang decided against pursuing legal aid.

As for Lin Nannan’s thoughts, he didn’t need to guess to understand.

Why did the family approach him? On one hand, it was because of his expertise; on the other, it was also due to his reputation for being magnanimous during lawsuits, often waiving legal fees for families in financial difficulties.

It was a normal thought process—plainly put, it was poverty. Because they were poor, it led to these kinds of considerations.

There’s a saying: "Poverty breeds cunning, wealth nurtures good conscience." In a certain sense, it rings true. If you don’t have money, no matter how you phrase it, you’re still broke.

So Old Tang chose to see through it but not call it out—it was a trivial matter anyway.

Sure enough, Lin Nannan was taken aback upon hearing this: "Lawyer Tang, is this… is this really true?"

"I can’t guarantee it, but it’s worth trying..."

In fact, in personal injury compensation cases, whether legal fees can be borne by the opposing party varies depending on the standards of different local courts.

The Supreme People’s Court’s "Interpretation on Several Issues Regarding the Application of Law in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases" merely provides a general framework, listing a variety of fees and ending with the term "other reasonable expenses."

The Modu Superior People’s Court had once issued "Several Specific Opinions on the Trial of Civil Cases," in which Article 14 stated that legal fees, as a type of financial interest, could in principle be considered a loss.

This opinion was introduced in 2000 and has yet to be repealed, making it older than some people.

Since then, some local courts have started supporting the inclusion of legal fees, although this remains a contentious issue.

Hence, Old Tang couldn’t promise whether the local court would support it—if not, he’d bear the cost himself.

Before Lin Nannan could ask further questions, Old Tang continued, "As for the litigation fees, you don’t need to worry about those either; I’ll apply to the court for a deferred payment."

It’s foreseeable that the claim amount for this lawsuit will be substantial. Although the exact figure hasn’t been calculated yet, it’ll likely exceed five million.

Litigation fees will inevitably be hefty, but according to Article 49 of the "Measures for the Payment of Litigation Fees," parties who have difficulty paying court fees may apply to the People’s Court for deferred, reduced, or exempted payment as per judicial relief provisions.

Exemption is unlikely—given the large sum involved, the court probably wouldn’t agree to it.

Moreover, if the case succeeds, litigation fees can be shifted onto the opposing party.

"Alright, so you really don’t need to worry about anything. Just stay at home and wait. One reminder, though—if they call offering money to settle or asking you to drop the lawsuit, don’t agree..."

Lin Nannan quickly nodded and replied, "Lawyer Tang, I understand that—you want to send them to jail!"

Old Tang stopped in his tracks for a moment: "What nonsense are you talking about...?"

Once in the car, Lao Shi asked, "Director, what do you think will be the biggest challenge in this case?"

Old Tang casually replied, "What else? It’s all about layers of subcontracting—no one takes responsibility once you get to the bottom."

This is why similar cases are notoriously difficult to resolve—almost all of them end up in court.

It’s not as straightforward as cases involving death. Companies don’t want lingering trouble; they’d rather settle the matter through court and be done with it. If the judgment requires them to pay, they’ll comply, but striking private deals is out of the question.

What’s even worse is that after the accident occurred, for unknown reasons, it wasn’t reported. Not only that, but the party even coaxed the victim into not filing a workplace injury claim—despicable indeed!

"They say prolonged exposure to legal studies dehumanizes people. I’d say some individuals in construction sites are pretty much the same."

This wasn’t idle talk from Old Tang himself; it was something someone who transitioned out of construction work had once shared.

When accidents happen on construction sites, resolving the issue boils down to compensation. After dealing with such matters for long enough, human lives essentially become equated to monetary figures—they begin mentally converting one into the other.

Seeing Old Tang’s mood souring, Lao Shi didn’t dare prolong the conversation. He focused on driving back to Lin City.

They stayed in Lin City overnight, and early the next morning, Old Tang hopped onto a plane heading straight for Xiping City in Hanxi Province.

The recognition of workplace injuries was crucial, but before that could happen, obtaining the investigative report from the general contractor, Hanxi Construction Group Company, was necessary.

While it wasn’t clear whether the report had any legal effect, the priority was to locate the nearest authorized construction company tied to Lin Youliang.

And it couldn’t be anyone involved in unlawful subcontracting.

Initially, the idea was to ask the foreman, but calling his phone yielded no response—most likely, he had fled.

This meant all pertinent information had to be uncovered first.

By the afternoon, Old Tang’s flight landed at Xiping City Airport—a place he’d frequented many times before.

With his briefcase in hand, he navigated his way out of the airport effortlessly and grabbed a cab to the target company.

The company was a state-owned enterprise, and at least within Hanxi Province, it was a major player. In projects of this scale, the top-tier general contractor was almost always a state-owned entity.

During the cab ride, Old Tang casually struck up a chat with the driver, and the conversation soon turned to a recently trending video.