Chapter 2 The First Trial
After meeting with the client, several people walked into the court and sat down in the dock.
Today's case is very simple. It was a tenant who made a mess in the house and often brought women back to smoke marijuana and have sex. The landlord wanted to evict the tenant, but because of the verbal stimulation, he punched the tenant twice. He was accused of violence and illegal eviction.
While Martin was preparing the documents, he asked: "Harvey, do you have any trial suggestions?"
Harvey Specter, who was standing beside him, leaned on his chair with his arms folded and said casually: "I am your supervisor. My responsibilities do not include providing you and your client with legal advice. It's all up to you. I'm just here to score points."
Martin shrugged nonchalantly.
The landlord on the other side felt that he was destined to lose today and had a depressed expression.
I originally thought that the well-known New York law firm "Pearson & Hardman" would win the case, but who knew that they would hand over their case to this immature young man in front of me?
Even though he has a doctorate in law from Harvard, he has just graduated and is still the first case he has handled. What kind of experience can he have?
The landlord also expressed his dissatisfaction, but Harvey, who called himself the Supervisor, shot him back.
"Want to change people? Okay, my consultation fee is two thousand dollars an hour, cash or check?"
The landlord immediately gave up and could only pin his hopes on this young man whose consultation fee was only four hundred dollars an hour.
Martin sorted out the documents, turned to the landlord who was spread out on the chair, and stretched out his index finger.
"Rule 1, remember to tell the truth in court! You must not conceal anything or commit perjury!"
He extended his middle finger: "Rule 2, don't express any objection to me in court. Emotions, words, and body movements are not allowed. ! Let's talk about it later after adjournment."
Finally, he extended his thumb: "Rule 3, when you are not asked to speak, remember to keep your mouth shut and don't give the other party any response, even if he is slandering or insulting you."
After that, Martin paused for a moment, and then asked seriously: "If we follow the rules, we can win, do you understand?"
The landlord was very angry at first, but when he heard the last sentence of "win," he immediately nodded obediently.
As the supervisor, Harvey Specter glanced at the confident Martin with some surprise.
The facts of this case are clear and the evidence is complete. It is indeed difficult to win the case at trial. How can this rookie be so confident?
Before Harvey could figure it out, the trial began, and everyone in the court stood up to greet the judge.
"Case No. 20070630442, the plaintiff accused the defendant of using violence and evicting without justifiable reasons."
The gray-haired judge read the lawsuit announcement word by word, and then looked at the plaintiff's seat: "Plaintiff's lawyer, do you have anything to add?"
Plaintiff The lawyer for the rogue tenant stood up and shook his head: "No, Your Honor."
"Where is the defendant?"
The judge looked at the dock again, sizing up the new lawyer with great appearance and full of confidence with interest.
Martin stood up, fastened the buttons of his suit, and said with a smile: "Your Honor, no."
His good appearance and elegant posture caused the judge to nod slightly.
"Confirmation for the last time, do you want to settle before trial?"
The plaintiff's lawyer glanced at Martin and saw him shaking his head, so he had no choice but to express his disagreement.
If reconciliation fails, a trial will naturally begin.
The plaintiff produced the hospital's injury report and the statements made by both parties at the police station after the incident. These are enough to prove that the landlord violently evicted the tenant, and the chain of evidence is quite complete.
Ten minutes later, the judge read all the evidence in his hand, took off his reading glasses, and asked, "Defendant's lawyer, do you have anything else to say?"
"Your Honor." Martin stood up and handed a document to the clerk. : "The plaintiff concealed the divorce at the age of 24 when renting the house. This had a decisive impact on my client's decision to rent the house to the plaintiff. I request the judge to invalidate the rental agreement and allow the plaintiff to move out within a time limit."
"Is there any connection between divorce and renting a house?"
the old judge asked while looking at the documents in his hand.
Martin nodded: "Your Honor, the plaintiff was deprived of child custody due to alleged alcoholism and domestic violence, and my client has a happy and complete family with two lively and lovely children. If my client knew that the plaintiff If there is a tendency to be violent towards children, then it is impossible to rent the house to the plaintiff."
The old judge looked at the family photo of the defendant landlord in his hand and nodded involuntarily.
At this time, the lawyer at the plaintiff's table looked at the tenant in surprise lowered his voice, and said: "Why didn't you tell me this!"
"It's just court records, no case record!" The tenant shook his head wildly with a look of panic on his face: "What's there? Is it affected?"
"It's a big impact!" The plaintiff's lawyer was a little panicked and quickly started thinking about countermeasures.
Martin heard the commotion at the plaintiff's table but didn't care at all. He handed over another document: "This is a character investigation I conducted on the plaintiff's neighbors and working restaurant employees. Some people proved that the plaintiff had been punished for playing with his children. The noise was too loud and the non-contact insults were made, which shows that the plaintiff has special malice towards the children."
Before he could finish speaking, the rogue tenant suddenly raised his hands and stood up.
"Objection!"
The entire court fell silent at this moment, and everyone from the judge to the hearing staff looked at the plaintiff as if they were a fool.
"You idiot! Sit down!"
The plaintiff's lawyer pulled down the tenant's arm and apologized with a smile: "I'm sorry, Mr. Judge."
Then he growled in a low voice: "Is your mind full of shit? Now is the stage of submitting evidence, and it's not time to say objection yet. time!"
The old judge had no intention of letting them go. He picked up the gavel and knocked it twice, looking at the plaintiff with some disgust: "The plaintiff disrupted court discipline and was fined two hundred dollars. Plaintiff's lawyer, take care of your client. !"
Seeing the current situation, Harvey Specter in the dock became more energetic and kept looking at this newcomer who had just entered the law firm from behind.
As a senior lawyer with a 100% winning rate, this kind of case is not difficult for him. The moment he received the case file, he thought of at least four ways to win the case, but he didn't expect the one Martin used.
The law is dead, but people are alive.
As a lawyer, it is a very effective method to grasp the intelligence of the judge on duty and follow his preferences. Harvey has been a lawyer in New York for more than ten years, so he naturally knows the old judge in front of him and knows that he has a son who is not yet ten years old. Adorable granddaughter.
But isn't Martin a newcomer who has only been in the firm for less than a week? He didn't even have an assistant attorney, so where did he get the information?
The plaintiff's behavior of disrupting the court just now was not serious. Under normal circumstances, it would be a warning at most. But the old judge imposed a fine directly, which shows that his impression of the plaintiff was already very bad.
Martin didn't pay attention and just handed over a new document proving that the plaintiff had a record of alcoholism and intentional injury.
This case record has little impact on renting a house, but combined with the previous two pieces of evidence, it can be fully proven that the plaintiff has a certain tendency to be violent towards children, and is indeed a threat to the landlord's children who live next door to the tenant.
This is fine when it comes to adults, but when it comes to children, it becomes a big problem.
If the rental agreement is ruled to be valid this time, if the tenant hurts the children one day in the future, the old judge will not only lose his position but may also be suspected of malfeasance.
When Martin Scott took out the banner of children, the outcome of the trial was self-evident.
The defendant's landlord was ordered to pay the plaintiff four hundred dollars because of his violence. Because the plaintiff failed to fulfill his obligation to provide a complete background when renting the house, the rental contract was invalid. He was required to move out of the apartment within three days and compensate the landlord US$1,743 for building repairs.
The most important thing is that the tenant also has to compensate the landlord for the cost of finding a lawyer, which costs more than 4,000 US dollars.
After calculation, not only will the tenant be evicted, but he will also have to pay the landlord more than 5,000 yuan, which is a huge loss.
After the trial, the landlord excitedly pulled Martin and said many words of thanks. The two children who came to hear the trial also kissed him on the face. Martin talked to them to calm down a little.
After seeing off the landlord and his family, Martin gathered the documents on the table together and put them into his briefcase. He turned around and was about to call Harvey to go with him, but saw him looking at him with admiration.
"How many points would you give me? A+?"
Harvey Spector smiled and nodded, stood up, and extended his right hand.
"Welcome to Pixon & Hardman!"
(End of Chapter)