125: Liu Jiale: He sued me in the detention center?

At the law firm office, Zhou Yun put down his phone. He wondered if it was his reputation at work or if the Court's efficiency was truly high now.

This time, he had prepared for a drawn-out process.

But he didn't expect it to be directly accepted for filing; that was quite good.

Once it was filed, things were easy; he just had to wait. He didn't know when Liu Jiale would be notified.

Meanwhile, at the Nanyun District Court.

Pan Nian, a 41-year-old civil Court judge, had just arrived at his office and turned on his computer.

The problems faced by grassroots judges are the same as those faced by grassroots Police Officers: too many cases. The fact that Judge Pan still had his dark hair was already the result of his diligent efforts to maintain his health.

Sitting in front of the computer, Judge Pan began to review the cases that had just been transferred. The case filing division had transferred six more cases this time.

Marriage disputes, marriage disputes, third-party infringement in marriage cases… Oh, this man transferred 500,000 to his gay mistress. Cough, cough.

Civil Court judges had seen too much; this was all child's play.

In a divorce case, the judge asked, “How did you two meet?” The answer: “She was a prostitute, and I was her client.”

Then, “Why are you getting a divorce now?” The answer: “She cheated.”

What could the judge say? The judge sitting there was completely numb.

Then the woman said, “That wasn't cheating; I was just trying to earn some money for the family.”

For such cases, they even demanded mediation. What the hell was he supposed to mediate?

Anyway, for a moment, the judge even wanted to call the Police Officer to arrest them both.

Some cases were so outrageous that even novelists wouldn't dare to make them up.

Judge Pan was looking at the case when he froze. He looked at the case carefully again. That's right, it was a joint infringement lawsuit based on spousal rights.

“No, those people in the case filing division must be crazy. They even accept cases like this?”

What kind of cases were the most troublesome? It was this type of case: no clear legal provisions, but still explainable, which made them particularly troublesome and difficult to rule on no matter what.

So, for this type of case, the usual practice was to mediate if possible. If mediation was truly impossible, they wouldn't accept it, just finding any reason.

But now, not only had it been accepted, but it had already been filed and transferred.

Judge Pan directly dialed the phone: “Hello, Director Liu, what are you doing? You're even filing infringement lawsuits like spousal rights?”

The head of the case filing division on the other end of the phone had an even louder voice than him: “Judge Pan, you didn't even look at whose case it is. It's Zhou Yun's. What do you want me to do? Not accept it?”

At least in Jinghai, unless it was a particularly major case or involved significant interest disputes, generally, they would give Zhou Yun face.

Of course, it was hard to say for other places. The smaller and poorer the place, the less they cared about lawyers or reputation.

Hearing Zhou Yun's name, Judge Pan's voice softened a little: “But you can't just transfer it directly. No mediation was even done…”

Director Liu on the other end chuckled: “Judge Pan, you haven't looked at this case yet, have you? You'll know if you look at the demands Zhou Yun made. If you want to mediate, you can do it before the trial. Anyway, I can't do it.”

Demands? What could there be? Judge Pan hung up the phone and continued to look. What hadn't he, a civil Court judge, seen?

One minute later, he saw the one million yuan in emotional damages. He was numb.

What was the party thinking?!

No, a mediation still had to be done. At the very least, he had to make it clear to the party that the amount awarded couldn't be whatever they said.

Time slowly passed. Zhou Yun continued to communicate with the Procuratorate, but now there was no need to deliberately drag it out. However, he couldn't tell the other party, as there was no need.

And one morning, Liu Jiale, who was playing on his phone at home, received a call.

“Nanyun District Court? I'm Liu Jiale. Is there something wrong?”

A voice sounded from the phone: “Mr. Liu, I'm notifying you that you've been sued for infringement. We've already filed the case.”

“Would you like electronic service or mail delivery, or you can come pick it up yourself.”

People who are often sued know that the Court's methods of service are varied.

Regulations include direct service, mail service, public announcement service, and so on.

But in reality, most of it used to be direct service. Of course, it wasn't delivered to you, but they would call you.

They'd say you've been sued, come to the Court, and then you could pick it up at the Court.

If the party was not local, it would be mailed.

Now, electronic service is more common. The judge handles it through a unified national electronic service platform, and then you receive a corresponding text message.

The text message contains a link. Clicking the link opens a website where you can sign electronically.

Some people worry about scams. Generally, for a first service like this, they will call in advance. You can choose the service method yourself, and if you don't believe it, you can also confirm it at the Court.

Liu Jiale was a bit confused at the moment: “Are you, are you sure it's me? I'm being sued out of nowhere? I haven't done anything recently.”

He thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what infringement he had committed.

The only recent issue seemed to be with Zhang Yunfan, but wasn't that guy in the Detention Center?

Besides, he only slept with his wife; he didn't do anything else.

The Court staff member on the phone said: “Your ID number is… right?”

“Yes, that's me.”

“Then that's right. Would you like to choose electronic service, or would you like to come pick it up directly?”

Liu Jiale frowned and thought for a moment, then said: “I'll go pick it up!”

He just wanted to know what was going on and then have a good discussion with the Court staff.

About half an hour later, Liu Jiale arrived at the Nanyun District Court.

“You're Liu Jiale, right? Here are your documents.” The staff member handed over a packet of documents after verifying his ID.

Generally, identity information must be verified for service. For example, for mail, it must be signed by the recipient in person, and the postal courier must also verify the ID.

Liu Jiale took the documents, opened them, found the copy of the complaint, and started reading. Upon reading it, he went completely numb.

Literally numb. For a moment, Liu Jiale felt like he wasn't on Earth.

Something so outrageous exists?

“Zhang Yunfan sued me for infringing his spousal rights? And he wants me to pay one million?!”

“Isn't this extortion?!”

Liu Jiale took the copy of the complaint to the staff member and said: “This is it, right? There's a problem with this. Do you know where this Zhang Yunfan is now?”

The staff member was stunned upon hearing this: “Where?”

“He's in the Detention Center! He… he extorted me, didn't he? He's about to be sentenced, and now he can still sue me and make me pay one million? This is extorting me again!” Liu Jiale almost yelled.

He's in the Detention Center, and he can still sue?

And wasn't there talk of a criminal settlement during this time? How did he suddenly sue again, and for one million? How dare he!

The staff member across from him blinked and said: “You're saying this plaintiff is in the Detention Center? And it's because he extorted you?”