In the United States, a civil case can last for months or even years from the beginning to the actual trial.

Litigation is undoubtedly a troublesome matter that consumes time and money, so once a lawsuit is encountered, most of the two sides end up in an out-of-court settlement, and only then will they enter the trial, and only 3 percent of the cases prosecuted in the United States last year were tried in the trial process, and the rest were resolved in the pre-trial stage.

Presumably the lawyer hired by the Empire State Building Corporation, believing that the lawsuit was unfavorable to the Coalition and was on the weaker side, succeeded in convincing the Coalition shareholders to agree to make concessions in the lawsuit.

After hearing about this good thing from Thompson's lawyer, Su Mu hung up the phone and thought about it for a while, drove to the law office, and prepared to talk to the lawyer hired by the Empire State Building United Company, and now the other party had gone to Thompson's side.

I went to him twice, I have already memorized the route, the front desk knows Su Mu, and when I saw him, I pointed to the elevator directly, signaling that I can go upstairs without registering.

There are so many lawyers in a company, but Thompson is found, and the top barristers of other law firms are deeply helpless because they have heard that as long as they can help win the lawsuit this time, Su Mu will hire Thompson as legal counsel to handle the legal affairs of the company and Su Mu himself, which means that an important big client may make millions of dollars a year.

The law firm is so big, there are no impermeable walls, and several Thompson colleagues know about it, and they also know that once they get on Sumu, they may be able to get other business in Silicon Valley, and they are only left with envy.

Walking through the corridor to the door of Thompson's lawyer's office, I could see him laughing and talking with the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa.

Attorney Thompson was opening his mouth and said to the middle-aged red-haired man, "Moore, do you remember when I was at Harvard, that girl was called, the one you liked for a long time and didn't agree to be with you, met me at the party the first day, took me to her dormitory, and helped me buy me breakfast the next morning.

Also, your team has been in second place every time in the debate, and it has been second for three consecutive years, so I really miss that time, and the trophy is still in my house. ”

The other man was agitated with his cheeks, hated Thompson so much that he gritted his teeth, and he didn't feel the slightest nostalgia, and replied, "We won once!"

"After I graduate?" said Thompson, shrugging his shoulders indifferently, as a stab in the face......

Angering the opposing lawyer for no reason is not a good thing for reconciliation, Su Mu frowned slightly, he couldn't figure out why he did this, out of trust in Thompson's ability, he didn't write the unhappiness in his heart on his face, and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, I'm late, I heard that the Empire State Building United Company is ready to reconcile?"

"Yes, but don't think they're going to come up with a good plan, I think it's just that they're stalling for time, maybe they're hurrying up to rectify the fire fighting facilities and the safe passage. ”

Lawyer Thompson invited Su Mu to sit down, turned to look at Lawyer Moore, whose expression changed slightly, and added calmly: "But it doesn't matter, they lost this time, I contacted more than 60 tenants of the Empire State Building, and more than 50 of them felt that the joint company was mismanaged and should not continue to be in charge of the operation of the Empire State Building." ”

Hearing his confident words, Su Mu guessed that this was putting pressure on the other party, a lawsuit was like a fight, and the momentum was also very important, and vaguely guessed why Thompson deliberately mocked this colleague just now, just afraid that it would be self-defeating and provoke the other party to the end.

"Tell me your terms, what kind of conditions do you want to use in exchange for settlement?

I have enough money in my account, and now I'm just waiting for the Empire State Building United Company to take out your share and ask the designer to help me think about how to decorate. ”

"Hello, I'm a lawyer at Hudson Moore & Pol., Hunter Moore, and I've been commissioned by the Empire State Building Associates to negotiate with you on the current minor dispute between the two sides, and I think there must be some misunderstanding between us, and we have been working well with Prudential Insurance Company before. ”

The "Moore" in the name of the law firm is probably the one in front of him, and lawyers like to use their names to name law firms, such as Mr. Thompson's law firm.

Since the name is added to the name of the law firm, it means that most of them are the founders or later added partners, similar to accounting firms and design firms, and in order to retain talents, capable people are generally allowed to become shareholders of the company.

The most famous partnership system company, just on Wall Street in Manhattan, the financial giant Goldman Sachs adopts a partnership system, and now the number of partners is as high as more than 100, there is no absolute majority shareholder, a group of notorious financiers have combined to make the company burst into great potential.

To be hired by the Empire State Building United Company in such an important lawsuit, Moore's lawyer is undoubtedly strong, and the lawyer who can make a name for himself in Manhattan, the world's financial center, will definitely not be a straw bag and do not bring his previous anger into the negotiations.

After Su Mu heard this, he couldn't help laughing, and Lawyer Thompson was also laughing, and he was not funny and said: "Moore, if I'm not mistaken, everyone knows that Prudential Insurance Company was so angry that it couldn't do anything, so it sold the Empire State Building." ”

"It may also be the case, but since Prudential has been abiding by the lease contract signed that year for so many years, it means that the contract we signed is completely legal, and they know that it is impossible to win, and you will not win this time, and it is precisely because of the spirit of the contract and the law that the law protects the legality of the contract that the United States can be so economically developed. ”

"I'm not a judge, you told me that this set is useless, my employer didn't say that the contract was invalid, and now he just plans to renovate his Empire State Building, and over the years, you have made more than $500 million in profits from the Empire State Building, and invested less than $10 million in maintaining the Empire State Building, successfully turning my employer's property into an old building that may be in danger at any time, and causing my employer to suffer intangible asset losses. ”

Attorney Thompson retorted without hesitation, and Moore, who was sitting across from him, had a strange expression and spoke again: "Everyone knows that your employer has just bought the Empire State Building not long ago, and he must have known about the situation of this building before that, and I think this is malicious blackmail." ”

"Watch your words, I'll accuse you of slander......"

Su Mu listened to the words of the two of them with relish, thinking that if he hadn't heard that information from the old radio station, he might have been studying at Harvard Law School and ended up becoming a lawyer like Thompson and Moore.

These conversations had no effect on the negotiations, and more like the two were fighting and trying to overwhelm each other in momentum, and Thompson's lawyer retracted the conversation and asked, "Say, my client is here, what conditions are you willing to give on that side." ”

Moore glanced down at the documents, and turned to look at Su Mu: "After the board of directors discussed, they agreed to cancel the fourth twenty-one-year renewal contract in exchange for your withdrawal of the lawsuit and eliminate the misunderstanding between them.

In addition, we promised to use 10 percent of the rent annually to renovate the Empire State Building for the next five years, and you have given up on the idea of redecorating the Empire State Building and today announced that you will spend $2 million to paint and renovate the exterior of the Empire State Building, which is a concession. ”

Su Mu knew that he was in trouble, and if the Empire State Building went further, admitted his previous mistakes, and actively took on the renovation of the building, he might lose in court, because attacking them for inaction would become unreasonable and a big step away from his desired goal.

Decisively shook his head and refused: "The United Company didn't do well before, how can I believe that it will do well in the future, not to mention such a small amount of money, it's not enough to even replace the high-speed elevator." ”

With Su Mu's refusal, lawyer Thompson took out a document, handed it to the other party, and told: "Now not only us, but more than forty tenants in the building have also decided to jointly sue you for inaction, compared with the high rent, did not take due responsibility, last Chinese New Year's Eve The fourth floor caught fire, the main reason is the aging of the circuit, according to the report given by the investigators, the circuit layout of some floors, or cheap products more than twenty years ago, has long been aged."

My client and I have reason to believe that the Empire State Building United Company will not be able to continue to undertake the maintenance of the Empire State Building, and the client is willing to pay a sum of money to cancel the lease renewal agreement with the Empire State Building United Company for that year......"

As both parties expected, the first settlement negotiation ended in failure, Thompson's lawyer knew part of the other party's thoughts, and Moore also knew part of Thompson's intentions, both of them were testing each other's bottom line, and they would definitely not be able to reach an agreement in a short time.

After Lawyer Moore left, Su Mu asked curiously, "Soak the girl he likes?"

"It's all in the past, I've known this guy for a long time, I didn't expect to hire him, his ability is very good. But his temper is more explosive, and he was almost expelled from Harvard for fighting, and I wanted to provoke him, but now he seems to be much calmer, and I guess he is thinking about how to defeat me. ”

Thompson said in a conceited tone, "My idea is to keep making the United Company spend money on rectification until they find it unaffordable and come to the door and beg for mercy, and although the New York City Hall agrees to renovate the Empire State Building, if it can't win the lawsuit, it can't really be implemented."

It's unlikely that the judge will agree to renovate according to your idea, but I'll try to get the Empire State Building Union to spend more money, you promised to waive the rent for six years, and now most of the tenants in the building are on our side, and we will go to the courtroom for a preliminary trial in two days, I have dealt with that judge before, if you have a relationship, it's best to try to communicate, whether you have a good relationship with the judge is very important to the outcome of the trial......"