Link wanted the court to ask for liquidated damages, and now the defendant is willing to pay. He can only accept out-of-court settlement negotiations. If the other party is willing to take full responsibility for his claim to the court, he can only accept it.

And now it seems likely that this will be the case.

He didn't know if he could get a billion dollars.

But that can only be known through negotiations.

…………

He settled his two children at Hanova Farm and left them in the care of Ms. Hemmer. He himself flew by helicopter to Santa Fe to participate in out-of-court settlement negotiations.

John Malone probably didn't want to see Link. So didn't come in person. However, he sent a team of three lawyers. But it seems that the dominant one is only one of them.

In the presence of the judge, each side put forward its own claims.

John Malone agreed to be liable for breach of contract. However, his lawyer said that Link would be paid billions of dollars in liquidated damages, including Bell Farms.

Link was stunned for a moment when he heard this request.

He had no plans to take over Bell Farms. And he hadn't thought John Malone would give up on Bell Farms.

John Malone is a land collector with over two million acres of land to his name. Bell Farm is probably one of his most famous, and proudest of them. Probably no one would have thought that he would suddenly give up.

Link frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly.

Bell Farms was indeed famous before, but now the name is notorious. If it were still in the hands of John Malone, the name of the farm would have been reminiscent of counterfeit wine.

John Malone must have wanted to cut off everything that had anything to do with that case.

Now he has no way to deny the opposing lawyer's claims. Because the party responsible for the contract is Bell Farms. This subject is willing to bear more responsibility, and he, as the plaintiff, can he object?

"According to our asset assessment, Bell Farms is worth $340 million. As partners, Luke Truss and Ekobe Farms are also liable for compensation. Under the terms of the contract, Mr. Malone was willing to bear 50 per cent of the liability. As a result, Mr. Malone was willing to pay an additional $160 million, 50 per cent of which he was liable for. As for the other 50 per cent, we believe that the other responsible parties should bear the responsibility. ”

John Malone's statement seems plausible.

But Link, of course, couldn't have agreed.

He glanced at Matthew. Matthew calmly retorted, "We can't agree to that solution. As the defendant's lawyer said. Party B of the contract has more than one responsible person, but the contract does not specify the proportion of responsibility of each responsible person. So it doesn't matter how many responsible parties there are. We deserve liquidated damages in the amount stipulated in the contract. As for how to distribute the responsible persons of Party B. We have no right to interfere. ”

Luke Truss now has very few assets seized. There is not much money in the account, and the value of the Ekobe farm is low. If Link agrees to the other party's offer, he is effectively giving up the other half of the compensation.

Matthew turned to the judge in charge of the case and said, "Your Excellency, what do you think?"

Judges are already in their sixties and have been judges for more than 30 years. He is accustomed to seeing disagreements between the two parties in an out-of-court settlement. His role is to mediate this conflict and to allow the reconciliation process to continue.

But his more important duty is justice.

He said to the defendant's lawyer: "The defendant represents. The contract between the parties does not specify the specific responsibilities of each responsible party. So your reason doesn't work. ”

The defendant's lawyer is certainly aware of this. He brought it up just to fish in troubled waters.

In fact, John Malone did have evidence of specific responsibilities for each party. That is the benefit distribution agreement signed between them. It's just that in that agreement, he accounts for the majority of the interests, and if he comes up with that agreement, he must be held responsible in proportion to the distribution of benefits.

Without waiting for the defendant's lawyer to speak, Link also raised an objection: "I don't agree with the value of Bell Farms. ”

He had in his hand the asset appraisal report provided by the defendant.

Pointing to one of the items in the report, he said: "This report identifies the vineyards at Bell Farms as worth $80 million. But everyone knows that those grapes are worthless. In addition, the assessment report supports the intangible assets of Bell Farms at $16 million. I'm curious to know, when did the infamous become intangibles, and it was worth 16 million dollars. ”

He looked at the judge and said, "Your Excellency, these things submitted by the defendants prove that they do not have any sincerity in their reconciliation. I request that the out-of-court settlement be terminated. and advocated that the trial proceed as scheduled. ”

The judge frowned and looked at the information in his hand. Of course, he had read these materials before, and when he saw them, he had the same thoughts as Link. However, he still allowed the defendant to produce such information for negotiations.

If Link doesn't bring it up, he can assume he doesn't know. But now that Link has brought it up, he can no longer be partial.

Link isn't an ordinary person either!

He pretended to have just discovered a problem with the information and said to the defendant's lawyer: "Representative of the defendant, what is your opinion on the doubts raised by the plaintiff?"

The defendant's lawyer was actually helpless. Those things were provided by John Malone. He also questioned this. It's just that John Malone asked him to submit, and he can only be a submission. But John Malone also demanded that he must complete the settlement process within today.

Now that negotiations have just begun, Link has found a reason to ask for termination. He had no choice but to say, "I need to communicate with my client." I need a little time. ”

The judge allowed him to go on the phone with John Malone.

About 20 minutes later, the defendant's lawyer returned to the table. He sat down and coughed lightly and said, "My client agrees to remove the value of the vineyard and the value of the intangible assets from the Bell Farms asset valuation. Bell Farms could be worth $250 million. ”

That equates to a price of about $900 per acre. That price is a market price.

As he spoke, he took out another document and said, "Your Excellency, this is the new evidence that my client has found. ”

The judge read it and handed it to Matthew.

After Matthew saw it, his face was a little strange, and he turned it to Link again.

Link saw that the above turned out to be John Malone's agreement on the distribution of their interests in that contract.

John Malone and Bell Farms accounted for 75% of the proceeds, Luke Truss 10% and Ekobe Farms 5%. And there is also a Hul Donald with 10%.

The defendant's lawyer then said: "My client believes that he only needs to pay 75% of it. ”

Matthew immediately retorted, "That doesn't have anything to do with the contract between us. ”

It's a bit complicated. Although Hul Donald is a shareholder of Ekobe Farms, after he renounced his interest in the farm, he, the limited liability person of the farm, is no longer required to participate in the case for the ownership of Ekobe Farms. Sheng Trading has nothing to do with him directly.

And John Malone presented this evidence and demanded that only the proportion due be paid.

As long as Link does not agree, the verdict can only be pronounced through the trial, and then John Malone will appeal to the court. That's going to go back to Hul Donald.

So Matthew, of course, could not agree to the proposal of the defendant's lawyer. If Link agrees, Hull Donald's part of them has no right to make any demands.

Again, the defendant's lawyer gave various reasons. But Link disagreed, and in the end he was really annoyed: "Your Excellency, this case seems to be very complicated. I think that our negotiations here are purely a waste of time. ”

The judge was very helpless at his insistence. Generally speaking, the amount of compensation reached in an out-of-court settlement will be less than what the plaintiff claims. But Link didn't seem to budge. A billion is a billion.

But he also knew that Link had the complete upper hand in this case. The court will certainly fully support his claim. So there is no need for him to concede.

It can be said that this is the toughest plaintiff he has ever seen in the out-of-court settlement negotiations.

He looked at the defendant's lawyer

The defendant's lawyer again offered to speak with John Malone on the phone.

This time he only went for ten minutes, and when he returned, he said: "My client is willing to pay all the shares that Luke Truss and Ekobe Farm have paid that are still insufficient." ”

Luke Truss has no relatives. So no one fought for his rights.

However, Luke Truss has less than $40 million in his account, and Ekobe's estimate is only $15 million, excluding the vineyards. That adds up to far less than the $150 million he should pay.

John Malone needs to pay the remaining $945 million. As for how he asked for money from Luke Truss, who is already dead, and Hull Donald, who is still alive, that's his own business.

However, before signing the contract, the defendant's lawyer made another request: "I hope that Mr. Hans can remove Mr. Malone from the defendants in the counterfeit wine tort case." You know, according to the confession of the suspect in the case, Mr. Malone did not know about the case. ”

Link thought about it for a moment and agreed to his terms.

He sued on the grounds that counterfeit wine had damaged the reputation of Blue Lagoon wines. And John Malone has gotten away in the counterfeit wine case. It doesn't make much sense for him to sue any more.

Moreover, he does not think that the impact of suing or not suing on John Malone's reputation can be great.

John Malone was able to get away with the counterfeit wine case in Miami, but he couldn't say he didn't know about the wine blending at Bell Farms. The wines were not sold, were not counterfeited, or were handled well, and he was exempted from prosecution.

However, as long as Link's infringement case is pending, the case of Bell Farms making counterfeit wine will be filed. The reputation of the other party will always be implicated.

When Link agreed to the other party's conditions, he also put forward one condition: "I demand that the existing employees of Bell Farms terminate all their employment contracts with the farm before I take over." ”

Whether those people are John Malone's henchmen or not, he doesn't want to use them. John Malone has been running Bell Farms for nearly two decades. How could he be reassured about those people?

After the parties negotiated, a settlement agreement was signed in the presence of the judge. According to the agreement, Link can get what he deserves a week later.

In addition to $735 million in cash compensation, he also received Ekobe Farms and Bell Farms. Although neither farm is what he subjectively wants. But after getting it, he thought it was actually good.

Both farms bordered his existing farms. Hans Farm is right next to Ekobe, while Bell Farm is right next to Hanova. He can merge the newly acquired farm directly into the existing farm.

In that way, there will not be too much difficulty in management.