20 tips and 5 misunderstandings for lawyers to handle cases!

Article source: French on jurisprudence

People who come to court to fight a lawsuit always hope that they will win. However, in addition to telling the facts and the law, litigation also requires certain skills. If you take it for granted that you fall into the following mistakes, you may get twice the result with half the effort!

About the lawsuit

Myth 1: The longer, the better

Truth: Every time I receive a pleadings that are twenty or thirty pages long, the judge's heart is almost broken.

In particular, some parties wrote dozens of pages and stated the details of the case over and over again, but only did not write down their litigation claims, and as a result, the judge only had one sentence left in his heart after reading it for a long time:

What are you 说啥呢??

In fact, the main purpose of the pleadings and replies is to let the judge understand the claims of the parties and their reasons, so it is enough to write clearly their claims or claims, and briefly state the facts and laws on which these claims or claims are based.

Myth 2: Excessive emotionality

Truth: Facts and the law are the last word.

Whether it is a complaint full of "greetings" to the original trial judge and the opposing party, or a "love letter" that tells the life experience of the parties at length.

In fact, such a pleadings cannot make the judge and the client share the same hatred, nor can the judge add sympathy to the client. On the contrary, a pleadings that clearly state the facts of the case and fully cite the legal basis will be more pleasing to the eye.

About the trial

Myth 1: The longer you speak, the better

Truth: It's better to say the point.

Some parties insist on reading the contents of their pleadings word for word during the trial, while others repeatedly emphasize all their views no matter what the judge asks. In fact, this will only increase the length of the trial, waste everyone's time, and will not do any good, and may even drown out your main arguments and arguments in a gushing statement.

Therefore, it is best to speak concisely and concisely at trial. In the case of a written submission, the main points of the written opinion may be briefly summarized. However, when answering questions during the court investigation stage, it is necessary to listen to the questions clearly, answer them in a targeted manner, and avoid answering questions that are not asked.

Myth 2: If you win the argument, you can win the lawsuit

Truth: A court trial is not a debate, and although a court session includes a court debate, a court debate is not the same as a debate competition.

In the trial of a case, every fact ascertained by the judge must be supported by corresponding evidence, and the legal consequences to which each fact points must have a sufficient legal basis. Moreover, the parties are not necessarily in absolute opposition.

Therefore, excessive use of argumentation skills, or rebuttal of everything the opponent has stated, will not help to win the case. The key to a successful court debate is to clearly explain the relationship between one's own evidence and the facts to be proven, and to fully demonstrate one's claims from the evidence and law. Getting the judge to accept your argument is the victory of the trial.

About evidentiary materials

Myth: Evidence raids catch the other party off guard

Truth: One-time, targeted submission of evidence.

Some parties do not submit evidence within the time limit notified by the court, or even participate in the pre-trial exchange of evidence, but present a large amount of evidence in court at the time of the trial; Some parties submitted evidence more than a dozen times intermittently during the trial period of several months.

In fact, by doing so, not only the opposing party but also the judge was raided. If you do not participate in the pre-trial exchange of evidence and submit evidence at the time of the trial, it will lead to a lot of time spent on exchanging evidence and cross-examining evidence during the trial, which is actually an extremely time-consuming and inefficient practice. Submitting evidence multiple times will prolong the time for evidence exchange and cross-examination, which is not only a waste of judicial resources, but also not conducive to judges making judgments in a timely manner.

With regard to the submission of evidence, the correct approach is to submit evidence for the pleadings and assertions in a lump sum within the specified period of evidence production, and if the evidence cannot be collected during the period of evidence production, it can apply to the court for an extension of time before the expiration of the evidence production period.

In addition, the evidence materials submitted shall be classified and numbered one by one and bound into a book, with a brief explanation of the source, object and content of the evidentiary materials, signed and sealed, the date of submission indicated, and copies submitted according to the number of opposing parties.

From ancient times to the present, lawyers have hoped that their cases can be won, so it is necessary for lawyers to take a look at these 20 articles, not only to improve their own ability, but also to save you a lot of money!

1. When filing a case, the litigation fee shall be charged based on the value of the house and vehicle determined in the plaintiff's complaint.

Where the subject matter of the litigation is housing, land, vehicles, etc., or intellectual property rights, and the value is difficult to determine at the time of litigation, the amount of the subject matter of the litigation is to be determined on the basis of the value claimed by the plaintiff. [Article 198 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

2. The court can refund the litigation fees that the winning party has paid in advance, and there is no need to apply for enforcement.

After the judgment takes effect, the court shall refund the litigation costs paid in advance but should not be borne by the winning party. [Article 207 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

3. Without the defendant's ID number, or even a phone number, the court can file a case.

Where the plaintiff provides information such as the defendant's name and address that is specific and clear enough to distinguish the defendant from others, it may be considered that there is a clear defendant. [Article 209 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

4. The agent may not have a power of attorney.

In the summary procedure, the parties may orally appoint an agent on the spot, and the court can record it in the record, and there is no need to provide a power of attorney. [Article 89 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

5. Not everyone can be an agent ad litem.

Only lawyers, close relatives, staff members of the unit, and persons recommended by a specific unit can become agents ad litem. [Article 58 of the Civil Procedure Law]

6. Even if there is an agent ad litem, the parties may have to appear in court.

Even if an agent ad litem (including a lawyer) is appointed, the court may still require the client to appear in court to be questioned about the facts of the case if the court deems it necessary. [Article 110 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

7. The certification materials issued by the unit cannot only have the official seal of the unit.

If the supporting materials provided by the unit are used as evidence, in addition to the official seal on the supporting materials, they should also be signed or sealed by the person in charge of the unit and the person who produced the supporting materials. Note that the requirement here is that both the person in charge and the certificate producer must sign or affix their seals. [Article 115 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

8. The court may only notify the agent of the matter.

All kinds of notices and documents of the court may be served only on the parties or their representatives. [Article 132 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

9. The contact information left by the parties to the court is valid for the entire proceedings.

Where a party does not change the address (contact information) for service in writing at the time of appeal, retrial, or enforcement, the address for service confirmed in the first-instance trial procedures may be used as the address for service in the second-instance trial, retrial, and enforcement procedures. [Article 137 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

10. The summary procedure shall not be served by public notice.

When the defendant cannot be reached by the court's telephone, courier, or door-to-door, a public notice will be used. Before the notice can be served, it must be converted to an ordinary procedure. [Article 140 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

11. The court shall issue a receipt for the receipt of evidence.

When the parties present the evidence to the judge, especially when the original evidence such as IOUs, IOUs, bank documents, contracts, etc., be sure to ask for receipts. [Article 66 of the Civil Procedure Law]

12. Where the case is tried through summary procedures or concluded through mediation or withdrawal, the litigation fee is halved.

In cases that apply the summary procedures at trial, or where the case is concluded through mediation by the parties or withdrawal of the lawsuit, the case acceptance fee shall be reduced by half. [Articles 15-16 of the Measures for Payment of Litigation Costs]

13. The second-instance trial shall pay litigation fees in accordance with the amount of the first-instance judgment.

Where an appeal is filed in a property case, the case acceptance fee shall be paid in accordance with the amount of the appeal request for dissatisfaction with the first-instance judgment, instead of the second-instance litigation fee in accordance with the amount of the first-instance case acceptance fee (twice the amount for the summary procedure). [Article 17 of the Measures for Payment of Litigation Costs]

14. If the evidence is submitted within the time limit, the other party shall be compensated for the expenses incurred thereby.

Where one party requests that the other party compensate for the additional necessary expenses such as transportation, lodging, meals, lost work, and witnesses appearing in court to testify due to the late provision of evidence, the people's court may support it. [Article 102 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

15. Witnesses are not allowed to observe court proceedings.

Witnesses are not allowed to attend court proceedings or they will be disqualified. [Article 58 of the Provisions on Evidence in Civil Procedure]

16. Four situations where the time limit for trial is exceeded.

The trial time limit refers to the time limit from the filing of the case to the announcement of the judgment, but the period of announcement, appraisal, settlement of the parties, and jurisdictional objections (disputes) is not included. [Article 243 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

17. The appeal period shall be counted separately.

Where the court judgment or ruling cannot be served on both parties at the same time, the appeal period is calculated from the date on which they each receive the court documents. [Article 244 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

18. The parties may agree to have the court apply the summary procedures to hear the case.

The parties may agree in the contract dispute resolution clause that the court shall apply the summary procedure for trial. [Article 157 of the Civil Procedure Law]

19. The litigation behavior of the parties shall not be reversed.

The litigation acts carried out by a party in the first-instance trial procedure are still binding on the party in the second-instance trial procedure. [Article 342 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]

20. The court mediation process is not public.

When the court presides over the mediation, you can ask the observer to leave the room. [Article 146 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law]