An Extraordinary Lawyer’s Subspace - Chapter 184



Only Krnovel

【Episode 184 – Decision to sue】

This is the first time I’ve seen such an absurd case.

When they charged me $240,000, I offered to settle for $70,000, but they asked for $10 million.

‘What the heck? These crazy people?’

Silence fell in the conference room of the legal department in the New York office.

Present in the conference room were Joshua Morris and Shawn Johnson, attorneys from the claims team, as well as the head of the claims team and the staff member who had been consulting with them.

Everyone is wondering how to respond to the absurd counteroffer from the claimant.

Slightly shocked.

“Are you sure? Did you really say ten million dollars?”

“Didn’t you see the documents that guy left behind?”

I heard that he left a bundle of documents behind.

However, the $10 million claim was so absurd that I wanted to hear directly from the claims handler I spoke to whether the pro bono attorney was being sincere or just a show.

The head of the claims team answered the questions of the head of the legal team on his behalf.

“I heard about that. I haven’t reviewed the paperwork yet, but you really asked for ten million dollars? No one in their right mind would do something like that.”

“That’s what happened. He said he would sue her within the next week unless she promised him ten million dollars. Right, Laura?”

“Yes, that’s right. And I warned him not to contact the claimant directly again without his permission.”

“There’s no way we’re going to give in to such an outrageous demand. So, what, you’re really going to sue for ten million dollars? Why?”

“How would I know that?”

We have five members of the insurance claims department’s legal team/billing team with a combined 50 years of experience, but we can’t seem to come up with an answer.

It wasn’t that I was worried, I was just confused about how to report it to management.

“Are you really going to sue me?”

“You call that a threat? That’s too absurd for a threat.”

“It’s either to show that he’s crazy or to get as much settlement money as possible.”

“So, you have to act crazy to a certain extent. If someone asks you for ten million dollars out of the blue, you’re not going to say, ‘Oh, you’re crazy. Here it is. I’ll give you the full amount you asked for.’ We’re not a small insurance company.”

It’s a large company that accounts for 15% of the US property insurance market.

“Oh my gosh, what should I do? Should I really report this to management? How?”

“Then, just ignore it? What if you actually file a lawsuit?”

“If you bring it up, it will happen, you know. Anyone can see that it is an emotionally-motivated prevolus ligation.”

“Frivolous litigation:

“A ‘frivolous lawsuit’ or ‘frivolous litigation’ that has no legal basis and therefore cannot be won. It is called this when it is judged that the lawsuit was filed primarily for the purpose of annoying the other party.

“So, are you really saying we shouldn’t report it?”

There is no intention to hide anything.

I just don’t want to report such an outrageous claim to management and make a fuss about it.

However, the amount is too large to ignore and not report at all.

The head of the legal team thought for a moment and said,

“I guess I should report it. But I don’t think it’s necessary to go into detail. Let’s keep it brief. Briefly. The emotionally hurt claimant.”

He answered, and the meeting attendees all agreed with his opinion.

The report was made to PIC Insurance management in that manner.

-*-

There is no contractual agreement law in the United States.

The problem of consumers being protected as parties to a transaction in a situation of information imbalance is also present in American law, but the way the problem is approached is quite different from that of our country, which is a continental legal system.

In South Korea, individuals who have suffered damages due to unfair corporate practices can appeal to the state.

You can demand, ‘I suffered this much from the government, so the government should step in and fix it!’

Of course, there are such government departments and agencies in the United States as well.

However, as mentioned earlier, since the approach is different, it is a caution that respects the “principle of freedom of contract” unless it is judged to be clearly unfair.

That is, their common first reaction is, ‘You should have read the contract carefully.’

If you’re lucky, you might find a more sympathetic civil servant.

So sometimes private organizations that come together to protect consumers are much more effective, because they have to act as a loudspeaker for politicians to respond.

Now that I think about it, Korea might be similar.

It’s just a difference in degree.

Anyway, consumer protection in the United States is similar to law enforcement in the United States.

It’s not like there is no law.

It’s not like there aren’t any police.

But there are too many blind spots.

Only the victims are being wronged.

There are times when it is understandable why individuals take up arms.

“Are you sure you can charge like that, sir? Someone at church said that if you get too greedy, the judge might not like it.”

It’s not entirely impossible in theory, but if a judge were to say something stupid like that in court, he would be in the news too.

“That won’t happen.”

Claim amount: $10 million.

Of that, $9.45 million is sought in punitive damages.

A claim to order compensation greater than actual damages for the purpose of punishment because the company’s actions were malicious.

They deliberately charged such an outrageous amount.

Frankly, I doubt the court would order that amount of money.

If they really make that decision, it’s a lucky case.

However, the reason why I made a counter offer for an amount that would obviously be rejected is,

“As I explained last time, the situation is such that it is advantageous for us to show interest in the media, so we have requested a large amount.”

This was a moment when a ‘loudspeaker’ was needed.

In Korea, when people suffer injustice, they often use the community.

Posting articles or photos on bulletin boards that many people see is more effective than the police, consumer agencies, or even newspapers.

There are platforms of this nature in the US, but articles are still effective.

Video is more effective than text.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll take care of it.”

It doesn’t usually give you that much confidence.

When I look at Ms. Yoon Geum-ja, I think of my mother in Seoul.

A malfunctioning valve caused a flood in the laundry and the store next door, but the insurance company made excuses to delay payment and ultimately did not pay out the compensation.

Although there were some minor flaws, they were not grounds for refusal of payment.

It was annoying.

Mr. Park Jae-hong suffered from an illness and was hospitalized because of that incident.

Unable to work, he had to sell his laundry, and with the money he barely managed to compensate the store next door, and now he was barely surviving on his pension.

When I first took this case to court, I advised them that the claim amount was small.

After reviewing the damages and looking at the case law, it seemed like we could easily claim around $500,000 to $600,000.

That’s why I said that.

However, the exhausted Yoon Geum-ja said she only wanted to be compensated for her husband Park Jae-hong’s hospital bills and the money from the sale of the store.

Beomsang respected Yoon Geumja’s opinion.

He politely asked for only $240,000.

But what I got in return was a $50,000 settlement, something along the lines of, “Eat this and get out of here.”

He also ignored the custom and directly contacted Ms. Yoon Geum-ja, pressuring her to accept the offer within a day or else he would lose a single penny.

Beyond being outrageous, this was a remarkably unscrupulous and malicious act.

I intend to fight.

I am confident.

It will make you sleepy by making many eyes look at you.

‘I thought he’d just do it half-heartedly and then quit.’

If you think so, you are mistaken.

I intend to fight even if it takes years.

‘The thing I have the most is time.’

Tiring- Tiring-

-Hello. Who are you?

“Hello. My name is Beom Sang Han. Are you Tom Brent from the Manhattan Voice?”

-Yes, that’s right. But, who are you? A commoner?

“I am a lawyer currently pursuing a master’s degree at Harvard Law School. I am contacting you because I have a case that I think you might be interested in. If you have time, I would like to meet and talk to you.”

Modern society is connected by contractual relationships.

Corporations, media, and government.

The reason I didn’t contact reporters from major media outlets like the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal was because they had to be outlets that had nothing to do with PIC Insurance.

When the ten-million-dollar lawsuit starts, everyone will be interested, but before that, someone who can be Yoon Geum-ja’s “megaphone” is needed, and Tom Brand, a reporter for the Manhattan Voice, is the perfect person.

-Okay. How about Fair Coffee near Union Square tomorrow at 2pm?

According to ‘Future Records’, 10 years later, he became the first reporter for a so-called third-rate online newspaper to win the Pulitzer Prize for public service.

“Okay. Then, I’ll see you there tomorrow.”

-*-

A week later.

Manhattan, Union Square,

The Manhattan Voice office.

A man named Han Beom-sang actually filed a ten million dollar lawsuit against PIC Insurance.

I didn’t receive any documentation, but if what he said is true, it could be said that PIC Insurance ruined a small business owner’s life.

The materials will be available for inspection in court once litigation begins.

If events unfold as he expects, PIC Insurance will have no choice but to respond to the lawsuit, and it is a case that is sure to command attention for the next week or two.

A small laundromat suing America’s #1 property and casualty insurance company for $10 million is a surefire way to generate clicks.

Tom Brent’s concern was whether this was a story worth writing about.

The narrative is good.

However, if it is an incident that will be swept under the rug or an agreement reached in the middle, I don’t really want to write about it.

There are plenty of other people out there who would write articles just for the sake of clicking.

‘But how did that person know me and come looking for me?’

I couldn’t ask.

“hmm···.”

I’ll have to ask him next time we meet.

Tom Brent started typing.

Write an article.

Trust your instincts.

It wasn’t the face of someone who had started out with the intention of ending it half-heartedly.

“An unfortunate incident that occurred three years ago at a laundromat in Flushing completely devastated a family······”

Knock knock knock knock-

···

At the same time,

In the building next to Madison Square Garden,

Roy Sanders, a partner on the Kaiser Dutton Hill insurance team, was reading through Han Beom-sang’s statement.

Although he is a very expressionless person, his expression is not something that can be considered good.

Thirty years later, after completing his review, Roy Sanders called the cell phone of the PIC Insurance general counsel.

Tiring- Tiring-

-Roy, have you reviewed everything? What do you think?

“I think we need to come to an agreement on this.”

Bombing alone

Roy Sanders of the insurance team at Kaiser Dutton Hill was not one of those lawyers who played golf with clients and left document review to juniors just because he was a senior partner.

We carefully examined the complaint received from Kim & Kang and the opinions and claim supporting documents submitted by Beom-sang to PIC Insurance.

A case where various issues are intertwined.

The insurance accident occurred during the renegotiation period after the contract was terminated.

The terms of the contract changed as renegotiations were concluded.

Although the accident itself was covered by insurance, it was true that the insured had violated the special provision regarding valve inspection.

A lawyer who was not familiar with recent insurance case precedents would likely have decided that it was okay to refuse to pay out the insurance money.

So why did the experienced PIC Insurance legal team do that?

Because you have a lot of experience, you may not have kept up with the latest case laws.

Otherwise, it could be that they thought that since it was a complicated case, the claimant would give up if they held out.

The two may be mixed.

At first, he may have mistakenly rejected it because he didn’t know, but he may have made unreasonable claims even after he realized the error in order to cover up his mistake.

The former is sloth, the latter is malice. If they are mixed, it is the worst.

What that means is that there is still evidence of a mistake somewhere.

So I advised him to settle with the PIC Insurance legal director.

Of course, as it was a complex case, there were some points here and there that could have confused the court.

It is also an incident that can tire out the opponent by pushing them with ‘time and money’.

The case where this strategy works best is insurance cases.

Claimants in urgent need of money.

However, the reason I advised that it would be better to reach an agreement was because of Han Beom-sang’s legal opinion.

I know the law exactly.

It is not just about knowing the provisions and being familiar with the case laws,

A lawyer who calculates, down to the decimal point, the probability of how relevant case law and laws will be applied.

He’s the type that would be really annoying if he had to go to court.

however···

-Roy, the other side’s lawyer rejected the settlement offer.

‘You refused? Even though I offered you the full $240,000?’

Roy Sanders visited the 11th floor of 1300 Avenue of America.