Old Tang looked at the two people at the door and rose to his feet with a smile, saying, "You must be Miss Kang Xinxin, I'm Mr. Zhao's lawyer, and this must be Lawyer Feng Xuegong, right?"
The middle-aged lawyer glanced at Tang Fangjing and replied with a smile, "Ah, Lawyer Tang, I have long heard of your great reputation."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Feng Xuegong took Kang Xinxin to the plaintiff's seat, though now compared to the joking at the door, their demeanor had become much more serious.
Old Tang's expression did not change, but he suddenly felt he had discovered something; there was definitely a problem between Feng Xuegong and Kang Xinxin!
It was pure intuition; normally, male lawyers and female clients would definitely avoid any appearance of impropriety.
Yet these two spoke with a tone laced with teasing, suggesting an overly familiar relationship.
Suddenly, Old Tang felt that the crux of this case must lie in the relationship between the two!
Maintaining an air of indifference on the surface, he waited a while until Judgment Chief Old Zhou arrived.
The usual procedure was to attempt mediation before the trial, as everyone knew divorce litigation was not easy these days.
However, Old Zhou's attempt at mediation failed right from the start.
"I absolutely will not continue living with him!" Kang Xinxin exclaimed directly to Old Zhou.
Feng Xuegong also spoke up, "Judgment Chief, according to the evidence provided by our side, during the marriage, the defendant repeatedly violated the personal will of our client by using beating and humiliation as means to have relations."
"It was only for the sake of maintaining the family that our client did not expose this, but now, the defendant has been arrested for rape during the divorce litigation, so I deem that mediation is not suitable for this case."
Old Tang looked at Feng Xuegong across the way. The evidence that the other party had provided didn't prove these things, but since the money had been transferred, even if the verdict came through, it would be difficult to enforce.
Not to mention if the party is in prison, without anyone pressing the enforcement judge, the case is likely to drag on for two years and ultimately be dismissed for inactivity.
This woman was really ruthless!
With no mediation possible, the trial had to proceed using the summary procedure, with Old Zhou presiding alone.
The main reason was that the judges were all busy with year-end case closures, which would affect performance assessments.
Whether to use the summary or ordinary procedure seemed, during legal studies, to be determined by the case, but in reality, it was based on the judges' discretion.
If they had a lot of cases on their hands and saw the summary procedure's expiration approaching, they would hurriedly switch to the ordinary procedure, giving them another three months to avoid falling behind.
Old Tang hadn't handled many divorce cases, but he was certainly capable of handling them.
The main point of contention was whether Zhao Lixiang was at fault.
On this issue, the evidence presented by the opposing side was quickly rebutted by Old Tang.
"Without medical diagnosis, without relevant police records, not even testimony from neighbors, and relying merely on a few photos with unclear dates, it's insufficient to determine the existence of long-term family violence."
"As for the case of marital rape, it is still under investigation. Whether the prosecution decides to authorize an arrest does not equate to the suspect's guilt, hence the evidence lacks relevance."
The primary evidence from Old Tang's side consisted of bank statements from the opposing party, along with some evidence obtained from the real estate management center.
"From this bank statement, it can be seen that Zhao Lixiang would submit his salary every month, based on marital trust."
"However, on October 20, November 3, 6, and 13, on these four days, Kang Xinxin transferred a total of 1.35 million yuan of marital property twelve times."
"Furthermore, on November 8, without informing Zhao Lixiang, she mortgaged the marital home, and the proceeds from that mortgage were also transferred."
"Therefore, we have reason to believe that the plaintiff has encroached upon our client's property through the malicious transfer of property prior to the divorce!"
"According to Article 1092 of the Civil Code, if one spouse conceals, transfers, sells, destroys, squanders marital assets, or forges common debts with the intention of encroaching upon the property of the other side, that spouse may receive less or none during the division of marital property upon divorce."
"In conclusion, we argue that the opposing party should not divide any marital property and should return all one transferred."
It was just a divorce case. Though Old Tang did not handle many, he still had a firm grip on this one.
The opposing side thought that since Zhao Lixiang was in prison, everything would be fine.
Feng Xuegong argued a few points but then remained silent; the evidence was clear and no amount of talking would help.
After all, a lawsuit is one thing, enforcement is another, and once property has been transferred and spent in various ways, it's basically irretrievable.
After the trial concluded, Old Zhou returned to announce the verdict: the divorce was granted, and all of Old Tang's litigation demands were upheld.
That is, the opposing party was not to receive any money and had to return all transferred property.
The allegations of domestic violence and those of forced marital actions were not confirmed due to insufficient evidence.
As for the allegations of rape during the litigation period, since it was already subject to criminal prosecution, Kang Xinxin was advised to file a supplemental civil lawsuit with the criminal case.
When the verdict was delivered, Kang Xinxin immediately declared her intention to appeal.
Sometimes a lawsuit isn't about winning but about the act of suing itself.
After the appeal was filed with the court, Kang Xinxin and Feng Xuegong left together. As they walked, Kang Xinxin said, "Lawyer Feng, that Tang Fangjing... he won't screw things up, right?"
Feng Xuegong shook his head, "I'm not sure, but our Director Han has said that this man is dogged; once he bites onto something, he won't let go, so we really need to be careful."