Chapter 43 : 6 Billion Won

The pork ribs here were quite famous, a real culinary gem.

Even the samgyeopsal (pork belly) was perfectly juicy, likely due to meticulous meat selection.

I ate two pieces of pork belly wrapped in lettuce and couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

Following Lawyer Yoon’s greeting, I bowed deeply to express my gratitude.

I figured it wasn’t my place, as a secretary, to speak up in such a setting, so I didn’t offer a separate greeting.

“…Yes.”

“Director Ji! Make sure you keep that promise!”

“That’s right. There’s a truckload of witnesses here, so you’ll be in big trouble if you don’t keep it.”

“Haha, alright. Don’t worry, everyone!”

For employees to be so informal with executives…

There was a reason the CEO referred to the employees as family.

‘Something that would be absolutely unimaginable with Go Jong-tak.’

He treats people like dogs; of course, something like that wouldn’t be possible.

In this pleasant setting, I felt a renewed sense of determination.

In truth, I didn’t come to today’s company dinner just to celebrate.

‘Well, of course, Lawyer Yoon is definitely here for the meal.’

I gazed at Lawyer Ahn, who was seated next to the CEO.

At that moment, Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun subtly nodded his head.

He must be about to bring up the matter I asked him about.

The legal letter, that is.

As the atmosphere matured, they both rose from their seats.

Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun and the CEO returned quite a while later.

Just as the company dinner was in full swing, the CEO picked up his glass and stood.

To conclude the gathering.

“I’m so happy and grateful that we could all gather like this today.”

When the CEO greeted everyone, the employees responded with applause.

“Using this as an opportunity, I will work even harder with the mindset of a new beginning.”

“Oh, CEO, then shouldn’t the employees work even harder?”

Director Ji asked, shrugging his shoulders. The CEO then let out a hearty laugh and shook his head.

“No. All of this is the CEO’s fault for not properly supporting the hard-working employees. So, all of you just need to keep doing what you’ve been doing.”

“It’s not your fault, CEO!”

The employees said in unison, and the CEO nodded with a touched expression.

“Hearing you say that gives me strength. Let’s rebuild our company and make it an opportunity for further growth.”

“Wow!”

Amidst the cheers of the people, the CEO went around to each person, pouring drinks.

Finally, he stopped in front of me and Lawyer Yoon.

“Our company doesn’t force anyone to drink. So, if you’re not good at drinking, please tell us beforehand.”

“No, I’m perfectly fine with this much.”

“Haha, I can’t get enough of it!”

“The young lawyer is quite boisterous. Well, since both of you have worked so hard, I’ll pour you a drink.”

We held our glasses with both hands and received the drinks from the CEO.

Then, with Lawyer Ahn, who joined us from across the table with his glass, the four of us clinked our glasses.

“To all our futures!”

The CEO and the lawyers wished each other well and drank.

Perhaps because it was the last round, the aftertaste felt a bit disappointing.

“I had a deep conversation with Lawyer Ahn just a moment ago. He’s truly an impressive individual.”

“It’s a bit embarrassing to hear you say that in front of the person himself.”

Special Mission: Save export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises from the 2008 financial crisis.

The first step has just begun.

If this succeeds, many people working there and their families can also be saved.

In addition, it will earn me the title of having saved struggling small and medium-sized enterprises.

One of the pieces I need to gain admission to Seonghan University Law School as a provincial university graduate.

Of course, if things go as I predict, quite a good profit will also follow.

As I expected, the CEO of An-eum had a wide network in the industry.

It turned out he was the treasurer of a hiking club for CEOs of small and medium-sized enterprises.

He said he plans to attend the meetings starting at the end of next month to improve his physical stamina.

He also said he plans to widely publicize our achievements there.

‘The CEO of An-eum himself is the very proof of our achievements.’

He said he would naturally bring up the legal letter as he attended the meetings.

People’s minds are such that they’d drink lye if it were free, and he even boasted that there was absolutely nothing to worry about with Lee & Yeon Law Firm’s legal letter.

It wouldn’t be difficult at all, as it just involved providing the company representative’s email address.

“The conversation went better than expected.”

“Yes. He’s so enthusiastic it’s almost overwhelming.”

“Of course, it is, when you can receive Lee & Yeon’s legal letter for free.

As CEO An-eum said, the attendance rate won’t be low.”

“Lawyer Ahn, I think so too. A legal letter, this is quite a fresh attempt, isn’t it?”

We sat around the conference table, exchanging opinions about the legal letter.

“What do you think, Lawyer Seo?”

“It’s not bad. Even if the three of us start, it’ll just be a matter of writing a brief one or two times a month. More importantly, we’re not starting right away; we’ll decide after seeing a certain attendance rate, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. CEO An-eum said it would take some time as he won’t be active starting this month.”

“Exactly. Normalizing the company would come before weekend hiking meetings, wouldn’t it?”

Lawyer Seo Il-hwa lightly nodded at my words.

The main reason we gathered today wasn’t actually the legal letter.

Our primary goal was the distribution of profits from the successful food hygiene law violation case.

“Then let’s discuss the legal letter again later when we have more time.”

“Hmm, alright. Then, I’ll assume Lawyer Seo will also attend.”

“Okay. Then, shall we do the really important thing now?”

“Excuse me, may I say something before that?”

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t needed for the distribution of success fees.

This was a matter for lawyers.

No matter how significant my contribution was, I was still not a lawyer.

In fact, the reason I attended today’s meeting was for the secondary goal.

Namely, acquiring Lawyer Seo Il-hwa.

If I received a case, it’s time to return the favor.

“Oh, go ahead.”

This would have been unimaginable before the food hygiene law violation case.

For a secretary to attend a lawyers’ meeting and even have the right to speak.

However, I am the main contributor who led this case to victory with the lawyers.

We wouldn’t have succeeded if I hadn’t found the data based on future cases in my laptop.

In fact, Lawyer Seo Il-hwa even sent an internal email looking for an expert because he found it difficult to handle within his own capacity.

“The day we went to hear the An-eum verdict, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon’s uncle’s case came up, and it seems Lawyer Seo is an expert in that field…”

Continuing my words, I subtly glanced at Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon.

It was right for me to just hint at it and for Lawyer Yoon to speak.

Then, Lawyer Yoon said he wanted to hear Lawyer Seo’s opinion on this case.

“Lawyer Yoon’s uncle?”

“Yes. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but he’s the CEO of a small affiliate company.”

“Oh, right, I remember! What is it? Tell me.”

Lawyer Seo Il-hwa’s eyes lit up at the mention of an affiliate CEO.

Lawyer Yoon explained his situation before getting to the main point.

“Because of this, I couldn’t sleep and even dreamed about it. I’m a bit worried because it’s my uncle’s matter.”

“That’s understandable. Family cases are difficult in that respect. If it goes wrong, you’ll hear about it for the rest of your life.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon nodded in strong agreement with Lawyer Seo Il-hwa’s words.

“On the day of the An-eum verdict, Lawyer Ahn did say that there was a chance of winning.”

“If Lawyer Ahn says it, it’s quite reliable. He’s capable enough to be in the top 20 for win rates in our firm.”

“Hahahaha, of course.”

“But if you’re asking me too, there must be something else.”

“Yes… This is a case where precedent hasn’t been established, so I can’t be sure of the outcome.”

In short, it’s a case without a clear precedent.

Therefore, persuasion is key.

I know the future where we win all three trials.

‘In other words, we can secure sweet retainers and success fees throughout all three trials.’

To think the day would come when I’d be grateful to the National Tax Service.

Thanks to their continuous dispute, if Lawyer Yoon decides, we can take all of this.

I hope Lawyer Seo Il-hwa can resolve that concern.

Hoping he’ll gradually blend into our team like this.

“What on earth kind of case is it?”

“My uncle, whose company is the representative, received a donation for the purpose of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises from a merged corporation.”

“But what’s the problem?”

“He bought the wrong company that received the donation and was hit with a tax bomb.”

The reason I brought this case to Lawyer Seo Il-hwa.

It’s because his area of expertise is taxation.

When the tax issue came up, Lawyer Seo’s eyes sharpened.

“How much was the donation, exactly?”

“6 billion won.”

“Wow, this is huge.”

He recognized the size of the case at once, as expected.

I subtly brought up what I had prepared for the admiring Lawyer Seo.

“Lawyer, since there’s no precedent, I looked into it a bit. If it’s alright, could you take a look at this too?”

“You, Yoo-hee?”

“Yes, it’s my lawyer’s case, so I wanted to be of some help.”

“Ugh…, as expected, Yoo-hee! Thinking of that reliable look you gave me every time I worked overtime because of me, my chest swells with pride.”

“Cough. Let’s stop talking about the past…”

I won’t be working overtime now… I can’t not, but I’ll do less.

Hmm, probably in the near future…

‘Yeah, no chance.’

Let’s say at least within a few years.

I painstakingly pulled out the materials I had prepared while working overtime, and lightly wiped away a tear.

Thinking that it was absolutely not because I kept stirring up trouble, resulting in fewer assigned lawyers but still no rest.

“What have you prepared? Since Yoo-hee prepared it, I’m a bit excited.”

Hmm, right.

No matter how expert someone is, there’s a big difference between starting from scratch and having prepared materials.

“It’s a very recent, hot-off-the-press Supreme Court precedent.”

“Supreme Court precedent? You said no precedent had been established, but there was a similar precedent to this case?”

Lawyer Seo Il-hwa asked with an intrigued look at my answer.

“Haha, if that were the case, Lawyer Yoon wouldn’t have had to lose sleep.”

“Aw, you got my hopes up for a second.”

“…Getting excited over a precedent, are you becoming like Lawyer Ahn?”

“No, that’s just an analogy.”

Lawyer Yoon, who playfully parried my question, took the precedent I had prepared and flipped through it.

“This is a case where the question of whether profit or income increased the company’s net assets is determined by whether it was actually controlled, managed, and benefited from economically, isn’t it?”

In short, it’s a card to use when disputing whether economic benefits were obtained from receiving a donation.

If they’re going to treat it as profit and impose taxes, I must have gained something.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s one of the precedents we’ll use.”

What I know isn’t just the outcome of the lawsuit.

I remember the core legal principles that became key issues in this case.

It was such an impressive result that it remained strongly in my mind.

While it wasn’t a case I directly handled, so there are no records on my laptop, if I know the core legal principles, there’s certainly a good chance of winning.

As if to back that up, Lawyer Seo Il-hwa glanced over my precedent and unconsciously spoke.