The Greatest Conglomerate Ever With the American Lottery

29. Do you know how much my stamp cost?

Defense counsel?

Not even a defense attorney, but a defense team?

That’s right, a defense team from that cleaning law firm that even I’ve heard of?

What kind of newfangled bullsh*t is this?

You’re suing me because you got drunk and got rowdy?

This is so ridiculous I can’t even speak.

Let’s just calm down and figure this out.

“No, what the hell is going on right now? Oh, I’m sorry I said that earlier. I apologize.”

– No, it’s okay, I would have sworn too, so I understand your frustration.

“Thank you.”

– Here’s the current situation: after yesterday’s incident, we immediately called in the captain and crew of KE760 to investigate. We’ve heard their statements, and we’ve seen the video.

“So?”

– This was no excuse, and this wasn’t the first time this passenger had been disruptive – he’d been disruptive three months earlier, and he was notorious among the crew for his frequent bouts of aggression and profanity.

“No, why would you fly someone like that? If this happens again, even I won’t fly Korean Air again. Is he the only one who matters and not the other passengers, and that’s in first class, which I paid over 10 million won for?”

– I sincerely apologize for that. In my defense, not only my airline, but Asian airlines in general, compared to Western airlines, have a very high “customer is king” mentality, so it’s not uncommon, in fact it’s almost unheard of, to be put on a denied boarding list.

“No, not even this guy, because based on his behavior yesterday, I’m guessing he’s not going to be a joke any other time?”

– This passenger really crossed the line, and I usually don’t mind a little misbehavior once in a while.

“Well, since you’re so flaky, your airline’s owner’s daughter is playing with peanuts—. Tsk tsk.”

– What? Excuse me. I’m just apologizing.

Well, what can a salaryman say about his airline owner’s daughter-in-law?

Let’s not bother.

“I understand where you’re coming from. So what?”

– Thank you for your understanding. Upon further review, this time the passenger went too far.

“Huh?”

– So, aside from the fact that he’s already been arrested by the police and is being investigated for violating the Aviation Security Act, we’ve decided to press charges of criminal mischief.

“Injury?”

– Yes, the flight attendant who was kicked was diagnosed with a lumbar sprain, and the passenger had severe cuts on his hands and arms from the way he severely mauled two other flight attendants. The doctor said he’d be scarred for a while, so we decided to file criminal mischief charges, which are more serious than assault for now, even though they might apply.

“That was a good move, wasn’t it?”

– Yeah, thanks. Anyway, we’re coming to that conclusion, and then today we get a call from the cleaners, saying that they’ve taken on the passenger’s case, and their client was beaten up pretty badly, and they’re going to charge him with assault and battery. And our lawyer checks it out, and they have four defense attorneys, and one of them is a former prosecutor, and one of them was an assistant district judge not too long ago.

“Ha! Isn’t this ridiculous?”

He’s quick to respond.

And with an ultra-luxurious plate with a full pipe.

What kind of family is he from?

Is he some kind of chaebol second generation?

“Who the hell is he? Is he the second generation of a chaebol?”

– Turns out, he’s the second son of a feminine products supplier called Daejang Mulsan.

“What? A feminine product supplier? A feminine product supplier has a conglomerate?”

– They say they’re a small and medium-sized company. The factory is in China, and the headquarters in Seoul has less than 20 employees. We tried to find out more, but it’s a limited company, so the details are—.

Huh?

I mean, a second-generation small business has a full-fledged defense team just because he got beaten up for going on a rampage?

And these days, SME 2 with less than 20 employees flies first class?

Even Mr. Hong of Daesung Apparel, a company with over 30 billion in sales, flies economy class?

“You must be crazy. So what?”

– For now, the passenger was released. Yesterday evening, the defense lawyers came and took over. They said that the violation of the Aviation Security Act was so obvious that they would have to investigate further and send the case to the prosecutor.

“Isn’t pressing charges against me a way to get them to drop the Aviation Security Act violation?”

– No, it’s not. The Aviation Security Act is not a pro se or semi-pro se offense, so there’s no such thing as us suing you and you dropping it.

“Oh, I see.”

– Anyway, they’re cutting off the medical certificate and they’re going to sue us tomorrow. So, I’m really sorry, but I think you should get a lawyer, and if you don’t know anybody, you can get one of our lawyers, and we’ll pay for the lawyer.

“You want me to hire a lawyer?”

What is this?

I thought you said you were going to Korea for a while.

– Do you know any lawyers?

“Wait a minute.”

I don’t think this is a good idea anyway, but where the hell am I going to get a lawyer?

I don’t think it’s a good idea, because they’re a bunch of guys with full suits.

Kim Jin-ho, the former chief prosecutor?

That doesn’t seem right.

Dong-chul’s relationship with his brother, Jeffrey, seems to be strictly give-and-take, and he can’t afford to be indebted to him for this kind of sh*t.

But then.

Suddenly, Professor Jang Young-dong spoke up.

“Mr. Kang.”

“What?”

“Tell him that you have a lawyer and you’ll take care of it.”

“What? You have a lawyer?”

“Just do what I tell you, and if you want to talk about the details, hang up the phone.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Oh, and one more thing. Tell them to set up a meeting with their lawyers tomorrow before they sue. I’m sure Korean Air will arrange it, and they’ll come out thinking they’re going to settle.”

“Okay.”

I grabbed my phone again and said what Prof. Jang told me to say, and he said he would get in touch with them and get back to me.

“Or maybe you can find me a lawyer?”

I thought about it, but it didn’t seem right, so I asked Prof. Jang.

“Why, you don’t like me?”

“What? How can someone who used to be a Supreme Court justice do such a menial job, and from what Dong-chul told me, you haven’t even registered to practice?”

I don’t know, but I do know that being a Supreme Court Justice is the highest position a judge can reach.

And to have someone like that take a case that wasn’t a big deal, a simple assault with a single punch?

I think it was a little bit wrong.

If I did it wrong, I might be embarrassed that a former Supreme Court justice was blinded by money and took on a case like assault.

This was really a burden on me.

“hahahaha, you don’t have to do that. You’re my watering hole now, so I should look good, right?”

“Ouch! What do you mean—.”

“And, just in case, I haven’t registered to practice law, but I am a registered attorney. I don’t mind practicing as long as I’m advising the public interest, and I’m going to leave my official duties to a junior whom I know.”

“Ah! I see, then I don’t mind, but—.”

“Then tell me about the case in detail.”

Since I was told that the case would be handled by someone else, I felt less pressured and explained the details of the case.

“Heh, you’re really a bad guy, aren’t you?”

“No, I mean, if this was America, I’d be a hero, right?”

“If this were America, yes.”

“What?”

“As you know, our country has a very conservative view of self-defense.”

“Yes, I know that, but—.”

“I’m sure Mr. Kang’s actions were in self-defense.”

“Hmm? Didn’t you just say that my country has a conservative view of self-defense?”

“hahahaha! No matter what anyone says, Mr. Kang’s actions meet all the requirements of self-defense, such as the legal interests of himself or others, the immediacy of the infringement, the unreasonableness of the infringement, and probable cause. Moreover, under the Aviation Security Act, you were acting at the request of the captain, etc. So, in principle, it’s self-defense with a carving-out of illegality.”

“Is there such a law?”

“Yes, there is. Would you like to look at the computer here?”

As he spoke, Prof. Jang typed “Aviation Security Act” on the computer.

Why isn’t he reciting it like he did earlier?

I was honestly surprised when he told me about the social work law.

I thought, “This guy is a genius.

But why?

“Hey—.”

“What?”

“Earlier, you memorized a bunch of laws.”

“Hmm? Ah! hahahahaha! How am I supposed to memorize all those laws? Am I not a genius? No, even a genius can’t do that, it’s just that I heard Mr. Kang’s words from Dong Chul-yi and looked them over before you came.”

“Ah—.”

So it was like that.

“hahahaha, let’s see here, it’s in Article 22 of the Aviation Security Act, Powers of the Captain, etc.”

“But I was requested by the Director General?”

“It doesn’t matter, as you can see, ‘captain, etc.’ includes crew members who have been delegated authority. In this case, the office manager would certainly qualify.”

“Gasoline, so that’s a good thing?”

“Yes, it’s a good thing.”

“Then what are you saying is the problem?”

“The problem is that Mr. Kang hit him with his fist and made him faint.”

“No, that’s not the problem, how am I supposed to subdue a drunk and luminous guy?”

“Unfortunately, the law is open to viewing that as a disproportionate use of force. In other words, the defense may have gone beyond the call of duty. It’s called over-defense, and it’s the kind of thing that mitigates liability, although our courts don’t often recognize even that.”

“No, there’s no such law,” you say, “the asshole is livid, and you’re only supposed to do as much as he does?”

So I’m supposed to kick him in the stomach with my feet and claw at him and spit on him?

Does that even make sense?

What the f*ck are all these f*cking laws?

“hehehe, calm down. If I’m being objective, given the uniqueness of being on an aircraft, and the fact that you’ve received a formal request for cooperation from the director general, there’s a good chance that the prosecution won’t charge you, or if they do, you’ll be acquitted… in a normal case, that would be a different story. But!”

What’s with the “but” anyway?

“Well, what else is the problem?”

“The problem is!”

“…”

Why are you doing this to me?

“The other party is Sejeong, one of the big four law firms, and you said they have a whole team behind them?”

“Yes, they have one former prosecutor and one former assistant district judge, but is that really such a problem?”

“Yes, it’s embarrassing, but it is a problem. This is what’s scary about big law firms: they usually have a vast pool of talent, and when a case comes in, they can just throw in whatever lawyers they think are right for the case. You mentioned earlier that you have a former deputy district court judge, and that’s probably a former deputy district court judge in Incheon that you brought in recently, because that’s the jurisdiction.”

“Do they have that much influence?”

“It’s really wrong, but yes. They build their teams based on two things. One is a former prosecutor who can get a lower sentence so you don’t have to serve time because the crime is so obvious that innocence is impossible anyway, and the other is a former prosecutor who can get Mr. Kang, the guy who beat up the suspect, off the hook.”

“Is that how the law works?”

“It is what it is.”

Why is the world so rotten?

“Do you know how much my stamp costs?”

“What do you mean, the price of a stamp?”

“At least a former Supreme Court Justice like me shouldn’t be practicing law. But nearly 60 percent of former Supreme Court justices go into private practice or join big law firms and influence cases, especially if they’ve only been out of office for a couple of years, like me, and they’re still on the bench, and if they’re still on the bench, they get paid a basic $50,000 to put their stamp on a brief or an appellate brief, even if they haven’t actually done anything.”

“Even if I don’t do anything?”

“Yes, just a stamp and that’s it.”

That’s a lot of money.

“Anyway, that’s what I’m saying is that it’s a burden to be the other side. Something that should be dismissed, or at least not charged, can be charged or incriminated.”

“…”

I was really at a loss for words.

“What should I do then?”

“Well, first, we need to meet with them tomorrow, get their side of the story, and show them that we’re not messing around, especially since my mere presence will make them cower, and they won’t be able to use their influence to get Mr. Kang involved.”

“Huh—.”

Li Li Ling! Tiri-ring!

Just then, my smartphone rang.

It was Korean Air.

“Yes, Mr. Cho.”

– Mr. Cho, I’ve been in contact with you and we’ve arranged to meet at our office tomorrow at 2pm, is that okay?

“One moment.”

I asked Prof. Jang if it was okay.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

– I said, “Okay, then we’ll see you tomorrow, and if possible, I’d like you to bring your most expensive lawyer, because our lawyer keeps looking, and he’s really not good.

“Yes, we’ll bring our most expensive lawyer.”

If there’s a lawyer more expensive than a Supreme Court justice, tell him to come out.

You’re not going to get a Supreme Court justice.