As we approach the end of the lunar new year, the atmosphere of the Spring Festival is gradually intensifying. My team's friends have completed several backlog related tasks and are also preparing for the holiday. Due to limited office space, I asked them to assist in clearing some files of closed cases and transferring them to other places for safekeeping. As a teacher who has been teaching in a university for nearly thirty years, most of the uncleared papers and assignments in the previous years were students' papers and assignments (I will keep good articles). I am now a lawyer (I used to work part-time and only worked full-time in recent years), but this habit has not changed. At the end of the year, I will clean up my documents and summarize the past year.

The assistant asked next to her, "Teacher, what were the most impressive or proud cases that have left you the past year?" "Especially in litigation cases, is it the case that went from guilty to innocent?" She added, as she had previously told me that she wanted to position herself in the field of litigation business. Several successfully mediated civil and commercial cases. The innocent case was because the parties involved were not originally involved in the crime, only in civil disputes, "I replied without hesitation. How can we successfully mediate? How can we make the other party compromise? Or should we persuade ourselves to make more concessions? If the judge wants to close the case in a hurry, how can we mediate when the trial deadline is reached? Is mediation just a matter of indifference? Do agents have a stance, sacrificing their stance or interests to seek reconciliation? Does it harm the interests of the client? Some people say that cases that can be solved with money cannot be reconciled, right? Do I need to learn the art of mediation in the future? Law school There is this course, I heard it was taught by your fifth semester students She threw out a series of questions. As the saying goes, 'ignorant are fearless' and' newborn calves are not afraid of tigers'. These questions are really all on the point. Adhering to integrity and resolving disputes with sincerity is the first element, and more importantly, the privilege of encountering a patient and warm judge, "I replied. This answer is also my experience of representing multiple cases.

I handle relatively more civil and commercial litigation business, so I also have some understanding of the judge's handling style and characteristics. There is generally room for discretion in civil and commercial cases, and whether judges patiently and meticulously handle the case will result in vastly different outcomes. This may also be the main reason for the high rate of appeals and retrial of civil and commercial cases in recent years. Due to the sharp increase in the number of cases, current civil and commercial judges mock themselves as judicial migrant workers, and various completion rates or assessments put great pressure on frontline judges. So, sometimes we find some flaws in the judgment, as long as it's not a mistake in principle, we just laugh it off. But even in such an environment, I have discovered several good judges in my personal experience. On this occasion of welcoming the New Year and summarizing the past, I express my gratitude to them.

The first person to thank is Judge Lin Xiukai from the Civil Second Division of the Guangdong Provincial High Court, who recently handled a dispute over the transfer of equity in a series of enterprises within a certain family. When he was in court to inquire about the addresses of the parties involved, he found that they all lived in the same community. After further inquiry, he learned that it was a lawsuit between family members, which strengthened the focus on mediation. However, due to years of accumulated litigation and deep grievances (it is said that various parties also reported to each other, resulting in multiple enterprises being ordered to shut down by national or local environmental supervision departments, resulting in huge losses), Judge Lin conducted several rounds of mediation on the day of the court session, but no results were achieved. After the trial, the judge instructed the lawyers to continue their efforts and do a good job in the ideological work of their respective parties.

Shortly afterwards, the common elders of the parties passed away, and they all went back to mourning. During this period, one party called their lawyer and expressed their willingness to mediate. The judge seized the opportunity to communicate multiple times and finally facilitated the mediation, which was completed within three days. The party involved said that if the case is judged, it will definitely continue to appeal to the circuit court, and the resentment will further deepen. Judge Lin's patience and warmth resolved the accumulated grievances and saved the family relationship. Recently, all parties jointly commissioned lawyers to present a banner to the judge, with a letter stating "combining hardness and softness to resolve conflicts, integrating theory and law to repair family ties". I recently learned that the parties will all return to their hometown for the Spring Festival, and the parties to the dispute can finally get together without any ill will!

The second is Judge Chen Fa from the Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court. He handled a property division dispute between two young lovers after they broke up. The two disputed apartments were purchased by two people for marriage, but they suddenly broke up due to changes in the woman's family. There was no betrayal of their relationship, but the man felt that he was too old and quickly found another girl to marry. Due to the rise in housing prices in Zhuhai, the segmentation time node directly affects the segmentation value. Therefore, in the first instance of this case, two entrusted evaluations were conducted, one at the time when the woman broke up and the other at the time when the man filed a lawsuit. The first instance determined the point at which the woman broke up and received almost no money. After the verdict, the woman refused to accept the appeal and requested that the verdict be changed or remanded for retrial. In the second instance, I and another colleague represent the female party.

As an elderly judge, Judge Chen strongly advocated for mediation during the second trial. He said that you won't be satisfied with how many times you have to re evaluate the case. The core issue in this case is to open the heart knot and suggest that both parties consider this relationship from the long river of life, view the wealth that has been accumulated through emotional and intellectual efforts, and hope that the memories at that time are beautiful rather than full of resentment. After listening to this paragraph, the man expressed his willingness to consider a settlement in court (the woman did not appear in court). Later, the mediation of this case was successful, and the woman flew back from Hangzhou to Zhuhai to assist the man in handling the transfer of ownership. Both parties were still able to treat each other with courtesy. In November 2018, I went to Hangzhou on a business trip to handle a case, and tried to contact the woman party (we did not meet before, but completed the commission formalities and documents delivery by express, and the details of the case were communicated directly by phone and WeChat). She was very happy, took me to visit the West Lake, and invited me to eat West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce, during which she talked about her views on the Zhuhai property division case. She said that the issue of money is only a matter of one aspect. The last thing she can't let go of is that when we left Zhuhai and returned, the house we bought together lived in someone else, and the other person was unwilling to deal with the problem in a timely manner. The first instance lawsuit was repeatedly evaluated, and the evaluation fee was paid twice. The second instance court's handling was very appropriate, at least considering my feelings. This is not a matter of money, but a matter of respect for people, And I must find an opportunity to express my gratitude to the second instance judge.

The third is Judge Wan Liping from the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, a gentle and resilient female judge. Ms. Han in Guangzhou bought two shops and found that the roof was covered with various exhaust pipes, air conditioning pipes, and fire hoses, with a thickness of nearly one meter. Han complained that the petition had not been successful for several years. Because the developer said they were selling a current building, the buyer could not have been unaware, let alone the nearly double increase in the price of the space, and the buyer was not at a loss. The first instance found that the focus of the dispute lies in whether the seller informed or whether the buyer was aware that Ms. Han, who made the claim, should provide evidence when delivering the building. Therefore, her claim was not supported in the first instance. I represent Ms. Han with a colleague. Remember before the verdict, the judge called and said that you should mediate on your own, giving both of you a week, otherwise the verdict will be passed, and the trial deadline is approaching. I soon received the verdict. This judgment not only dissatisfied Ms. Han and appealed, but also surprised the developers, as they have always been willing to compensate appropriately, just because the price has not been negotiated.

Judge Wan of the second instance believed that there was a basis for mediation in this case, but Ms. Han was once very excited and claimed that she would resolutely refuse to mediate if it was less than tens of thousands. After multiple rounds of coordination, the mediation was finally successful and the transfer was fulfilled on the same day, with great joy for both parties. What makes me feel even more warm is that one day while I was on a business trip in Lanzhou, I drove a car rented by China on the highway. Judge Wan called and said, 'The other party has reported a settlement plan. Don't worry, I'll let you know. If you have any opinions, please let me know and I'll tell them. I'm afraid they'll change their mind when you come back.'. Where is this judge? It's clearly a confidant sister!

I was not familiar with these three judges before and did not intentionally praise them. I also don't believe that case mediation is necessarily the best outcome. But there is no doubt that a fair and lawful judge who combines patience and warmth will be more popular. From these judges, we are pleased to see that although the pressure on handling cases has increased significantly, the vast majority of judges are still able to uphold their inner ideals and beliefs, and practice judicial fairness through practical actions. Lawyers and judges, as legal professionals, should advocate the establishment of a healthy and upward internal legal relationship mechanism, and together contribute to the construction of the rule of law civilization in our country. On the occasion of the Chinese New Year holiday, we would like to extend sincere greetings to the legal professionals who share our mission. We wish everyone good health, smooth work, and all the best!

(The author of this article, Liu Xinggui, has previously taught at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law and Guangzhou University. Currently, he is a senior partner of Guangdong Legal Shengbang Law Firm, the head of training courses at Guangzhou Law School, an arbitrator of arbitration committees in Guangzhou, Foshan, and Zhaoqing, and a consultant to Guangdong Prison Administration Bureau.)