Tokyo Barrister: Start the law firm bankruptcy

Chapter 871: Fighting a tough battle

Tamashiro was surprised by Kitahara's counterattack. He originally wanted to claim that the amount of the debt was not true and that Nippon Steel was defrauded. However, the other party keenly grasped that the right of revocation for fraud can only be exercised within one year. If it is not exercised within one year, the contract will be legally binding like a normal contract.

The young lawyer in front of him used his own arguments to fight back.

He raised no additional factual or legal points.

Rather, it is simply pointing out one's own logical fallacies.

This way of rebuttal is most suitable for the current situation, because I want to complicate the case.

Yucheng was choked for a moment and couldn't open his mouth to refute immediately.

After all, this is using the enemy's spear to attack their shield.

When Lawyer Abe of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune saw this scene, he couldn't help but think that the performance of this young man named Kitahara exceeded all of their expectations.

The opposite of the styles of lawyers Tanimoto and Tamashiro.

Lawyer Abe's style is to proceed step by step.

He believed in a military motto of the East: "Build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle."

There are no shortcuts in this world.

Abe stood up, holding the documents in his hand. "Chief Judge. The prerequisite for filing for bankruptcy is that the company's assets are insufficient to cover its debts. Nippon Steel is now submitting our balance sheet, audit report, and asset evaluation report to the court. These reports show that Nippon Steel's net assets can still cover its debts and are sufficient to pay its employees. It is true that Nippon Steel's operations are facing certain difficulties, but this is definitely not to the extent that it needs to file for bankruptcy."

Abe pointed to the conclusion of the audit report and said, "Nippon Steel's current financial situation still has sufficient net assets. Bankruptcy is the process that begins the end of a company. Once the bankruptcy process begins, it means that the company's normal operations will come to a halt and the company will enter a state of liquidating assets. It declares that a company is heading towards death."

"Bankruptcy procedures are of great significance to enterprises. Therefore, we must be extremely cautious when initiating this procedure. If it is not absolutely necessary, bankruptcy procedures should not be initiated. Nippon Steel, as the largest steel company in my country, should not initiate bankruptcy procedures when its net assets still have a considerable amount!"

Abe's words were infused with earnest emotion.

I hope the judges of the Tokyo High Court will weigh this carefully.

This kind of words undoubtedly cater to the judge's mentality.

After all, if the company is not really insolvent, the court would be reluctant to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Nippon Steel.

Abe's speech:

It's a completely frontal battle.

A direct head-on confrontation.

Tell the justices present bluntly - Nippon Steel still has net assets and is still worth saving!

"Please give your opinion on the balance sheet and other documents of Nippon Steel," said Judge Ohno Tsutomu. The chief judge on the bench asked the applicant to give a detailed explanation of this issue. Obviously, all the judges attached great importance to the evidence presented by Attorney Abe.

Everyone in the courtroom looked at Kitahara, wanting to see how this young lawyer would respond. Kitahara stood up and said, "First of all, the balance sheet, audit report, asset appraisal report and other documents submitted by the respondent are not the latest dates. They are from half a year ago. At that time, the sixth and seventh steel mills within Nippon Steel had not stopped production, and the cancellation of orders caused by overseas tariffs had not occurred."

"What's the point of balance sheets in this situation?" Kitahara asked.

At the same time, Kitahara picked up the audit report and pointed at the contents. "At present, the labor union of Nippon Steel has voted on the strike plan, and the strike action is likely to pass. At that time, Nippon Steel's production will be completely paralyzed. For such an obvious point, the audit report did not mention it at all. This is not a qualified report."

"The respondent is obviously contradicting itself. For example, just now, attorney Tanimoto said that the contractor's steel had quality problems. But if there were quality problems, did you make an impairment treatment for the inventory in the relevant financial reports? If you said that you did not make an impairment treatment in the financial reports, but at today's hearing you put forward the defense that the steel quality was defective and the debt in question was not due, isn't your contradictory statement very ridiculous?"

Kitahara was refuting the other party almost in a tearing-off manner.

Before the other party had time to react, Kitahara continued, "Nippon Steel has also issued a large number of debt certificates. Many debts are not recorded in the balance sheet, but exist in an off-balance sheet form. In this case, how can we trust Nippon Steel's financial reports?!"

Kitahara made a series of rebuttals in court.

In the audience, Imanishi was also sitting. His daughter, Miyakawa, was involved in such a major case as the bankruptcy of Nippon Steel, so as a father, it was natural for him to come. Imanishi saw Kitahara's confrontation with these bankruptcy lawyers and the rebuttal he just made, which was indeed wonderful.

But being simply brilliant is not enough.

It also has to be useful.

Imanishi is also a commercial lawyer.

He also took on bankruptcy cases.

The law firm founded by Imanishi is qualified as a bankruptcy administrator.

Therefore, Imanishi is naturally very familiar with the court's cautious attitude towards initiating bankruptcy proceedings.

Indeed, Kitahara made these rebuttals.

In court debate, he is undoubtedly qualified.

However, it has limited effect in impressing the judge.

Because the question raised by the Abe lawyer was not answered directly. That is, the net assets of Nippon Steel are still positive and it is not insolvent. You can say that the report date is not the latest or there are other problems, but the cold numbers are there. It is the safest way for the judge to make a decision based on this financial report, at least it will not be wrong.

In simple terms -

There is little risk to the judge if bankruptcy proceedings are not initiated.

However, if the decision is made to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, the judge will carefully examine the grounds for the application. If the applicant is simply unable to pay the due debts, the judge will not approve the bankruptcy proceedings.

Imanishi had just finished making this assessment in his heart:

The next second, Abe's voice was heard, "The other party's lawyer has not responded to the fact that Nippon Steel's net assets are still positive. Indeed, even if there are adverse factors such as the suspension of steel projects and strikes, it is uncertain whether these events will definitely make Nippon Steel insolvent. From this point of view, there is currently no sufficient factual basis to confirm that Nippon Steel has met the conditions for bankruptcy!"

(End of this chapter)