Tokyo Barrister: Start the law firm bankruptcy

Chapter 892 What to do

Soon, Nippon Steel followed the plan drawn up by three lawyers, Tanimoto, Tamashiro, and Abe. Many shell companies forged corresponding purchase and sales contracts and arbitration clauses with Nippon Steel. Subsequently, these shell companies filed arbitration with the arbitration institution, with Nippon Steel as the respondent.

I have to say that these three lawyers really cleverly exploited loopholes in the law.

Because arbitration cases are not subject to the centralized jurisdiction of bankruptcy law.

Therefore, these arbitration cases bypassed the Tokyo High Court. Of course, many places were operating in violation of regulations. Originally, the arbitration cases should be suspended at this time. However, due to the confidentiality of arbitration cases, these cases were conducted in secret, and even if they were not suspended, outsiders would not know.

As for the time of applying for arbitration, the time of forming the arbitration tribunal, the time of issuing the final ruling, etc., all can be adjusted flexibly. You just need to change the date to before the bankruptcy procedure begins.

The arbitration institution naturally knew that what Nippon Steel did was incorrect.

However, which arbitration institution would offend such a large enterprise?
You should know that arbitration institutions are supported by the arbitration fees paid by the parties.

Enterprises are free to choose which arbitration institution to go to for arbitration.

Therefore, the arbitration institution is naturally unwilling to offend clients like Nippon Steel. As for the falsification of evidence and false arbitration, strictly speaking, the arbitration institution is the victim rather than the accomplice. In the end, the responsibility will be traced to Nippon Steel and these shell companies, and the arbitration institution is not responsible.

So, they just turn a blind eye to such things.

In Japan, well-known arbitration institutions include the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association, the Japan Business Alliance Arbitration Association, the Japan Trade Promotion Coordination Council, the Japan Institute of Commerce and Trade, etc.

As a result, many arbitration cases involving Nippon Steel were immediately flooded into these institutions. Under the covert promotion of Nippon Steel, arbitration tribunals were quickly formed in many cases and then quickly issued rulings. Subsequently, these shell companies were equivalent to obtaining debts against Nippon Steel in the legal sense, thereby invisibly increasing the proportion of bank debts.

However, the sudden increase in so many arbitration cases involving Nippon Steel could not be concealed.

After all, the case secretaries in arbitration institutions will always discuss privately, and then spread some of the information to outside circles.

……

……

……

Morning, 10:32.

Eto Law Firm.

"You little brat! Do you know what the situation is like now?!"

In the office hall, Imanishi said this to Kitahara.

After the last bankruptcy hearing at the Tokyo High Court, Imanishi thought Kitahara would lose miserably. But he didn't expect that the development of the matter would be exactly as Kitahara expected. The Tokyo High Court actually agreed to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Nippon Steel in less than three weeks.

It has to be said that Imanishi was also greatly shocked.

The kid in front of me does have some skills.

However, Kitahara's situation is somewhat dangerous now. Imanishi is the chairman of the Tokyo Bar Association, and he naturally knew through certain channels that Tokyo's arbitration institutions have suddenly seen a large number of cases related to Nippon Steel.

"The number of cases against Nippon Steel alone in the current Toyo Commercial Arbitration Association exceeds 200!" Imanishi said, "The claims of the workshop contractors you represent are all gone!!"

Miyakawa and Niwa were nearby. Niwa was an investigative reporter and didn't quite understand what arbitration was.

However, Miyakawa understood what his father meant.

Miyakawa immediately realized that this must be a deliberate scheme by someone behind the scenes to circumvent the restrictions of bankruptcy laws.

“Isn’t this just nonsense!!” Miyakawa responded immediately.

"So, what are you going to do, kid?" Imanishi looked at Kitahara. "It's obvious that Nippon Steel wants to set up a scam and create a large number of false claims."

Kitahara listened to Imanishi's words and began to think. Is it to bypass the Tokyo High Court through arbitration? Kitahara is not a bankruptcy lawyer after all. When he heard the other lawyer's idea, he couldn't help but feel that this was a very clever approach.

Taking advantage of the confidentiality of arbitration to evade supervision by bankruptcy laws.

"We must intercept these cases!" Miyakawa said.

"That's impossible," Kitahara replied. "The biggest feature of arbitration is confidentiality. Case information will not be disclosed to the court. It is very difficult for us to obtain this information. Moreover, it is also very difficult to actually intercept it. You tell the arbitration institution that the trial is suspended because Nippon Steel has gone bankrupt. But even if they secretly hold a trial, what can you do to them? Legally, they will not suffer any consequences at all."

"Can we apply to the court to review whether these arbitration cases are true?" Niwa asked from the side.

“This is also impossible,” Kitahara said, “because the court cannot conduct a substantive review of the arbitration.”

"No substantive review?!" Niwa said in surprise.

"Yes, unless there are cases of corruption or bribery by the arbitrators or illegal procedures, it is possible to apply to the court to revoke the arbitration. Of course, false evidence is also a reason. However, now that Nippon Steel and those shell companies are linked, it is impossible for them to voluntarily admit that their evidence is false. Therefore, it is almost impossible for the court to revoke these arbitration awards."

Kitahara talked about this point -

This is the special attribute of arbitration.

Once the two parties agree to submit the dispute to arbitration, the court will not conduct a substantive review of the arbitration award. In other words, the court will not ask whether the arbitration award is wrong or right. Regardless of whether the evidence is sufficient or how the law is applied, the court will fully respect the decision made by the arbitration institution.

Because, from the very beginning, both parties agreed to submit the conflict to the arbitration institution for resolution.

Therefore, the decision made by the arbitration institution will bind both parties and cannot be changed.

"You also know that once the arbitration decision is made, things will become very troublesome." Imanishi looked at Kitahara and said, "At present, there are hundreds of arbitration awards about Nippon Steel waiting to be made. If the arbitration institution issues a ruling, it will be impossible for the basic court to overturn it. These awards will really become legal claims against Nippon Steel. The proportion of your client's claims will be diluted."

"So, Kitahara. What are you going to do?"

(End of this chapter)