American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 256 The Mad Dog Lawyer's Methods (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

At 5 p.m. that day, in Vancouver, Canada, at Arc'teryx's global headquarters.

The atmosphere in Marcus Weber's office was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

He and his top-notch legal, financial, and public relations team, like a group of prisoners about to face their final trial, awaited the arrival of Matti Singh.

The sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was beginning to darken, as if foreshadowing an approaching storm.

This elderly man, nearing seventy, not very tall, dressed in a well-tailored dark suit, looked like a retired university professor.

When he walked into the office with three equally expressionless, sharp-eyed young lawyers, Marcus didn't feel relaxed at all.

Marcus knew that the most dangerous beasts often wore the most inconspicuous clothes.

“Hello, Mr. Singh.” Marcus broke the silence first, his posture still sincere.

“We have prepared a brand new, three-year, $24 million (after tax) global brand ambassador contract. This is a testament to our commitment.”

Marty Singh didn't even look at the thick contract meticulously prepared by Arc'teryx's top legal team; he simply pushed it aside and handed it to his assistant behind him.

He slowly began, “My client authorized me to come not to receive charity, but to discuss what kind of compensation you should provide for his commercial defamation and breach of contract risks.”

"Infringement? Defamation?" Arc'teryx's legal director, a shrewd and capable-looking blonde woman named Helen, immediately frowned.

“Of course.” A cold smile curled at the corner of Marty’s mouth.

"With Mr. Lin's brand ambassadorship contract with your company still in effect, your company unilaterally conveyed your decision not to renew the contract through a third-party channel."

"And it gave the seriously misleading and insulting reason of insufficient commercial exposure. This not only constitutes a public denigration of Mr. Lin's commercial value, but also constitutes commercial defamation."

"This also gives Mr. Lin ample reason to believe that your company will be unable to fulfill its brand support obligations during the contract period, constituting a anticipated breach of contract."

"Now, due to force majeure, Mr. Lin's commercial value has been proven. And you immediately turn back, trying to cover up your previous mistakes with a new contract."

"Mr. Weber, don't you think we should settle the old scores before discussing a new contract?"

Marcus and his general counsel exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of unease in each other's eyes. This mad dog was going to bite where it hurt most right from the start.

General Counsel Helen's expression turned somewhat grim: "Mr. Singh, we have certainly been monitoring these comments. But there is clear evidence of our competitors stirring things up behind the scenes."

She paused, attempting to claim the moral high ground: "Using such unfounded rumors to attack a brand's business decisions is not a respectable tactic."

Marcus scoffed inwardly, thinking that this wave of public opinion was most likely orchestrated by Climbing Rat or Old Man Head.

Their methods were old-fashioned. Knowing that Arc'teryx's contract with Lin Yu-an was about to expire, they immediately released information in the market that Arc'teryx was preparing to give up on Lin Yu-an, thus creating a smokescreen in the media.

This kind of tactic is common in business competition. The only difference is that this time, this small smokescreen unexpectedly detonated into a media frenzy.

“Really?” Marty took a printed document from his assistant and tossed it onto the table.

"This is a report analyzing the popularity of the topic of Archaeopteryx abandoning Lin Yu-an on social media."

"In the past 24 hours, this topic has brought an estimated negative value of more than 50 million US dollars to your company's brand image."

"If I were to leak your internal assessment report on non-renewal of contracts to The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, what do you think the number would become?"

A naked threat!

However, Marty's next words were like an invisible, cold probe, precisely piercing their self-righteous judgment.

"And also unfounded rumors?"

Marty laughed, a laugh as sharp as a crack in ice, filled with a dangerous chill.

He spoke slowly in a casual, conversational tone: "Ms. Helen, what if I told you that what you call rumors are strikingly consistent in detail with the information I have received?"

For the first time, Marcus and Helen's expressions showed a slight change.

Marty ignored their reactions and continued to casually recount the coincidental details in that calm tone.

"For example, I heard that your company recently completed an assessment of Mr. Lin's contract renewal value. It seems that the department that initiated this assessment was the Greater China Marketing Department?"

"Moreover, the final conclusion of this assessment seems quite interesting. The key word is insufficient commercial exposure? If I remember correctly?"

Marcus's heart skipped a beat! A fine layer of sweat began to appear on his forehead.

If the first piece of public opinion only made them feel uneasy, then the second detail was like a precisely detonated bomb that exploded in their minds!
Their expressions instantly changed from troublesome to pure horror!
The assessment did indeed exist! He even knew the most crucial, and most shameful, negative conclusion in the assessment report—insufficient commercial exposure!
Their first thought was that trade secrets had been leaked! Their competitors had obtained this detailed assessment report!
This is no longer a smokescreen! This is a public execution of them, exploiting loopholes in their operational deployment strategy!

Climbing Rat and one of Old Man Head's competitors were merely releasing a vague smokescreen, hoping it would perfectly coincide with the existence of a real internal evaluation report!
Now, Marty Singh, that old fox, is cleverly using this coincidence to turn what was originally just an external attack into a political event.

It escalated to a terrifying level: the leak of internal secrets could trigger a major upheaval within the board of directors!
But after calming down, Marcus and Helen quickly reviewed the entire sequence of events in their minds, trying to find any loopholes.

The good news was that there was no unforgivable breach of trade secrets at the board meeting. But the outcome also left them with a chilling sense of despair.

At the time, Johnson, the head of the Greater China market, led the assessment of Lin Yu-an's contract renewal value based on back-end data and concluded that the contract would not be renewed.

After deciding not to renew the contract, Johnson's team informed the relevant operations staff at Bilibili in advance of the evaluation results so that they could do a good job of reassuring the content creators.

Bilibili's operations staff then informed Lin Yu'an of this final decision.

This is standard procedure in business cooperation and is completely compliant, but that's where the problem lies! This series of business operations, which seemed perfectly reasonable at the time, became a fatal flaw that could not be covered up by any public relations efforts after Justin's post was published!

They did indeed convey the misjudgment based on "insufficient commercial exposure" to Lin Yu-an himself through Bilibili, a partner platform!

Now, Marty Singh, that old fox, doesn't need to steal or plunder any secrets at all.

All he had to do was sit next to Lin Yu'an and listen to the whole story to receive the sharpest knife, handed to him personally by Archaeopteryx!

He didn't need to prove the existence of the report at all, because his client Lin Yu'an and Bilibili (the third party) were the ultimate senders and recipients of the report!

Helen's voice trembled uncontrollably for the first time. They were trapped in a deadly predicament they had woven themselves, a predicament from which they could not escape.

Marty simply leaned back in his chair, interlaced his fingers, and calmly looked at the two Arc'teryx executives in front of him who were completely flustered.

He knew that from the very beginning, the outcome of this war was never in doubt.

Because the opponent's deadly weapon is openly displayed on the table, and they themselves put it there.

All that remains is how to divide the spoils.

After a suffocating silence, General Counsel Helen forced herself to recover from the shock.

She knew that her psychological defenses had been breached, and now, the only thing she could do was to try to save some face for the company in the upcoming territorial concessions and reparations.

“Alright, Mr. Singh,” her voice was a little hoarse, “let’s talk about the new contract.”

She gestured to her assistant to project the pre-prepared electronic contract, priced at eight million US dollars, onto the conference room screen.

"I think the terms of this contract are already..."

"Clear it."

Marty Singh didn't even look at the screen, simply uttering two cold words. The young lawyer behind him immediately stepped forward and took over the projection system using his own computer.

On the screen appeared a brand new set of terms and conditions, but every clause of the draft contract was filled with an oppressive atmosphere.

“Now,” Marty’s voice was like a judge delivering a verdict, “let’s talk about the new contract proposed by my client, Mr. Lin Yu’an.”

For the next two hours, the conference room turned into a one-sided execution.

Helen's legal team attempted a futile resistance against every unfair clause proposed by Marty.

"Firstly, the scope of cooperation. Mr. Lin only provides non-exclusive rights to use his image, which means he can cooperate with other outdoor brands simultaneously."

“Ms. Helen,” Marty interrupted her, “my clients are not obligated to forgo opportunities to work with other more conscientious brands because of your mistakes. There is no room for negotiation on this point.”

"Article Two, Termination Clause. If the brand generates any negative news or makes any business misjudgments that damage Mr. Lin's public image, Mr. Lin has the right to unilaterally terminate the contract without liability and receive full compensation for the remaining contract amount. ... Mr. Singh, that's too harsh!"

“Harsh?” Marty laughed.

"Hasn't your company's business misjudgment this time damaged my client's image? I'm just writing down what you've already done in the terms and conditions. If you have confidence in yourselves, this clause will never be triggered."

"Article Three, regarding the ethics clause. We request to include it..."

“Okay,” Marty surprisingly agreed.

However, he added, "But it must be a two-way street, with a clause stating that if Arc'teryx, its parent company, or its executives engage in any commercial fraud, data falsification, or conduct that contradicts its publicly stated environmental principles..."

“My clients also have the right to unilaterally terminate the contract without liability and receive full compensation. After all, my clients do not want to be associated with an unethical brand.”

Helen was completely speechless.

Finally, when all the terms were refuted by Marty Singh's impeccable logic, he slowly and methodically opened the last page of the draft contract: the fees page.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. This farce is over." He glanced at his watch. "Now, let's talk about the price."

Instead of extending his finger, he said directly to his assistant behind him, "Show Mr. Weber all the reasons we just discussed."

The young lawyer nodded and displayed several key documents one by one on the projector.

The first document was that social media popularity analysis report.

"Mr. Weber, this report is the reason you fired that evaluator. It proves that a flawed evaluation caused you at least fifty million dollars in brand damage."

The second document contains detailed information about the two brands, Climbing Rat and Old Man Head, as well as a summary of intelligence regarding their offering of equity and the purchase of a mountain.

"And these two documents are the reasons you requested an exorbitant budget from the board. They prove that you are facing an unprecedented threat from top competitors."

The third document was a communication record of "non-renewal" that Marty Singh had just received, which was passed on to Lin Yu'an by Bilibili's operations staff.

“As for this,” Marty’s lips curled into a cold smile, “it is the reason you asked Mr. Lin to forgive you. It proves that the harm you caused is a fait accompli.”

He looked at Marcus, who was now cornered on the edge of a cliff, and delivered his final judgment.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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(End of this chapter)