Nocturne of Remembrance Read Online Free PDF Page A

Otsuki-sensei of your Osaka branch had a bar association meeting and was out of office that entire day. And the Hokkaido branch’s Yagi-sensei was in court and also out all that day.”
    Horai groaned and then shut his mouth.
    Yoko excelled at ferreting out such facts. These regional cooperation lawyers that Horai tasked to handle distant clients didn’t have many cases themselves, so they bought Horai’s snow job. In such one-lawyer, one-clerk offices, however, schedule management was sometimes not good, and the offices were often left unmanned.
    The findings of the report showed the non-execution of face-to-face interviews. It was clear that Horai’s firm was violating this point of the JFBA provisions. And for Horai, who was seeking the chairmanship of the Tokyo Bar Association, word of this getting out would be a fatal blunder.
    “Page 11 of the report has transcriptions of consultations with various money-lenders. According to that, it seems that all of the negotiation to settle your clients’ debt for a lower amount than they owed has been conducted by your clerks. There is not even one case that wasnegotiated directly by a Horai lawyer.”
    “The office personnel are instructed in advance about the outward amount of money that can be agreed to. They are nothing more than messengers.”
    “Oh, well, then what about Case 22? After relentless negotiations by the lender, your office manager stated that ‘minus 100,000 yen was the limit at his discretion.’ This discussion was recorded by the lender, who can submit it as evidence at any time. Is it just a delusion on my part that, in fact, the discussion might be construed as illegal behavior by a non-attorney according to Article 72 of the Attorney-at-Law Act?”
    “You said a recording?”
    “Yes, the world has really become a convenient place. Unlike the magnetic tape recordings of yesteryear, each phone line has three months’ worth of recorded conversations.”
    “Recordings are not acceptable as evidence.”
    “That’s for sure. But it would certainly be effective in tempering the impression the lawyers sitting in the TBA general meeting have of you.”
    As soon as he mentioned the general meeting, Horai’s shoulders suddenly jerked up and down. As Mikoshiba had speculated, being singled out at the Bar Association definitely seemed a painful prospect for Horai. This was the direction to pursue him.
    “There’s more. Provision 8, Article 2 states that if you are aware that the debtor has other debts, you must not process overpayment refund claims without also attending to the other debts. Your office manager asserted that ‘this firm only takes on overpayment cases.’ There is a recording of this, too.”
    Previously, there had been a provision that the normal remuneration for debt consolidation was twenty percent of the total debt. However, since remuneration provisions did not exist for overpayment refunds, those cases definitely paid better for the same amount of work, and lawyers and judicial scriveners nationwide were runningafter overpayment refund claims. Attorney and judicial scrivener associations throughout the nation hurriedly embarked on a correction course, but these insects had learned the sweetness of the huge tree’s sap and were not leaving it.
    “The Tokyo Bar Association once made a so-called List of the Hundred. It named so-called specific lawyers who processed debt-consolidation cases in conflict with the provision against unprofessional conduct. Based on the list, the bar association moved to discipline those who had conducted shady dealings, but only a small number could be so disposed of, and the rest got away because it is very difficult to prove unprofessional conduct. Moreover, most members had already scraped their shins otherwise and were reluctant to make disciplinary claims against their buddies. But in your case, with such a complete report of both lenders and clients’ testimonies—”
    “Just what do you stand