An Incompetent Lawyer Strikes Again
October 20, 2008 – Having practiced law here, I know firsthand how many incompetent attorneys are here in China. Sure, there are some great ones. But you frequently come across those who seem to have no legal reasoning skills.
I was helping a friend do a contract for his construction project. He and the contractor had negotiated it for a while, and were about to sign it. The contractor decided at the last minute to give it to an attorney friend. That was basically the end of the deal.
The quasi-attorney told the contractor “If you sign this contract, you’re dead fish.” He continued with his wisdom “It’s full of obligations on your end, but none on the customer’s end.” Yeah, except paying. My friend asked what obligations were objectionable, and which ones should he have. Not surprisingly, the attorney couldn’t answer these questions. The contractor then insisted on using the “standard” government-provided form, which doesn’t work for my friend. So the contractor walked.
