Turning the Tables: How Professional Legal Expertise Won Amir Justice in the Fennel Seed Fraud Case

 

This article underscores the critical need to engage a proficient bilingual lawyer who can communicate seamlessly with you in English. My client had previously retained the services of a local attorney who lacked English language skills, and it goes without saying that the case was regrettably lost. Clear and effective communication is a cornerstone in achieving favorable outcomes in any legal dispute.

Nine months ago, Amir, hailing from Pakistan, sought my expertise after coming across some of my early articles on winning international trade disputes. Amir was facing an urgent issue that required professional legal intervention.

He had placed a 50% deposit for an international shipment of 25 tons of fennel seeds. However, the transaction turned sour when the seller provided falsified bills of lading, and the shipment never arrived. To make matters worse, the seller adamantly refused to refund Amir’s substantial deposit.

In an attempt to rectify the situation, Amir enlisted the services of two lawyers in 2021 to pursue legal action against the seller. Unfortunately, this is where the situation deteriorated further. The lawyers struggled with English communication, leading to significant misunderstandings of Amir’s instructions. In a critical misstep, they initiated a lawsuit against the wrong individual and overlooked crucial evidence, as they were unable to comprehend the English documentation.

 

When the judge posed questions to his lawyers, their responses were limited to “I don’t know” and “I couldn’t understand what my client said due to the language barrier.” The situation was nothing short of catastrophic.

It became evident that the lawyers were completely out of their depth and exhibited a profound lack of professionalism. Their mishandling of the case resulted in a significant blunder. Consequently, Amir not only lost the case but also incurred substantial legal fees.

Case Lost

Compounding the frustration, the defendants failed to appear in court, presenting a scenario so straightforward that even a first-year law student could have secured a victory.

Following the disappointing outcome of the lawsuit, Amir resolved to find a new attorney. A friend of his recommended my services. Upon reviewing the details of the initial trial, I outlined to Amir the errors made by his previous legal representation and proposed my strategy for the appeal. Impressed with the approach, Amir chose to retain my services immediately.

The successful turnaround of this case hinged on two pivotal actions we took that shifted the momentum in our favor.

The first step was to ascertain the true identity of the individual with whom Amir had been corresponding on WeChat regarding the fennel seeds transaction. Since WeChat accounts in China are linked to verified real names, we simply needed to secure a court order compelling Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, to release the account details.

The second crucial action involved unearthing the details of the company’s shareholders. Our investigation revealed that the individual liaising with Amir was, in fact, a shareholder of the company, thereby establishing her direct involvement and accountability in the transaction.

These critical measures were overlooked by Amir’s previous legal counsel, yet they were standard procedure for my team.

We were scheduled for an appeal at the Tianjin court in March. Given the rampant COVID situation at the time, the hearing was conducted online rather than in person. Armed with the correct defendants and evidence, we presented our case, prompting the court to remand the matter back to the district-level court for further deliberation.

The appeal court awarded a refund of the court fees to Amir, who was pleased with the outcome. Shortly thereafter, we received a new summons from the district court. It was our opportunity to rectify the situation once and for all.

During this session, the defendant appeared in court; however, they were ill-prepared to face my skilled team. The court’s ruling was decisive, mandating that the defendant reimburse the funds to Amir.

Unsurprisingly, Amir was content with the outcome as justice had ultimately prevailed. He held my team in high regard for our professionalism, as we had diligently addressed all his questions pertaining to the case and the court procedures.