Chapter 41 Chapter Fourteen Preparing for a Lawsuit

The year I lived in Pretoria was the most precious experience of my life.Here I have the opportunity to study public work and gain some working ability.It was here that my religious spirit became a living force; and it was here that I got my real knowledge of the law's business.What I learn here is what a junior lawyer learns from an experienced lawyer.Here I also gained a kind of confidence that I will never fail as a lawyer.I got my recipe for success as a lawyer, also here. Dada Abdullah's case was not a small one, involving gains and losses of £40,000.Because it arises from commercial transactions, it involves many trivial accounts.Part of the requirement is based on the promissory note that has been delivered, and the other part is based on the special promise of the other party to deliver the promissory note.The defendant's defense was that the promissory notes were not duly obtained and without good reason.This delicate case is fraught with numerous factual and legal questions.

Both Plaintiff and Defendant have hired the most talented attorneys and counsel.So I had a great opportunity to study their work.It was my job to prepare the attorney for the plaintiff's case and to pick out facts that would help his case.It is really helpful for me to be able to see how many of the materials I prepared were adopted by the lawyers and how many were discarded, and at the same time, I can see which materials the lawyers prepared were adopted by the legal consultants. a kind of education.I understand that this preparation will give me considerable understanding and ability to use documents.

I am very interested in this case.I really put all my energy into it.I've gone through all the documents on these transactions.My client was a man of great ability, and his absolute confidence in me made my work much easier.I have done quite a bit of research on bookkeeping.My translation skills have also improved as most of the correspondence is in Gujarati and needs to be translated. Although I have said before that I had a keen interest, and often devoted part of my time, to religious questions and public work, this was not my principal interest at the time.My main interest was still to prepare for the case.Reading law books, and looking up legal cases when necessary, is always my first priority.As a result, my understanding of the case may be inferior to that of the plaintiff and the defendant, because the documents of both parties are in my own hands.

I recall the words of the late Mr. Bincarter, who said that the facts are only three-quarters of the law.This statement was later fully confirmed by the late Mr. Leonor, a famous South African lawyer.In one of my cases I found that, though my client's reasons were sound, the law seemed to be against him.I had no other choice, so I went to ask Mr. Leonard for advice.He, too, felt that the factual side of the case was very strong, and suddenly he exclaimed: "Gandhi, I know what to do: if we take care of the factual side of a case, the legal side can take its course. Let us get to this point." Let's go to the facts of the case." After these few words, he asked me to study the case further and then go to him again.When I came back and reconsidered the facts, my eyes were completely changed, and I stumbled upon an old South African case quite similar to this one.Overjoyed, I went to see Mr. Leonard and told him everything. "By the way," he said, "we're going to win this case. But let's make sure it's the judge who handles the case."

When I was preparing for the Dada Abdullah case, I did not fully understand how much the facts mattered.Facts are truth, and once we cling to the truth, the law will naturally come to our aid.I know that Dada Abdullah's case is indeed extremely strong factually, so of course the law is in his favour.However, I also know that if the lawsuit continues, the plaintiff and the defendant will die together, and they are both relatives and equals.No one knows when the case will be closed.If it continues to play out in the courts, it could go on indefinitely, to the detriment of neither party.So, both parties want the case to be closed immediately, if possible.

I went to see Tie Bu Sai and advised him to find someone to arbitrate.I suggested he see his legal counsel.I suggested to him that the case could be settled quickly if an arbitrator whom both parties could trust could be found and called to judge.Lawyer fees are increasing rapidly, and even though the parties involved are all big businessmen, they cannot afford such a huge expenditure.The case took up so much of their attention that they had no time for anything else.At the same time, the mutual animosity is steadily increasing.I loathe this profession.Lawyers and legal advisors for both parties are of course individually looking for legal grounds to support their clients.It's also the first time I've seen the winning party never get back all the money they spent on it.There is a fixed range of fees between the parties under the fee statute, and the actual fees between attorney and client are much higher.This is more than I can stand.I feel it is my duty to bring the parties back together.I tried my best to reconcile them.Finally, Tebu Sai finally agreed.The arbitrator is appointed.Both parties presented their case before him, and Dada Abdullah prevailed.

However this did not satisfy me.If my client demanded immediate compensation from the other party, it would be impossible for Tiebsay to pay the full amount.It is an unwritten law of the Porband Damimans living in South Africa that they would rather die than go bankrupt.It was impossible to get Tibsey to pay the full £37,000 plus legal costs.He was not willing to pay a penny less, and he was not willing to declare bankruptcy.There was only one way this could be done, and Dada Abdullah would agree to his payment of the modest sum in instalments.He generously agreed to this point, and the time dragged on for a long time.It was more difficult for me to get the installment concession than to get them to agree to arbitration.However, both parties are very satisfied with this ending, and both parties have won the praise of public opinion.My happiness is indescribable.I have learned the real practice of law, and learned to grasp the good side of human nature and penetrate into people's hearts.

I learned that the real job of a lawyer is to make peace between two parties who have a bad relationship.This lesson was so deeply imprinted on my mind that the greater part of the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was spent in the promotion of private compromises in thousands of cases.I have nothing to lose by doing this—not even my income, let alone my soul.