Can we speak of law without love?
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Description
Book Introduction
A one-pyeong legal consulting office in front of the district office bathroom
The sad and bitter people I met there and the stories of the world
When we think of law, most people think of it as something difficult and rigid, and they probably hope to never have to meet a lawyer in their lives.
But no matter how hard you live, no one can avoid the misfortune that strikes them suddenly and without warning.
There are laws in place to help people in such difficult situations, but unfortunately, there are many cases where even the laws are not on our side.
What if, at times like these, I had a lawyer by my side, someone who would stand on the side of people rather than the law and listen to my story?
Attorney Cheon Su-i, who tries to fill the gaps in the cold law with human warmth, is such a person.
His first job after graduating from law school was a one-pyeong free legal consultation center located behind a partition in the hallway in front of the district office bathroom.
The clients who come to see a free lawyer are those who need the most legal protection but are unable to receive it, such as the homeless, the Yakult delivery lady, the day laborer construction worker, and the grandmother who has to learn Korean before writing a will.
Sometimes, even if you wanted to help, there was no way to help, so all you could do was hold someone's hand.
But his clients didn't come to him just because they wanted a quick legal solution.
Sometimes, one person's genuine concern is more important and empowering than a hundred words of advice from a lawyer.
It was actually the clients who turned the rookie lawyer, who was flustered and flustered in front of all sorts of stories he had never heard before, into a person who could laugh and cry with anyone's story.
Thanks to these individuals, who each shared a bundle of life experiences that could never be learned in school or books, while other lawyers gave answers to their clients, the author learned the answers to his own life from his clients.
This book contains the story of learning love and becoming a human being among people.
The sad and bitter people I met there and the stories of the world
When we think of law, most people think of it as something difficult and rigid, and they probably hope to never have to meet a lawyer in their lives.
But no matter how hard you live, no one can avoid the misfortune that strikes them suddenly and without warning.
There are laws in place to help people in such difficult situations, but unfortunately, there are many cases where even the laws are not on our side.
What if, at times like these, I had a lawyer by my side, someone who would stand on the side of people rather than the law and listen to my story?
Attorney Cheon Su-i, who tries to fill the gaps in the cold law with human warmth, is such a person.
His first job after graduating from law school was a one-pyeong free legal consultation center located behind a partition in the hallway in front of the district office bathroom.
The clients who come to see a free lawyer are those who need the most legal protection but are unable to receive it, such as the homeless, the Yakult delivery lady, the day laborer construction worker, and the grandmother who has to learn Korean before writing a will.
Sometimes, even if you wanted to help, there was no way to help, so all you could do was hold someone's hand.
But his clients didn't come to him just because they wanted a quick legal solution.
Sometimes, one person's genuine concern is more important and empowering than a hundred words of advice from a lawyer.
It was actually the clients who turned the rookie lawyer, who was flustered and flustered in front of all sorts of stories he had never heard before, into a person who could laugh and cry with anyone's story.
Thanks to these individuals, who each shared a bundle of life experiences that could never be learned in school or books, while other lawyers gave answers to their clients, the author learned the answers to his own life from his clients.
This book contains the story of learning love and becoming a human being among people.
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index
Recommendation
Prologue: The Warmth of a Person Filling the Gaps in the Law
Chapter 1 Preparation - K-Eldest Daughter of Dal-dongne Goes to Law School
When I was born, everything was decided
Will my life change if I change my name?
A twist drama that turns a pig into a hero
So that deficiency becomes a benefit rather than a poison
The Uselessness of a Rusty Knife
Chapter 2: Beginning - A lawyer who seems like a lawyer but is not a lawyer
When in doubt, wait most of the time
Truth and facts are different
I'm the one being deceived, I'm the one being deceived
Actually, we are all not okay
I want to sue the lawyer
Autumn of the Frill-Necked Lizard
Chapter 3 Family - The Closest and Yet Most Distant Relationship
This is a world where even Mr. Lee from Apgujeong can do it.
I hope my precious child doesn't become a terrible person.
There is someone on the family register who is not my daughter.
I want to be a mother too
Bravo, Dad's Life
Now, it's only been 100 days and I'm eating sweet and sour pork
Chapter 4 Relationships - The Closest and the Farthest
A colleague comes every morning at 10 o'clock.
Live by honor and die by honor
There can be two suns under the sky
Dear neighbors and cousins
The romance of irreplaceable things
I'll have to look into the circumstances
Chapter 5 Life—Things That Must Go On Despite It
I can't close my eyes because I'm curious about what's next.
It's okay if it's a little wrinkled
Even if it is a vain hope at the end of a harsh life
I got a fucking disease
Because even the cold heads are on their side
Chapter 6 End - As it was in the beginning, so it is now, so it always will be forever
There is nothing meaningless in the world.
I have the saddest announcement to make.
Become a person who survives more powerfully than anyone else
The scariest thing in the world is
So that you don't have any regrets at the last moment
Epilogue: I'll listen carefully and go.
Prologue: The Warmth of a Person Filling the Gaps in the Law
Chapter 1 Preparation - K-Eldest Daughter of Dal-dongne Goes to Law School
When I was born, everything was decided
Will my life change if I change my name?
A twist drama that turns a pig into a hero
So that deficiency becomes a benefit rather than a poison
The Uselessness of a Rusty Knife
Chapter 2: Beginning - A lawyer who seems like a lawyer but is not a lawyer
When in doubt, wait most of the time
Truth and facts are different
I'm the one being deceived, I'm the one being deceived
Actually, we are all not okay
I want to sue the lawyer
Autumn of the Frill-Necked Lizard
Chapter 3 Family - The Closest and Yet Most Distant Relationship
This is a world where even Mr. Lee from Apgujeong can do it.
I hope my precious child doesn't become a terrible person.
There is someone on the family register who is not my daughter.
I want to be a mother too
Bravo, Dad's Life
Now, it's only been 100 days and I'm eating sweet and sour pork
Chapter 4 Relationships - The Closest and the Farthest
A colleague comes every morning at 10 o'clock.
Live by honor and die by honor
There can be two suns under the sky
Dear neighbors and cousins
The romance of irreplaceable things
I'll have to look into the circumstances
Chapter 5 Life—Things That Must Go On Despite It
I can't close my eyes because I'm curious about what's next.
It's okay if it's a little wrinkled
Even if it is a vain hope at the end of a harsh life
I got a fucking disease
Because even the cold heads are on their side
Chapter 6 End - As it was in the beginning, so it is now, so it always will be forever
There is nothing meaningless in the world.
I have the saddest announcement to make.
Become a person who survives more powerfully than anyone else
The scariest thing in the world is
So that you don't have any regrets at the last moment
Epilogue: I'll listen carefully and go.
Detailed image
Into the book
The character 'ho' in lawyer is a combination of 'eon' (言) and 'ja hwak(?)' (言), meaning 'to catch with words'.
A lawyer is someone who cares for and helps people in difficult situations with words.
The tracksuit student who couldn't even take responsibility for his own life became a suit-wearing lawyer who had to become deeply involved in the lives of others, understanding them, caring for them, and helping them.
This storm of change still seems like a dream.
I felt the weight of each client's life contained in the small envelope in front of me, and prayed that they would remain unchanged even as they changed.
---p.63
The film's introduction includes the line, "Even if you let ten criminals go free, don't punish an innocent person."
If truth is powerless and has lost its balance with facts, then the person who can give truth power is a lawyer.
When the lawsuit is over, the other lawyers' roles end, but isn't my role just beginning again?
If anyone says they have been wronged, I want to listen to them at least once, even if the law is not on their side.
There may be truths that are different from the facts.
---p.83
When you cover the sky with your palm, the sky is only covered when you are a child.
Even if I cover my eyes with my palm, others can still see me, and even if I pretend not to see, others can see all my mistakes.
Maybe, by some lucky chance, I can succeed in deceiving myself and others.
But even if deceiving others might bring temporary happiness, deceiving myself will never bring happiness.
---p.91
“Are you feeling uneasy?” The man blinks slowly.
“You’re trying to be strong but it’s not working out, right? Don’t try too hard.
If you're going to use your strength to die, it's better not to use it at all.
I was so exhausted that I lay in bed for three months.
“The back that was broken back then still aches even before it rains.” The man makes a subtle expression, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.
(...) “Isn’t this a legal consultation center?” “Well, I do a variety of things.
So come anytime.”
---pp.100-101
As I work, I find that there are people who come here often, and their faces and names come to mind just from the smell.
Because my clients have the fragrance of life.
The old woman who lent me the money she saved peeling onions at a Chinese restaurant and got her money back smelled of sticky oil. The young man who was scammed out of the money he saved while living in a semi-basement goshiwon smelled of musty, which would never go away no matter how much he washed it. The day laborer who always brags about how there is no building in our country that he hasn't touched, but who traded one of his fingers for that wonderful building smelled of sour sweat.
While the scents of nature, such as flowers and trees, are born without any difficulty, their scents are imbued with indescribable adversity and hardship.
---p.102
If I make a mistake, I could be sued, so I drink iced coffee, my secret weapon.
Go to the next department to get some ice, then go to the water purifier at the end of the hallway to get some water and add two cups of coffee, two creamers, and three cups of sugar.
If you stir it and say, “This is expensive coffee that the lawyer made,” even the most fearful client will laugh and ask if there are still people who drink like this.
---p.104
The cleaning lady who wipes my desk every day, the police officer who makes a round of patrols to see if everything is okay, and even the civil servant on my floor who brings me snacks every now and then, even though I don't know his department or name. The words and actions of my colleagues are absorbed into my body like a health drink and give me energy for the day.
Sometimes, small misfortunes make me miserable, but the small happiness of seeing good colleagues in the same place every day also makes me happy.
As you read this, there is surely a colleague around you who makes you shine.
---p.174
“I don’t know where the sky is and who the sun is, but if what you said is true, there are two suns in the sky during the period guaranteed by the Commercial Lease Protection Act.”
---p.192
Some people are found guilty but still shout loudly and feel no guilt, while others are so afraid of harming others that they cannot even raise their voices.
The latter imposes a greater penalty on himself than the punishment of the court.
I remember the wrinkled shirt of the client who insisted on paying the price for his crime.
No matter how hard he tries to iron it, the clothes quickly become wrinkled again, and it breaks my heart to think of his life as one that continues to be plagued by hardships no matter how diligently he lives.
Even if you wear clothes that are haphazardly wrinkled, you can just shake them off and say, 'They're a little wrinkled.'
I hope that there will come a day when you can laugh it off and say, ‘I guess I worked hard today too.’
---p.229
There was a time when I saw the saddest notice in the world and thought that death without a family member was truly lonely.
But as I came here and continued to observe, I realized that there were many cases where deaths with vague connections, for which no notice was even posted, were lonelier and sadder.
Even though someone is by your side
Didn't they say that being lonely is real loneliness?
---p.267
A grandmother came in with an advance directive form.
(...) “It is scary and difficult to be in a state where you can’t decide on something.
Rather than living a meaningless life, I'd rather decide in advance and live the rest of my days without regrets.
They say that there will come a day when you can no longer live even if you want to, so in that sense, this document is my will to live my best life.”
---pp.286-287
Sometimes the same, sometimes different stories, when I delve into them, there is always love for someone.
The Standard Korean Dictionary defines ‘love’ as “a feeling of cherishing and cherishing a person or being very much.”
When that heart, that love and trust that cares for someone is broken, problems arise and legal disputes begin.
So, you can't truly solve someone's problems without understanding love.
In countless consultations, I've often found that genuine understanding and love provide a better answer than strict legal logic.
A lawyer is someone who cares for and helps people in difficult situations with words.
The tracksuit student who couldn't even take responsibility for his own life became a suit-wearing lawyer who had to become deeply involved in the lives of others, understanding them, caring for them, and helping them.
This storm of change still seems like a dream.
I felt the weight of each client's life contained in the small envelope in front of me, and prayed that they would remain unchanged even as they changed.
---p.63
The film's introduction includes the line, "Even if you let ten criminals go free, don't punish an innocent person."
If truth is powerless and has lost its balance with facts, then the person who can give truth power is a lawyer.
When the lawsuit is over, the other lawyers' roles end, but isn't my role just beginning again?
If anyone says they have been wronged, I want to listen to them at least once, even if the law is not on their side.
There may be truths that are different from the facts.
---p.83
When you cover the sky with your palm, the sky is only covered when you are a child.
Even if I cover my eyes with my palm, others can still see me, and even if I pretend not to see, others can see all my mistakes.
Maybe, by some lucky chance, I can succeed in deceiving myself and others.
But even if deceiving others might bring temporary happiness, deceiving myself will never bring happiness.
---p.91
“Are you feeling uneasy?” The man blinks slowly.
“You’re trying to be strong but it’s not working out, right? Don’t try too hard.
If you're going to use your strength to die, it's better not to use it at all.
I was so exhausted that I lay in bed for three months.
“The back that was broken back then still aches even before it rains.” The man makes a subtle expression, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.
(...) “Isn’t this a legal consultation center?” “Well, I do a variety of things.
So come anytime.”
---pp.100-101
As I work, I find that there are people who come here often, and their faces and names come to mind just from the smell.
Because my clients have the fragrance of life.
The old woman who lent me the money she saved peeling onions at a Chinese restaurant and got her money back smelled of sticky oil. The young man who was scammed out of the money he saved while living in a semi-basement goshiwon smelled of musty, which would never go away no matter how much he washed it. The day laborer who always brags about how there is no building in our country that he hasn't touched, but who traded one of his fingers for that wonderful building smelled of sour sweat.
While the scents of nature, such as flowers and trees, are born without any difficulty, their scents are imbued with indescribable adversity and hardship.
---p.102
If I make a mistake, I could be sued, so I drink iced coffee, my secret weapon.
Go to the next department to get some ice, then go to the water purifier at the end of the hallway to get some water and add two cups of coffee, two creamers, and three cups of sugar.
If you stir it and say, “This is expensive coffee that the lawyer made,” even the most fearful client will laugh and ask if there are still people who drink like this.
---p.104
The cleaning lady who wipes my desk every day, the police officer who makes a round of patrols to see if everything is okay, and even the civil servant on my floor who brings me snacks every now and then, even though I don't know his department or name. The words and actions of my colleagues are absorbed into my body like a health drink and give me energy for the day.
Sometimes, small misfortunes make me miserable, but the small happiness of seeing good colleagues in the same place every day also makes me happy.
As you read this, there is surely a colleague around you who makes you shine.
---p.174
“I don’t know where the sky is and who the sun is, but if what you said is true, there are two suns in the sky during the period guaranteed by the Commercial Lease Protection Act.”
---p.192
Some people are found guilty but still shout loudly and feel no guilt, while others are so afraid of harming others that they cannot even raise their voices.
The latter imposes a greater penalty on himself than the punishment of the court.
I remember the wrinkled shirt of the client who insisted on paying the price for his crime.
No matter how hard he tries to iron it, the clothes quickly become wrinkled again, and it breaks my heart to think of his life as one that continues to be plagued by hardships no matter how diligently he lives.
Even if you wear clothes that are haphazardly wrinkled, you can just shake them off and say, 'They're a little wrinkled.'
I hope that there will come a day when you can laugh it off and say, ‘I guess I worked hard today too.’
---p.229
There was a time when I saw the saddest notice in the world and thought that death without a family member was truly lonely.
But as I came here and continued to observe, I realized that there were many cases where deaths with vague connections, for which no notice was even posted, were lonelier and sadder.
Even though someone is by your side
Didn't they say that being lonely is real loneliness?
---p.267
A grandmother came in with an advance directive form.
(...) “It is scary and difficult to be in a state where you can’t decide on something.
Rather than living a meaningless life, I'd rather decide in advance and live the rest of my days without regrets.
They say that there will come a day when you can no longer live even if you want to, so in that sense, this document is my will to live my best life.”
---pp.286-287
Sometimes the same, sometimes different stories, when I delve into them, there is always love for someone.
The Standard Korean Dictionary defines ‘love’ as “a feeling of cherishing and cherishing a person or being very much.”
When that heart, that love and trust that cares for someone is broken, problems arise and legal disputes begin.
So, you can't truly solve someone's problems without understanding love.
In countless consultations, I've often found that genuine understanding and love provide a better answer than strict legal logic.
---pp.290-291
Publisher's Review
★ A hot topic that was read first by readers of 'Millie's Library' and became a hit through word of mouth
★ Recommended by Eunyu, the author of "Night of Liberation"
“Even when the law is not on your side,
“There are still people who want to stand on your side.”
The cold law has not yet figured out the loopholes
A record of 682 days filled with human warmth
There was an old woman pulling a cart and collecting waste paper.
One day, he scratched an expensive car with that cart and ended up in court.
The judge asked her to only answer the questions, but the grandmother poured out all the hardships of her life as if she were lamenting.
Finally, when he started yelling at the opposing lawyer, calling him a liar, the judge, unable to bear it any longer, joined in.
He shouted.
“If you keep making a fuss like this, I’ll catch you!” the grandmother asked what it was.
The judge, who thought that explaining it would only make things longer, answered like this.
“It’s so scary!” Just as laughter was about to burst out at the serious atmosphere and the unsettling dialogue, the grandmother asked again.
“How scary is it? Does it cost money?”
The lawyer, who had accompanied the grandmother to her trial at the social worker's request, felt as if rocks from a 10-ton truck had fallen on his chest when he heard those words.
With a heavy heart, I left the courtroom with my grandmother.
It was way past mealtime so I told him to grab some food and go, but he said he had to go quickly because he had tied up his grandfather who had dementia at home.
Grandma says that she can handle her grandfather's affair when he was young and his illness when he was old, but when she can't collect waste paper on a bad day, she has no income and unknowingly hates him, and that money is what she fears the most in the world.
Even though I had lived my entire life without the words "laziness" or "waste," I still had no idea how I was going to cope with a life that would continue to be weighed down by the weight of money.
I escorted my grandmother to her house and gave her all the cash I had, telling her to buy me a meal. I gave it to her, who stubbornly refused.
I told her that it reminded me of my grandmother, and that she should buy me some delicious meat dishes as allowance from her granddaughter, and then quickly left.
A one-pyeong legal consulting office in front of the district office bathroom
The sad and bitter people I met there and the stories of the world
Even at this very moment, somewhere, there are stories of people like this, and there are lawyers listening to these stories.
When we think of law, most people think of it as something difficult and rigid, and they probably hope to never have to meet a lawyer in their lives.
But no matter how hard you live, no one can avoid the misfortune that strikes them suddenly and without warning.
There are laws in place to help people in such difficult situations, but unfortunately, there are many cases where even the laws are not on our side.
What if, at times like these, I had a lawyer by my side, someone who would stand on the side of people rather than the law and listen to my story?
Even if you can't provide a clear legal solution right away, wouldn't it be a great help just to understand my unfair situation and the feelings I can't even confide in those close to me?
Attorney Cheon Su-i, who was born and raised in Nangok Dal-dong, now called Sillim-dong, is exactly that kind of person.
Unlike his parents, who devoted themselves to social movements in the shantytown of Daldongne, he hated poverty more than anyone else and wanted to become a lawyer who could make a lot of money.
But somehow, I ended up in a position where I was once again staying with people in need and helping them.
There is a one-pyeong free legal consultation center in front of the bathroom in the hallway of the district office.
Most of the clients who come to see a free lawyer are those who need the most legal protection but are unable to receive it, such as the homeless, Yakult delivery women, day laborers in construction, and grandmothers who have to learn Korean before writing a will.
Sometimes, even if you wanted to help, there was no way to help, so all you could do was hold someone's hand.
When I saw the helplessness of my clients and the images of my childhood neighbors, I would get angry without realizing it, and I would deeply worry about whether I was really in this position, as I was not of much help.
"If my clients had a better lawyer than me, wouldn't they have gotten better answers?"
But as the consultations continued, I began to feel that this was not a place to talk, but a place to listen.
Clients didn't come to him just for quick answers.
Sometimes, one person's genuine concern is more important and empowering than a hundred words of advice from a lawyer.
It was actually the clients who raised the rookie lawyer, who was more bewildered than his clients when faced with all sorts of stories he had never heard before, into a person who could laugh and cry with anyone's story.
Thanks to these individuals, who each shared a bundle of life experiences that could never be learned in school or books, while other lawyers gave answers to their clients, the author learned the answers to his own life from his clients.
This book contains the story of learning love and becoming a human being among people.
From "The Secret of Birth" to rental fraud and voice phishing
A story more dramatic than the dramas of ordinary people
“Just by listening to each other’s stories and being interested in them,
The world is already ready for the rain to stop and the rainbow to appear.”
A man who was sent to prison for being a child molester and became homeless after his family moved away and he had nowhere to go.
He came to see a lawyer, saying that even if he could not receive compensation for his unjust imprisonment, he wanted to get his family back.
A woman who could not bear her husband's violence any longer, ran away from home while pregnant, hid her past, and remarried.
She, who could not bear to give up the child in her womb for adoption and raised it as if it were her husband's child, asks if it is possible to erase the traces from 50 years ago that still remain on her family relationship certificate.
Because I believe that if I just keep my mouth shut, even if it's painful, everyone can be happy.
The client, who was riding a bicycle and struck a pedestrian, causing injury, has a physical disability.
He, who lives on a basic income of 700,000 won, has no money to pay a 4 million won fine and 20 million won in civil lawsuit compensation.
I want to compensate for the damages by paying the fine even if it means doing hard labor, but my body won't even allow me to pay the price like that.
This is the reason why I asked the court to show leniency and reduce the fine.
They say people follow their names, and the author, who has been involved in strange incidents and accidents since childhood, continues to attract shocking, unfair, and absurd stories like a magnet even after becoming a lawyer.
From the "Secret of Birth" that is more dramatic than the drama itself, to voice phishing, tin house rental fraud, distribution of private videos, defamation, bankruptcy/rehabilitation, and other unfortunate events that ordinary people are likely to experience in their lives, it is truly diverse.
Even if a story seems ordinary and trivial at first glance, if you look closely, there is no life that is not like a drama.
Legally, the judgment is clear, but from a human perspective, there are many situations where it is difficult to easily determine right or wrong.
How can one criticize an elderly person, like a modern-day Jean Valjean, who stole instant rice and ramen from a supermarket because he was hungry, or a child who refuses to hold a funeral for his father, who has been a burden to his family all his life?
The law coldly divides right and wrong, guilt and innocence, but the world we live in is not divided so ruthlessly.
If you look closely, you will see that each person has their own unfortunate and helpless circumstances.
So, I can't speak lightly about anything or anyone's life without having lived that life myself.
No matter how good or smart the law is, it cannot solve everything in the world, so it is natural that the law is not perfect.
So, in a 2006 ruling by the Daejeon High Court, the law was likened to ready-made clothing.
Just as clothes made in various sizes cannot fit everyone, the author believes that if there are gaps in the rationality of law, it is human love that fills those gaps.
Love isn't something so grand and great.
When the harsh winter comes into our lives, we can safely navigate the season by listening to each other's stories, as the author did with her clients, by reaching out to those who seem to be struggling, and by holding the hand of someone who offers themselves.
As the author believes, this book is filled with warmth amidst the arduous and harsh stories.
Like freshly steamed sweet potatoes and hand-fried squid that clients leave behind in lieu of fees.
★ Recommended by Eunyu, the author of "Night of Liberation"
“Even when the law is not on your side,
“There are still people who want to stand on your side.”
The cold law has not yet figured out the loopholes
A record of 682 days filled with human warmth
There was an old woman pulling a cart and collecting waste paper.
One day, he scratched an expensive car with that cart and ended up in court.
The judge asked her to only answer the questions, but the grandmother poured out all the hardships of her life as if she were lamenting.
Finally, when he started yelling at the opposing lawyer, calling him a liar, the judge, unable to bear it any longer, joined in.
He shouted.
“If you keep making a fuss like this, I’ll catch you!” the grandmother asked what it was.
The judge, who thought that explaining it would only make things longer, answered like this.
“It’s so scary!” Just as laughter was about to burst out at the serious atmosphere and the unsettling dialogue, the grandmother asked again.
“How scary is it? Does it cost money?”
The lawyer, who had accompanied the grandmother to her trial at the social worker's request, felt as if rocks from a 10-ton truck had fallen on his chest when he heard those words.
With a heavy heart, I left the courtroom with my grandmother.
It was way past mealtime so I told him to grab some food and go, but he said he had to go quickly because he had tied up his grandfather who had dementia at home.
Grandma says that she can handle her grandfather's affair when he was young and his illness when he was old, but when she can't collect waste paper on a bad day, she has no income and unknowingly hates him, and that money is what she fears the most in the world.
Even though I had lived my entire life without the words "laziness" or "waste," I still had no idea how I was going to cope with a life that would continue to be weighed down by the weight of money.
I escorted my grandmother to her house and gave her all the cash I had, telling her to buy me a meal. I gave it to her, who stubbornly refused.
I told her that it reminded me of my grandmother, and that she should buy me some delicious meat dishes as allowance from her granddaughter, and then quickly left.
A one-pyeong legal consulting office in front of the district office bathroom
The sad and bitter people I met there and the stories of the world
Even at this very moment, somewhere, there are stories of people like this, and there are lawyers listening to these stories.
When we think of law, most people think of it as something difficult and rigid, and they probably hope to never have to meet a lawyer in their lives.
But no matter how hard you live, no one can avoid the misfortune that strikes them suddenly and without warning.
There are laws in place to help people in such difficult situations, but unfortunately, there are many cases where even the laws are not on our side.
What if, at times like these, I had a lawyer by my side, someone who would stand on the side of people rather than the law and listen to my story?
Even if you can't provide a clear legal solution right away, wouldn't it be a great help just to understand my unfair situation and the feelings I can't even confide in those close to me?
Attorney Cheon Su-i, who was born and raised in Nangok Dal-dong, now called Sillim-dong, is exactly that kind of person.
Unlike his parents, who devoted themselves to social movements in the shantytown of Daldongne, he hated poverty more than anyone else and wanted to become a lawyer who could make a lot of money.
But somehow, I ended up in a position where I was once again staying with people in need and helping them.
There is a one-pyeong free legal consultation center in front of the bathroom in the hallway of the district office.
Most of the clients who come to see a free lawyer are those who need the most legal protection but are unable to receive it, such as the homeless, Yakult delivery women, day laborers in construction, and grandmothers who have to learn Korean before writing a will.
Sometimes, even if you wanted to help, there was no way to help, so all you could do was hold someone's hand.
When I saw the helplessness of my clients and the images of my childhood neighbors, I would get angry without realizing it, and I would deeply worry about whether I was really in this position, as I was not of much help.
"If my clients had a better lawyer than me, wouldn't they have gotten better answers?"
But as the consultations continued, I began to feel that this was not a place to talk, but a place to listen.
Clients didn't come to him just for quick answers.
Sometimes, one person's genuine concern is more important and empowering than a hundred words of advice from a lawyer.
It was actually the clients who raised the rookie lawyer, who was more bewildered than his clients when faced with all sorts of stories he had never heard before, into a person who could laugh and cry with anyone's story.
Thanks to these individuals, who each shared a bundle of life experiences that could never be learned in school or books, while other lawyers gave answers to their clients, the author learned the answers to his own life from his clients.
This book contains the story of learning love and becoming a human being among people.
From "The Secret of Birth" to rental fraud and voice phishing
A story more dramatic than the dramas of ordinary people
“Just by listening to each other’s stories and being interested in them,
The world is already ready for the rain to stop and the rainbow to appear.”
A man who was sent to prison for being a child molester and became homeless after his family moved away and he had nowhere to go.
He came to see a lawyer, saying that even if he could not receive compensation for his unjust imprisonment, he wanted to get his family back.
A woman who could not bear her husband's violence any longer, ran away from home while pregnant, hid her past, and remarried.
She, who could not bear to give up the child in her womb for adoption and raised it as if it were her husband's child, asks if it is possible to erase the traces from 50 years ago that still remain on her family relationship certificate.
Because I believe that if I just keep my mouth shut, even if it's painful, everyone can be happy.
The client, who was riding a bicycle and struck a pedestrian, causing injury, has a physical disability.
He, who lives on a basic income of 700,000 won, has no money to pay a 4 million won fine and 20 million won in civil lawsuit compensation.
I want to compensate for the damages by paying the fine even if it means doing hard labor, but my body won't even allow me to pay the price like that.
This is the reason why I asked the court to show leniency and reduce the fine.
They say people follow their names, and the author, who has been involved in strange incidents and accidents since childhood, continues to attract shocking, unfair, and absurd stories like a magnet even after becoming a lawyer.
From the "Secret of Birth" that is more dramatic than the drama itself, to voice phishing, tin house rental fraud, distribution of private videos, defamation, bankruptcy/rehabilitation, and other unfortunate events that ordinary people are likely to experience in their lives, it is truly diverse.
Even if a story seems ordinary and trivial at first glance, if you look closely, there is no life that is not like a drama.
Legally, the judgment is clear, but from a human perspective, there are many situations where it is difficult to easily determine right or wrong.
How can one criticize an elderly person, like a modern-day Jean Valjean, who stole instant rice and ramen from a supermarket because he was hungry, or a child who refuses to hold a funeral for his father, who has been a burden to his family all his life?
The law coldly divides right and wrong, guilt and innocence, but the world we live in is not divided so ruthlessly.
If you look closely, you will see that each person has their own unfortunate and helpless circumstances.
So, I can't speak lightly about anything or anyone's life without having lived that life myself.
No matter how good or smart the law is, it cannot solve everything in the world, so it is natural that the law is not perfect.
So, in a 2006 ruling by the Daejeon High Court, the law was likened to ready-made clothing.
Just as clothes made in various sizes cannot fit everyone, the author believes that if there are gaps in the rationality of law, it is human love that fills those gaps.
Love isn't something so grand and great.
When the harsh winter comes into our lives, we can safely navigate the season by listening to each other's stories, as the author did with her clients, by reaching out to those who seem to be struggling, and by holding the hand of someone who offers themselves.
As the author believes, this book is filled with warmth amidst the arduous and harsh stories.
Like freshly steamed sweet potatoes and hand-fried squid that clients leave behind in lieu of fees.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: January 20, 2025
- Page count, weight, size: 292 pages | 130*210*20mm
- ISBN13: 9791193528433
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