DeHeng Lawyers Won a Complex Contract Dispute Case in Zhangzhou, Breaking through the “Appraisal in Place of Trial” Dilemma

2023-12-19

Recently, lawyers Li Ting and Guo Liang with DeHeng’s Beijing Office won the second-instance trial of a complex goods transaction case in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province.

The goods in question were worth more than RMB 30 million. The party in arrears took advantage of the irregularities in the receipt of the goods, and the fact that some signatories had left their jobs and signed on behalf of each other, and applied for appraisal of dozens of goods delivery vouchers, in an attempt to underpay the goods they had received. The appraisal agency established that the signatures in the dozens of questioned vouchers were inconsistent with the handwriting of the signatories shown.

The lawyers repeatedly checked the details of the goods transaction and examined the appraisal report in detail. The appraiser admitted in court that there was a certain error in the appraisal conclusion. Meanwhile, they contacted the truck driver to testify in court and obtained the freight voucher paid by the party in arrears in the process of the transaction. In the end, the Zhangzhou Intermediate People’s Court accepted all the representation opinions of DeHeng lawyers, breaking away from the judicial practice not in favor of the client, where the appraisal conclusion determines the judgment result or “appraisal in place of trial.”