Written by Lu Yan
This Spring Festival, senior trainee lawyer Zhang Wenpeng is destined not to have a good time.
On February 7, 2024, Zhang Wenpeng received the "Notice of Case Filing" issued by the Qingdao Lawyers Association, which stated:
The Qingdao Lawyers Association found that Zhang Wenpeng was suspected of "violating the regulations on the management of internships" and "damaging the professional image of lawyers", and decided to file a case for investigation.
A few days ago, Zhang Wenpeng was forced to become a celebrity in the legal circle because he rose up to resist the "maliciously" restrictions on practice by relevant departments.
According to the article "Why Zhang Wenpeng Can't Get a Lawyer's Certificate" previously published by the well-known legal industry since ** "Fadu Law":
Zhang Wenpeng is a trainee lawyer at Shandong Xiaolin Law Firm, who obtained his internship certificate in January 2023 and has completed his one-year internship period so far.
According to the regulations, Zhang Wenpeng can participate in the interview, and if he passes the interview, he can obtain a lawyer's certificate and formally practice;
However, according to the staff of the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Justice, the relevant departments were unwilling to let Zhang Wenpeng pass the interview and did not issue him a lawyer's license;
Zhang Wenpeng's law firm communicated with the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Justice many times, but the other party never said the specific reason why Zhang Wenpeng was not allowed to pass the interview and was not issued a lawyer's certificate.
Zhang Wenpeng himself believes that this is because he has been insisting on protecting the rights and interests of trainee lawyers for several years, reporting tax evasion and tax evasion by lawyers associations, and reporting bribery by the president of the lawyer association, etc., and has been retaliated against by relevant personnel and "maliciously" restricted from practice.
According to the article from **, when Zhang Wenpeng was an intern in Shenzhen, he reported that the Shenzhen Lawyers Association was suspected of tax evasion;
In August 2021, the Shenzhen Municipal Taxation Bureau issued the "Brief Notice of Reporting Tax Violations", which investigated and supplemented the taxes and surcharges of more than 750,000 yuan and fined more than 20,000 yuan of the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, and expressed gratitude to Zhang Wenpeng for his attention and support to tax work.
In addition, in recent years, Zhang Wenpeng has also participated in the reporting and disclosure of bribery by a number of leaders of the Bar Association.
For example, Lin Changchi, the former president of the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, offered a bribe of 200,000 yuan to a judge, and Zhang Jinhai, the former president of the Qingdao Lawyers Association, offered a bribe of 5,000 euros to the education system.
In addition, Zhang Wenpeng has also spoken out publicly on many occasions, calling on relevant departments to seriously examine the systemic problems existing in the current lawyer internship system, calling on lawyers associations to perform their duties and powers in accordance with the law, and calling on relevant departments to protect the legitimate rights and interests of trainee lawyers and formal practicing lawyers in accordance with the law.
Zhang Wenpeng also told the author that he believes that he has studied professional legal knowledge and has rich experience in the legal industry, and is a qualified legal person both professionally and technically, "Why are they so afraid that I will get that lawyer's license?" ”
In response to the investigation by the Qingdao Lawyers Association, Zhang Wenpeng believes:
He did not have any behavior of "violating the regulations on the management of internships" or "damaging the image of the lawyer's profession"; On the contrary, whether it is to report the illegal and criminal situations of the lawyers association and its leaders, or to resist the "maliciously" restrictions on practice of relevant departments
On the basis of safeguarding their own legitimate rights and interests, they are the professional image of the lawyers.