
三个时区的battle

北京初冬的凌晨,寒意渐浓,但华贸中心3号楼34层的大会议室依然灯火通明。电视大屏正上演着时空折叠,中国北京、瑞士苏黎世、德国汉堡、奥地利维也纳、美国德州等七个画面分别在一天的凌晨、傍晚和正午,主屏幕里定损专家S女士正接受着中国律师的盘问。连珠炮似的提问已让她如坐针毡,让她不得不一一承认自己没有得到希望的数据,未能独立进行数据核查,而七个画面后那么多审视的目光更让她焦促不安、不停干咽、不停喝水——唯一能令她略感放松的是,这场三个小时的连线已接近尾声,最后三分钟熬过去,她就解脱了。
但是,树欲静而风不止,一把明晃晃的匕首即将刺来。彬彬有礼的中国律师突然放慢了语速,却是慢而有力地直插入其定损报告的软肋:“Ms. S, if I may, if I may get rid of these exhibits, the terminology and, the accounting jargons in your report, and put your expert opinion in a plain way, you are issuing a blank cheque, and Mr. Z can just write down whatever number he desires and get credited, right?”
S女士连忙反驳道:“That's not what I've done. I've constructed a damages methodology. I've done forecasting. The inputs provided by Mr. Z provide certain points in my model for certain inputs that I then project.”
中国律师没有退缩:“With all the four numbers in your calculation being provided by Mr. Z, the calculation does not require a professional qualification and a college degree from a university like where you're from, right? I mean, anyone mastering primary school mathematics can do that calculation, right?”
面对这个带有冒犯性的问题,S女士的扑克脸肉眼可见地红了起来。画面静止了数秒后,她终于尴尬地笑了笑,恢复了镇定:“I hope not, otherwise I'd be out of a job.”
一起远程国际仲裁庭审

以上是一起国际仲裁的线上庭审。我们的客户是一家中国科技型制造企业(被申请人),对方则是中欧某国的技术服务商(申请人)。仲裁用英语进行,但三名仲裁员包括中方指定的仲裁员均来自德语区。全球新冠大流行使得在国际商会总部巴黎线下开庭变成了不可能的任务,于是,在外方甚为无聊地乱打了一通线上仲裁与ICC仲裁规则、《欧洲人权公约》不相兼容的抗辩后,一场初冬的线上庭审就被迅速地安排了,而小R律师此前想借开庭重回巴黎和母校校园的美梦也随之告破。为协调中国和中欧的时差,每天的庭审时间均在北京时间的下午开始,凌晨结束,对中方及其律师来说也是的脑力与体力的双重考验。
这起国际仲裁源自一份设备开发合同,中方委托欧方进行设备开发,但最终合同未能完全履行、设备量产开发未完成。欧方认为其已如约履行,提起仲裁申请,要求全部开发费,又进一步认为被申请人故意窃取商业秘密,一共索赔2300多万欧元。中方则认为是欧方未按照合同要求完成开发、提供设备图纸,请求仲裁庭认定欧方违约并要求返还开发费。
竞天公诚代表作为被申请人的中方应诉、出庭。小R律师参与了仲裁的全过程,作为代理团队成员亲历了这场“隔空对战”。

本案的证人盘问实录

证人盘问:区别于国内诉讼、仲裁中的法庭调查主要围绕书面证据质证,国际仲裁的证据听审都围绕着证人进行。证人盘问是重头戏,律师与证人直接对话,一方小心设防、用层层铠甲护住软肋,另一方步步为营、伺机发出致命一击。但由于庭前已交换过书面证人证言,攻防双方都对主要利害点了然于心,一般也做了相应准备,国际仲裁庭审中几乎不太可能出现电视剧中那种峰回路转、水落石出的戏剧化场景。但凡事都有意外,此时除了考验庭前准备,律师的庭审经验和临场发挥也至关重要。

“碟中谍”A先生

“最佳销售员”W先生

结案陈词

国际仲裁庭审并不必然存在总结发言。根据庭前达成的安排,双方将在庭后提交书面补充陈述,因此,我们并未考虑作结案陈词。但是,在庭审的最后一天(更准确地说,最后一夜)开始时,申请人大概是一路溃败下来希望逆风翻盘,坚持要求仲裁庭准许双方各自进行15-30分钟的结案陈词。
行啊,你要战,我便战!
在申请人总结陈词后,H律师先是花了二十分钟回顾、总结了庭审中的证词,将申请人为了其2300万欧元的索赔拼凑的故事,如蛛网一样轻轻抹去了。最后,H律师小宇宙熊熊燃烧,来了一段文采斐然的总结:
“The tribunal may recall that, in a submission in July, the Respondent cautioned that quantum expert is not a magician to turn speculation into facts. And you cannot build a house on sands, even with the blessing of a quantum expert. The last exterior wall of that house had collapsed yesterday.
And we have to ask: if the patents are so valuable, it is really puzzling to us why claimant didn't request for a transfer of these patent rights back to claimant. There are just too many questions not answered. But I would not bother this tribunal on these questions, so long as they are not issues for you to discharge your mandate.
I would conclude my case with, once again, a metaphor here: four years ago, a husband entering into a marriage which looked like a perfect match, gave a nice Volkswagen sedan to his wife, telling her ‘it is your property now’. After that, the union went into an irreversible end and a bitter divorce because the husband didn't keep his words; he is now demanding his ex-wife to return some beautiful Porsh sports cars he provided to the wife for ‘usage’. That is not going to happen.”
回到隔壁的休息室,客户C先生终于放下他在镜头前的沉稳,开心地鼓起了掌。一屋子人都如释重负——终于可以享受周末了!!!
后记

国际仲裁的庭审是一场脑力与体力的硬战。庭审过程中的各个环节都是庭审前全面准备、综合考量的呈现。如何在开庭陈述环节进行案情及争议点的初步阐释,如何在证人盘问过程中设计盘问问题以降低对方证人的可信度,如何使己方证人在盘问过程中能够最大程度的产生积极影响,如何在总结陈词中快速捕捉庭审中的细节完善强化己方观点,以上这些都离不开日常点滴的积累。
数个月后,仲裁庭作出裁决,驳回了申请人几乎全部仲裁请求,仅支持了其30多万欧元未付合同开发费,这起案件终于画上了圆满的句号。
最后,特别感谢那些陪我们经历这一场场硬战的战友和家人们。