Danone claims that Zong Qinghou’s wife and daughter gave "perjury"
In contrast to the aggressive trend of pressing Danone step by step in the domestic judicial process, Wahaha’s litigation in the United States has suffered an unprecedented setback. The reporter learned yesterday that due to the suspicion of perjury by Zong Qinghou’s wife and daughter, the law firm Latham Watkin, which has been "fighting for nearly five months", resigned before the battle, Wahaha had to "change the general before the battle", and last Friday invited the US law firm Quinn Emanuel, which claims that the "winning ratio is as high as 92%".
The delivery of materials and the recording of statements were not smooth
In early June this year, Danone filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court of California, suing Hengfeng Trading, Hangzhou Hongsheng, Zong Fuli and Shi Youzhen (Zong Qinghou’s daughter and wife). According to US legal procedures, legal materials are served after filing a lawsuit, and then all parties respond to the lawsuit, investigate and collect evidence, and then go to trial.
However, in the process of handing over the materials to the defendant, the delivery of Zong Fuli and Shi Youzhen’s materials has been stalled because the "address is uninhabited". It was not until the end of September that the California court visited Shi Youzhen and Zong Fuli’s American home again with a try mentality. Shi Youzhen, who had not been seen for a long time, accidentally appeared in the house, and the court staff completed the delivery of her materials with Zong Fuli.
In mid-October, the Los Angeles Superior Court issued an order to take evidence in the case, "considering that many of the defendants are in China, the location of the evidence collection was set in Hong Kong," said Chen Dong, a lawyer representing Danone.
But the process was halted by repeated calls from lawyers on both sides to stop, Mr. Chen said. Wahaha’s lawyers repeatedly called to stop when the statement was taken because they found that the client had false facts and avoided answering questions. They "could not participate in the act of perjury, so they had to call to stop".
■ "Change of generals before the battle" or due to "perjury"
After recording the statement, on October 25, the lawyers of both parties returned to the United States to report the situation to the Los Angeles Superior Court. At this court meeting, the law firm of Latham Watkin, which represented Wahaha, suddenly proposed to withdraw from the lawsuit.
In this regard, the court gave him two weeks to make a final decision, the deadline is November 9. Two weeks later, Latham Watkin officially withdrew from Wahaha and Quinn Emanuel took over.
Regarding the withdrawal of Latham Watkin, Chen Dong said that it may be mainly due to "professional ethics considerations". Relevant people also gave a speculative explanation that because Latham Watkin had represented a case before, because the parties committed perjury, which eventually led to the court to increase the compensation amount from 60 million US dollars to 600 million US dollars, "eat a cut, grow a wisdom", Latham Watkin will also choose to withdraw.
However, Mr. Chen said that because of the sudden withdrawal of Latham Watkin, the hearing originally scheduled for January next year may be postponed by a week or two, and "changing the lawyer will not change the existing problems, and the whole process will not change much."
■ Wahaha responds to "everything speaks with the law"
Shan Qining, Wahaha’s spokesperson, said he would "not answer" the news of the change of lawyer. The reporter learned that due to Wahaha’s 20th anniversary celebration on November 18, dealers from all over the world have already gathered in Hangzhou, and the company’s management is busy preparing for related celebrations and future sales.
In fact, although Danone has the upper hand in the US lawsuit, Wahaha does not seem to be worried, not only saying that "everything is in the law", but also emphasizing that Danone has disrupted Wahaha’s normal order under various pretexts because it cannot win the lawsuit.
The reporter learned that, due to jurisdictional considerations, the prosecution in California may be limited to the defendant’s relevant activities in the United States, and the defendant’s series of activities in China are temporarily excluded. Accordingly, there may be two unfavorable factors for Zong Qinghou: First, Zong Fuli, who used to be the legal representative of Hengfeng Trading, was living in the United States when the company was registered, while Shi Youzhen had a US green card, and the two also owned real estate in California; second, they found the sale of Wahaha series products in Chinese areas in California and other places, and initially identified them as non-joint venture production. Morning News reporter Zhou Zhihong
Editor in charge: Li Erqing
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