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Perhaps the lack of confidence was written all over his face. Secretary Tak continued calmly, “If you can’t get those, then… He asks questions occasionally. When you answer, be firm. Try to do things before he tells you to do them, and make sure that the key points of a report are concise and easy to see. Attorney Kang thought your papers and opinion letters were easy to read.”
“That’s a relief to hear.”
“Even if you’re among lawyers more senior than you, don’t hesitate to raise your concerns and refute their opinions. Attorney Kang doesn’t like when people are incorrect, but he dislikes it even more when people hesitate while trying to cater to the tastes of everyone. I’ve seen around five associates getting kicked out of the conference room doing that.”
“I think that ruthless side of him is truly just like Attorney Kang.”
Perhaps in agreement, Secretary Tak burst out laughing. Then, he asked, “Other than labor law, do you have another area of practice that could potentially help in an M&A?”
“Environmental law, but only a bit. I’ve taken on some matters from NGOs. I’m especially knowledgeable on matters regarding the Soil Environment Conservation Act, Wastes Control Act, and the Act on the Safety Control of Hazardous Substances. I saw that Youngjin had ongoing lawsuits pursuant to those acts.”
“That’s good. Knowing environmental law is helpful in construction and manufacturing industry matters.”
Yoonshin then asked, “There was an environmental lawyer in the special team—the older-looking man. Is it all right for me to butt in?”
“Were you listening to me? Just ask first and worry later. Oh, do you happen to know any surveyors?”
“Surveyors? I thought there was a due diligence team in the firm. Weren’t we going to use them?”
“It just so happens that Attorney Kang doesn’t quite trust them. The more a company infringes regulations, the more digits you can knock out from their price. If you know anyone, you should tell Attorney Kang to put you in charge.”
It was a good idea, but it depended on whether he could deliver a satisfactory result to Sehun.
“I wonder how much bashing I would need to do to satisfy him. When I searched the news, I saw that Attorney Kang was a specialist when it came to these acquisitions,” Yoonshin pondered.
“Attorney Kang doesn’t have specialties. He’s good at everything. In the last matter, you’ll be surprised to hear how many premiums were attached to the final purchase price. If you compared it to when news of the acquisition first went around, it increased by at least 40%,” Secretary Tak stated.
Piqued, Yoonshin asked, “How great was the value?”
“It was a company in the red for two consecutive years.”
“Is that even possible?”
“You don’t read a lot of business news, do you? You’ll get used to it soon.”
Yoonshin managed to nod and engraved in his brain that he couldn’t judge Sehun by normal standards. Then, he tried to come up with companies that could take environmental surveys. Most of them were his father’s connections when he was still living, so they were competent and retained excellent confidentiality. He found their contact information from his phone and wrote it down for Secretary Tak.
“There’s one company whose director was friends with my father. I can contact him first. If Attorney Kang allows, then you can contact the higher-ups,” he said as he handed over the information.
“Of course, don’t worry about it. You know that I do my job well, right?” Secretary Tak quipped.
Yoonshin chuckled. “Thanks a lot. How should I ever repay you for your service?”
“I already told you. Please work at our firm for as long as possible.” Secretary Tak smiled and then left Yoonshin’s room. Their eyes met beyond the window. Yoonshin waved to the secretary, then he spread out the papers that the secretary left him. After checking the time, he set up his stopwatch and started to read through the document thoroughly.
The document was a bulletin that was given to all the lawyers on the special team.