Ree Ree Ree and Partners
Ree Ree Ree and Partners, Serjeants (Shinasthana: 三黎所, rf srum-ri-skra) is a Themiclesian law firm headquartered in Kien-k'ang and has offices in Nakazara, Maracaibo City, Selkiö, and New Hadaway. It is Themiclesia's 3rd largest law firm by revenues.
History
Ree Ree Ree and Partners was named for the very prolific dynasty of lawyers who flourished amongst the superior courts in Kien-k'ang around the turn of the 19th century. The Ree (Shinasthana: 黎, rf ri) family had a history of public service dating to the 15th century, several of whose clan leaders who held key positions at the court, rising as far as provincial viceroy, but it was not until around 1760 the family gained notoriety as barristers promiscuous with extortion and bribery to secure their clients' advantage. The barrister portion of the clan was actually one of the collateral branches, not the principal branch, which was elevated to the Peerage in 1681 with the Baronetcy of Krem (崟君).
The three Rees that the firm was named for are generally agreed to be Ree Sem (1768 – 1841), Ree Prer (1792 – 1860), and Ree Ne-nu (1795 – 1854), who are cousins and not brothers, as often held. The period when the three worked together would therefore have been the 1820s and 30s, which is consistent when the term "the three Rees" was first recorded in print. In this period graduation from a law-oriented education was not required to secure the right to practice law, and several other dynastic lawyers were mostly educated by their own families. An oral examination by a court official was sufficient for licensure. The firm's name was only officially registered in 1897, when businesses became legally required to register with the government for taxation purposes.
Litigation specialization
International law
By R. v. Tryi of 1836 it is confirmed that international treaties, once ratified by the Parliament of Kien-k'ang, had equal force with domestic law, and the domestic courts are further empowered to try disputes arising under terms of treaties by act of Parliament in 1861. This became a speciality of the Rees in the end of the 19th century in cases at Admiralty law, which was at the transsection of offences at sea and customs treaties, which freed some imports of customs duty and guaranteed certain behaviours by customs officials, and domestic law which sought to stem importation of contraband. The Rees were prominent in the circle of foreign merchants when they believed their rights were ignored by customs or other government officials.
During and after the Pan-Septentrion War, the Rees were retained on the basis of this reputation by numerous Dayashinese defendants of allegations of war crimes. Being familiar with the effects and limitations of domestic and international law, the Rees procured some judgements that contradicted public expectations. In many cases they established that the prosecutor's evidence was inconclusive and cannot be incontrovertibly connected with their clients' behaviours and thus secured their acquittals. Their success in practice was held in great contempt by those who held officials of Dayashina, or its citizens more generally, to be categorically complicit in the devastations of the war, irrespective of their proveable actions; as a result, their offices in both Themiclesia and Dayashina were arsoned at least once. Ree Chao said to the press in 1949 that his professional activities has never been to the end of proving the innocence of anyone, but "even the most guilty is not guilty of an imaginary offence."
Notable clients
- Yamabe Oshimaro (山部 押麻呂／やまべのおしまろ)
- Yutaka Ueda
- Kazuo Kikuchi
- Anabe Matakoshi (穴部 復輿／あなべのまたこし)