On the afternoon of April 7, 2026, the “Seminar and Review Session on Major and Complex Cases,” organized by the First Criminal Law Department, was successfully held at King&Capital Law Firm.
The seminar and review session was chaired by Zang Desheng, Senior Partner at King&Capital Law Firm, with Senior Partner Zhang Qiming serving as the keynote speaker. Also in attendance were Tian Wenchang, Honorary Director of King&Capital Law Firm; Gu Fang, Adjunct Attorney; Yang Dakang, Counsel; Senior Partners Men Jinling, Xu Ying, Li Zhiguang, and Yan Huainan; Partners Xu Wei and Yang Haiming; and attorneys Li Rong, Wu Shaodan, and Dai Shengyun. The meeting also specially invited Zhao Qilong, the managing partner of the Civil and Commercial Litigation Department, as well as several partners and senior attorneys from the Civil and Commercial Litigation and other departments to participate across departments.
During the meeting, participants analyzed and discussed a pending extortion case involving a claim-based scheme, presenting their respective viewpoints. They engaged in an in-depth examination of whether the perpetrator had a legal basis for claiming the property and whether the perpetrator’s actions constituted a criminal offense. The session lasted over two hours.
Regarding whether the perpetrator’s acquisition of property was based on a legitimate claim, participants engaged in in-depth discussions centered on the literal meaning of the relevant contract clauses, infringement of franchise rights, and the relativity of claims—addressing issues at the intersection of civil and criminal law, as well as administrative and criminal law.
Regarding whether the perpetrator’s actions constituted a crime, participants—having first established the legitimacy of the legal basis for the claim—further exchanged views on defense strategies for extortion cases involving a legitimate claim. Drawing on both academic theories and practical experience, they meticulously analyzed key issues such as whether the perpetrator’s means fell within the scope of legitimate rights, whether those means were necessary and proportionate, and whether the amount of property extorted significantly exceeded the amount covered by the underlying debt.
This seminar specifically invited participation from the civil and commercial law departments, breaking through the limitations of a purely criminal perspective. It clarified the impact of key civil issues on criminal characterization, delineated the boundaries between civil disputes and criminal cases, and greatly enriched the defense strategies of the handling attorneys.
