Both sides have rejected a court's settlement recommendation in a damages lawsuit filed by a client against attorney Kwon Kyung-ae, who caused her client to lose a case through a so-called "courtroom no-show."
According to the legal community on the 26th, Kwon filed an objection to the settlement recommendation with the Seoul Central District Court's Civil Appeals Division 9-2 (presiding judges Byun Ji-young, Choi Hee-jung, and Seo Chang-seok) on the 24th of this month.
Lee Ki-cheol, mother of the late Park Ju-won, also submitted an objection the previous day.
Lee's legal representative issued a statement that day, saying, "Kwon's side filed an objection first on the 24th, and Lee's side also expressed the intention to receive a ruling containing a judgment on Kwon's wrongdoing rather than a settlement, and filed an objection on the 25th of this month."
Lee's side also said it would file a criminal complaint against Kwon on charges including fraud before the hearing scheduled for the 19th of next month.
Earlier, on the 14th of this month, the court issued a settlement recommendation ordering Kwon to pay Lee 90 million won in agreed payment plus delayed damages, as well as approximately 1.63 million won in delayed damages on the 65 million won in consolation money confirmed by the Supreme Court ruling.
If neither side raises an objection within two weeks from receiving the settlement recommendation, it becomes final as is and carries the same effect as a judicial settlement. The deadline for objections was the 28th of this month.
However, as both sides have rejected the court's settlement recommendation, the case is set to conclude with a ruling rather than a judicial settlement. The court has set the 19th of next month as the next hearing date.
Kwon filed a civil lawsuit in 2016 on behalf of Lee, the mother of Park, who died in 2015, against the school violence perpetrators, the school foundation, and the city of Seoul. At the time, the first trial accepted only the claim against one parent who failed to appear in court and dismissed the remaining claims.
Lee's side appealed this, but Kwon failed to appear at the appellate trial three consecutive times from September to November 2022, resulting in a complete loss. This was in accordance with the Civil Procedure Act, which considers a lawsuit withdrawn if a party fails to appear in court three or more times.
Kwon did not inform the bereaved family of the loss for five months, and Lee missed the appeal deadline, with the judgment becoming final in 2022.
Lee filed a lawsuit seeking 200 million won in compensation, claiming that her rights to a trial and to appeal were violated by Kwon's negligent representation.
The first trial ruled that Kwon and the law firm should pay 50 million won in consolation money. The second trial, on the other hand, raised the consolation money to 65 million won and separately ordered the law firm to pay Lee 2.2 million won.
Lee appealed to the Supreme Court, rejecting the second trial's dismissal of her claim for agreed payment based on a "performance memorandum" that Kwon drew up when she belatedly informed Lee of the loss. The second trial had ruled that Kwon had no obligation to pay the agreed amount, on the grounds that the condition of the agreement — that "the lawyer's wrongdoing would not spread through media coverage" — was not upheld.
However, in May, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case, ruling that the performance memorandum did not specify any "prohibition on media coverage" condition at all, and that the obligation to pay the agreed amount was valid.
