Supreme Court Finalizes Conclusion of Damages Suit by Family of Bullying Victim Over Lawyer's 'No-Show'

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the bereaved family of a school violence victim who lost her case after her lawyer failed to show up for court, resulting in the appeal being deemed withdrawn.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (presiding Justice Kim Sung-soo) finalized the lower court's ruling declaring the end of the lawsuit through a dismissal without review today (October 30) in a damage suit filed by Lee Ki-chul, the mother of the late Park Juwon, against the perpetrators of school violence.

After Park took her own life in 2015 while suffering from school violence, her mother, Lee Ki-chul, filed a lawsuit for damages against the perpetrators the following year in 2016.

The first trial partially sustained the claim against only one parent who failed to attend the court appearance, while dismissing the rest of the claims.

Although Lee appealed the decision, her legal representative, lawyer Kwon Kyung-ae, failed to attend three consecutive appeal hearings in 2022. Under the Civil Procedure Act, this resulted in the appeal being deemed withdrawn, leading to a complete defeat.

Because Lee was unaware that she had lost the case and failed to appeal, the bereaved family effectively had their appeal withdrawn without ever having the chance to litigate it in the appellate court.

In response, Lee's side protested, and prior to the formal declaration of the termination of the appeal, the appellate court held additional arguments in May of this year.

However, the court refused the request to resume the trial and declared the lawsuit closed about a month later.

The court concluded that although lawyer Kwon violated her duty of a good manager, the effect of the deemed withdrawal of the appeal could not be excluded.

Lee's side appealed the decision, but the Supreme Court finalized the end of the lawsuit today by dismissing the appeal without a trial review.

Dismissal without review is a system in which the Supreme Court dismisses an appeal in non-criminal cases without a full trial upon determining that there are no legal errors in the appellate court's ruling.

Meanwhile, separately from this case, Lee filed a damages and consolation money suit against lawyer Kwon, and received a final ruling from the Supreme Court in May ordering a payout of 65 million won in consolation money.

The Supreme Court also ruled that a "performance memorandum" in which lawyer Kwon belatedly notified Lee of the defeat and promised to pay 90 million won is valid, and remanded the case back to the lower court for further review with instructions favoring Lee's additional victory.

The remand trial is scheduled for sentencing on November 25.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.