Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young Divorce Lawsuit Heading to Supreme Court... Legal Team Also Composed of Elite Former Judges

As the divorce lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, moves to the Supreme Court, attention is focused on the legal teams of both sides: Chairman Chey’s team aiming to overturn and remand the appellate court’s “13 trillion won property division” ruling, and Director Noh’s team defending it.

Chairman Chey’s side is currently reorganizing their appellate counsel team. It has been confirmed that they are reviewing presentations and draft briefs from major law firms such as Taepyungyang, Yulchon, Sejong, and HwaWoo. They plan to select a main law firm within this month and build the appellate counsel team centered around that firm. There is speculation that they might form a coalition of two or more law firms.

[Image source=Beomryul Newspaper]

Hong Seung-myeon (64, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 18), former chief judge of the Seoul High Court, recently joined Chairman Chey’s appellate counsel team for the divorce lawsuit.

According to the court on the 9th, former Chief Judge Hong submitted a power of attorney to the court on the 5th. After taking honorary retirement during the regular judicial personnel reshuffle in February, Hong opened a law office as a practicing attorney. In April, he was appointed to the legal representation team of LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, who is currently involved in an inheritance dispute lawsuit with Kim Young-sik, widow of the late Koo Bon-moo, former chairman of LG Group.

Former Chief Judge Hong is highly regarded for his expertise in both judicial administration and legal principles, having served as the Director of Judicial Support at the Supreme Court’s Judicial Administration Office and as a senior judicial research judge at the Supreme Court. He has been considered a candidate for Supreme Court Justice several times over recent years.

Previously, Chairman Chey’s side added one former senior judicial research judge to their counsel team at each higher court level. In the first trial, they appointed Kim Hyun-seok (58, class 20), former senior judicial research judge and representative attorney of law firm KHL. Kim, who served as senior judicial research judge from 2017 to 2019, was trusted by Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo and regarded as the brain of the Supreme Court. They also appointed Bae In-gu (56, class 25), former chief judge of the Seoul Family Court and attorney at law firm Logos, and Jo Sook-hyun (52, class 30), a family law specialist at law firm Won. These attorneys secured a property division ruling of 66.5 billion won, significantly less than what Director Noh’s side had requested in the first trial.

Upon entering the second trial, Chairman Chey’s side additionally appointed Yoo Hae-yong (58, class 19), former senior judicial research judge and attorney at Kim & Chang law firm, and Noh Jae-ho (46, class 33), former chief judge of Gwangju District Court and attorney at Kim & Chang.

Meanwhile, as Director Noh’s legal team secured a property division ruling of approximately 13 trillion won in the second trial, the legal community anticipates that Director Noh will maintain her legal team for the Supreme Court proceedings.

Regarding additional appointments to Director Noh’s legal team, nothing has been finalized yet, but it is known that they are considering options such as appointing a former Supreme Court justice as an additional attorney.

Director Noh’s second trial legal team was led by Kim Ki-jung (62, class 16), former Supreme Court judicial research judge and former chief judge of Seoul Western District Court, who is the representative attorney of law firm Yulwoo. Attorney Lee Sang-won (55, class 23) of law firm Pyeongan is the son-in-law of former Minister of Political Affairs Park Cheol-eon, who is a first cousin twice removed of former President Noh Tae-woo, Director Noh’s late father. Attorney Kim Soo-jung (49, class 31) of law firm Riu is a family litigation law expert who served nine years at the Seoul Family Court. Seo Jeong (53, class 26), representative attorney of law firm Hannuri, has served as a judge at Seoul Central District Court, Western District Court, and Daejeon District Court, mainly handling cases related to fair trade law and management rights.

Director Noh’s legal team is generally composed of attorneys from mid-sized law firms. It is analyzed that major law firms felt burdened to litigate against SK, a major client.

Director Noh’s side completely replaced their legal team upon entering the second trial.

In the first trial, the lawsuit was represented by attorneys Han Seung (61, class 17), Go Seung-hwan (47, class 32), Lee Hyung-cheol (47, 6th bar exam), Park Young-sik (59, class 20), Kim Min-jung (44, class 38), attorneys Eun Taek (62, class 26), Jung Hye-mi (35, 5th bar exam), Shin Jeong-wook (36, 7th bar exam) of law firm Ethos, and attorneys Jeong Han-jin (48, class 34), Kim Sun-woo (45, class 34) of law firm Gihyeon.

Lee Soon-gyu, Ahn Hyun, Legal Newspaper Reporters

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.