[Choi Seok-jin's Law & Biz] Law Firm's Blue Ocean Severe Accident Punishment Act

Major domestic law firms have responded quickly by forming dedicated organizations before and after the implementation of the Serious Accident Punishment Act. It is even called the ‘blue ocean’ for law firms.

In some cases, existing industrial disaster teams were expanded and organized, but in many cases, new centers or headquarters were established. These dedicated organizations mainly consist of lawyers from the courts, prosecutors, police, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Kim & Chang Law Firm operates a serious disaster response group led by the EHS (Environment, Health & Safety) team, with approximately 150 members including the Labor Detective Team, Construction Team, and Human Resources and Labor Team. Regarding the recognition of the Chief Safety Officer (CSO) as the manager of management, which is one of the most hotly contested issues in the interpretation of the Central Government Act, there was a case in which a CSO, rather than the CEO, was recognized as the manager of management for the first time.

Gwangjang, which operates an industrial safety and serious disaster team consisting of about 60 experts in the criminal, labor, environment, and construction fields, provides one-stop services from consultation to investigation response and criminal trials, and represents the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in constitutional appeal cases.

The Pacific Major Disaster Response Headquarters is the first to introduce and operate a 'comprehensive situation room' system that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is subdivided into a field response team composed of about 50 criminal and human resources experts, an investigation response team composed of prosecutors and police officers, and a defense response team composed of court officials.

Yulchon, which established the Serious Accident Center in 2021 before the law went into effect, obtained the first not guilty verdict regarding the fulfillment of its obligations under the Severe Accident Act. Attorney Kyung-soo Kim, who has extensive experience responding to and advising 140 investigations and former head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department, serves as the head of the general center.

Sejong is responding 24 hours a day by forming a 'Severe Disaster Emergency Response Team' comprised of lawyers with experience in the Ministry of Employment and Labor, prosecutors, and police, as well as a Severe Disaster Response Center composed of about 70 experts in industrial safety, construction, environment, and chemicals.

Yoon & Yang is operating the Serious Accident Punishment Act Response TF, which is comprised of a collaborative system of the company's Labor Group, Criminal Response Group, and Construction and Corporate Advisory Group. In the CJ Korea Express case and the Korea Railroad Corporation case, he was acquitted by the prosecution, and in the Nonghyup Networks case, he was confirmed not guilty. In October 2022, when it took charge of the Doosung Industrial case, the first case prosecuted under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, an application was made to the Constitutional Court for a review of the unconstitutionality of the law.

In order to respond to the expansion of application to workplaces with less than 50 employees, YK expanded its organization in February last year from a single center director system with attorney Jo In-seon to a five-person joint center director system, including representative attorneys Kyu-young Gyu and Kim Do-hyung, former deputy chief prosecutors, and representative attorneys Sang-jin Han and Jin-ho Lee, former deputy chief prosecutors. In particular, we are actively utilizing our network of 32 directly managed branch offices across the country to quickly respond to incidents that occur outside of Seoul.

In June 2022, Jipyong is expanding and reorganizing the existing industrial safety and serious disaster team into a serious disaster response center with the recruitment of attorney Park Jeong-sik, a former high prosecutor with extensive experience in industrial safety investigations, and attorney Yoon Sang-ho, a former chief prosecutor of the Public Security Service. In February of this year, the corporation and its CEO were found not guilty in a serious accident that occurred during the elevator installation construction of a shipyard tower crane.

Daeryun's Industrial Safety and Severe Accident Group includes former Chief Judge Shin Min-soo, who had experience in the labor and violent crime department while serving as a judge, former Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Chief Cho Young-gon, who had experience advising on the CJ Logistics serious accident case, and former Chief Prosecutor Yoon Seok-ju, who had experience specializing in construction and safety accidents.

In February 2022, Barun expanded and reorganized the existing Serious Disaster Punishment Act Response Special Team into the Serious Disaster Response Center. The group includes former Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-jin, former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Seong-geun, Park Seong-ho, a former chief criminal judge at the Ulsan District Court, where the first court in the country established a special tribunal for industrial (safety) disaster cases, and Park Hyun-joong, a former police officer who served as the first serious accident specialist at the National Investigation Headquarters. A constitutional petition was filed with the Constitutional Court in October last year, and a hearing is currently underway at the full court.

Daeryuk Aju's Serious Disaster Response Group is headed by attorney Gyu-cheol Lee. In addition to former prosecutors, including former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Cha Dong-eon, who served as an advisory member of the Seoul Safety Advisory Council of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and former High Prosecutors' Office Chief Oh In-seo, who served as the head of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office's Public Security Department, about 50 people, including lawyer Cho Yong-gi, who was a judge, are active. He defended the mayor of Seongnam, who was booked on charges of violating the Serious Accident Punishment Act (causing death due to civil disaster) in the death of the Jeongja Bridge collapse in Seongnam City, and was not indicted.

These law firms are paying close attention to the Constitutional Court's decision on this unconstitutionality case. As the investigation and response to trials of the cases we are currently representing may change significantly depending on the Constitutional Court's judgment of unconstitutionality, we are monitoring the Constitutional Court's judgment and reviewing other provisions of the Central Wife Act that were not subject to judgment this time.
 

Seokjin Choi, Law & Biz Specialist (csj0404@asiae.co.kr)

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