Corporate Specialist Attorney | Entire Claim for 140 Million Won in Service Fees Dismissed

The client who came to the corporate specialist attorney operated a corporation that performed consumer goods quality inspection services and had entered into a subcontract for quality inspection services with an affiliate of a large corporation, with which it had done business over a long period.

The contract was concluded and renewed on a one-year basis, and the client gave notice of termination of the contract by written notice before the expiration of the contract period.

The counterparty then changed its attitude, failed to keep what had been agreed, and claimed that the suspension of work assignments to certain inspection personnel constituted a retaliatory measure. It also claimed that the act of directly contracting some inspection personnel after the termination of the contract amounted to improper inducement of personnel, and that the client had reduced inspection allowances and mileage and had also failed to pay overtime allowances, and claimed approximately 140 million won.

Faced with the unexpected high-value claim, the client, concerned about the spread of management risk, determined that a prompt response was necessary. The client therefore came to the corporate specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

1. Determining the scope of obligations through review of the content of the agreement

Although the plaintiff claimed that the client "violated what had been agreed," the corporate specialist attorney emphasized that the content of the agreement did not clearly impose on the client an obligation to increase a specific amount or to continue assigning work.

2. Constructing the logic of normal termination upon expiration of the contract period

The corporate specialist attorney argued that this was not a "unilateral termination of the contract" but rather the expiration of the period set in the contract.

The attorney conducted the defense on the logic that the client had given notice of contract termination one month before expiration in accordance with the procedure set in the contract, and that, because the agreement contained no covenant to extend, the failure to renew could not be unlawful.

3. Emphasizing the burden of proof and rebutting the lack of evidence as to the claims of retaliation, inducement, and nonpayment

Although the plaintiff claimed a retaliatory measure, inducement of personnel, nonpayment of allowances, and the like, the corporate specialist attorney focused on the point that the heart of the trial lay in "whether there is evidence to support the claims."

The attorney organized the point that, whereas objective records such as the client's improvement requests were confirmed, the plaintiff's materials alone were insufficient to recognize the above claims, and conducted the defense on the ground of lack of evidence.