CONTENTS
- 1. The Client's Situation
- 2. Case-Related Information
- 3. Assistance Provided to the Client
- - The Argument: No Intent or Negligence
- - The Argument: Weak Causation
- 4. The Result of the Assistance
1. The Client's Situation
This is the situation of the client.
The client is a self-employed business owner who runs a restaurant whose signature menu is spicy food.
One day, a customer reportedly complained to the client, claiming that they had developed gastritis after eating spicy food at the client's restaurant.
When the client apologized to the customer and offered to pay damages, the customer demanded an amount reaching several tens of millions of won under headings such as treatment costs and consolation money.
The client tried to explain that the damages amount was far too excessive, but the customer would not listen at all, and the client eventually came to the Gwangju office to obtain legal assistance and resolve the matter through litigation.
2. Case-Related Information
A damages lawsuit is one of the most common types of civil litigation.
A damages lawsuit is, as the name suggests, a lawsuit in which the injured party holds the wrongdoer responsible and claims compensation when loss has occurred.
The Scope of Recognized Damages
Loss covers a very broad and varied scope, including not only debt or tort but also matters such as infidelity and emotional harm.
If the loss arose from a tort, a criminal complaint may also be pursued in parallel to hold the party criminally responsible as well.
As in the client's situation, when someone causes loss to another and is then faced with a claim for damages, it is important whether the person who caused the loss acted with intent or negligence.
Causation
If there was intent or negligence, it is important to prove how much causation that fact has with the loss that actually occurred.
Causation here means not only causation based on fact but also causation that is clearly recognized in legal terms, so care is needed.
If intent or negligence is not proven, or even if it is proven but no legal causation is recognized between it and the loss, the claim for damages is not established, so care is needed.
Because a damages lawsuit, by its nature, involves complex preparation of evidence and legal grounds, the assistance of an attorney with extensive experience in related cases is important rather than preparing alone.
🔗If You Would Like to Know More About Damages Lawsuits
3. Assistance Provided to the Client
Through careful consultation with the client, the attorney gained a detailed understanding of the circumstances at the time the incident occurred, collected related evidence, and presented arguments that could work in the client's favor.
The Argument: No Intent or Negligence
The spicy food that is the signature menu of the restaurant the client runs is usually the dish customers order most often, and countless people had eaten it without any particular problem.
Looking at the CCTV footage and cooking records from the time of the incident, there was no particular cooking error with the plaintiff's food, and there was no indication whatsoever that the client had intentionally made the plaintiff's food spicier.
Accordingly, the attorney emphasized that the plaintiff personally had physical characteristics that made them vulnerable to spicy food, and that the incident did not arise from the client's intent or negligence.
The Argument: Weak Causation
The plaintiff was not diagnosed with gastritis immediately after eating the spicy food at the client's restaurant, but visited a hospital and received the diagnosis one week later.
In light of this, the argument that the cause of the gastritis lay with the client was not persuasive.
The attorney emphasized that the grounds for holding the client liable for damages were weak.
4. The Result of the Assistance
Accepting the attorney's arguments, the court found that the client had no liability to pay consolation money and ordered payment of an amount reduced by more than 99% of the plaintiff's claimed amount.
This was a case in which a client who was troubled by an excessive damages claim was assisted, and the claimed amount was reduced almost entirely.
If you are faced with a damages lawsuit in this way, it is important to closely examine the circumstances of the case and clarify the burden of proving that the loss occurred.
For this purpose, it is important above all to obtain the assistance of an attorney through a 🔗attorney referral from someone with experience in damages lawsuits across various fields.
Daeryun Law Firm strives to provide the optimal legal service tailored to each client's situation.
If you need a consultation regarding a related case, please feel free to make an appointment through a 🔗legal consultation booking.
This content is based on actual case studies of Daeryun Law LLC with some adaptations, and the copyright belongs to our firm.
Unauthorized reproduction, duplication, or distribution and other copyright infringements may result in legal action under applicable laws.
