Damages Specialist Lawyer | Damages for Unauthorized Breach of an Exclusive Contract, the Agency's Full Claim Amount Granted

The client who sought out this firm to consult with a damages specialist attorney was the head of an entertainment agency.

Around 2021, the client, holding a high regard for the development potential of an aspiring actor (hereinafter the defendant), entered into a 7-year exclusive contract, and thereafter spared no full-scale investment in the defendant.

However, after receiving acting lessons and the like for about two years, the defendant suddenly disappeared without notice for a month, citing reasons such as a knee injury and psychological pressure.

Unlike the anxious client, the defendant kept putting off returning to the agency day after day, and eventually even avoided the client's contact regarding terminating the contract by mutual agreement, saying that it "felt threatening."

Accordingly, the client, judging that the contract could no longer be continued, proceeded with terminating the contract and separating from the defendant.

The client resolved to claim damages against the defendant, in whom he had completely lost trust, but felt at a loss about pursuing a claim for damages lawsuit on his own for the approximately 70 million won he had provided, including living expenses, grooming expenses, and acting lesson fees.

Accordingly, the client sought out and requested the assistance of this firm, which holds data on similar cases and has the expertise of attorneys who have extensive experience with claim for damages lawsuits from the company's standpoint.

An exclusive contract between an entertainment agency and an affiliated entertainer is generally concluded in accordance with the standard contract for popular culture and arts personnel.

The agency and the affiliated entertainer may change the contents of the contract by written agreement; however, if either of the two violates the terms of the contract through intent or negligence, a grace period of 14 days may be set to demand correction of the violation.

If the violation is not corrected within the period, the other party may cancel or terminate the contract, and accordingly may file a 🔗claim for damages lawsuit.

Article 390 of the Civil Act (Non-performance of Obligation and Damages)

If an obligor fails to perform in accordance with the substance of the obligation, the obligee may claim damages. However, this shall not apply where the performance has become impossible without the intent or negligence of the obligor.

The damages attorney prepared a pleading strategy that could represent the client's side and established a strategy aimed at having the entire amount sought granted.

In particular, for the client who wished for a swift conclusion of the case, the attorney designed solid legal arguments and filed the complaint within three weeks of the consultation with the client.

The court that decided this damages case recognized the defendant's nonperformance of obligations in line with the argument of the firm's damages specialist attorney, and rendered a judgment granting the full amount of damages claimed.

Submitting the defense counsel's opinion centered on the point that 'the amount in question was investment funds solely for the defendant's debut and activities,' rather than merely submitting a statement of accounts, raised the likelihood that the full amount claimed would be granted.

Although the contract provisions specified that the income expected during the remaining contract period was also to be paid as a penalty for breach, the client wished to recover only the investment funds in order to conclude the case more quickly than through other claims for consolation money, and this outcome actively reflected the client's wishes.