Civil Litigation Consultation | I Was Frustrated Wondering Why I Alone Had to Bear All the Responsibility

The Client Who Requested a Civil Litigation Consultation

The client who requested a civil litigation consultation was caught up in a damages lawsuit filed by an acquaintance of the other party.

At the time, the client and the other party were both subject to a claim for consolation money, but after the claim against the other party was withdrawn, only the damages lawsuit against the client continued.

In the end, the court rendered a judgment ordering the client to pay 30 million won in consolation money plus delay damages, and the client paid the money in accordance with the judgment.

However, since the other party had also been involved in the conduct at issue, it was necessary to examine whether the client should bear the entire amount of damages.

Accordingly, the client came to a civil attorney in order to recover the portion the other party should bear out of the amount the client had paid—that is, the reimbursement (indemnity) amount.

A Strategy of Claiming Reimbursement After the Civil Litigation Consultation

The civil attorney who conducted the civil litigation consultation first reviewed the judgment from the prior lawsuit, the confirmation of facts, and the records of the judgment payment.

Through this, the attorney specifically confirmed the circumstances under which the client and the other party came to share liability and the scale of the judgment amount the client had actually paid.

In particular, noting that among joint tortfeasors there exists an internal share of liability corresponding to each party's degree of fault, the attorney examined the other party's proportion of the burden.

The attorney also proved, through the account transfer records, that the client had paid the entire amount, and additionally calculated and claimed the recoverable portion of the attorney's fees incurred in the prior lawsuit.

The court, accepting the civil attorney's arguments, recognized that the client and the other party were in a relationship of shared liability and that the client, by paying the damages under the judgment first, had also discharged the other party's share of the burden.

The court also recognized, based on the judgment and account transfer records submitted by the client, the fact of the actual payment and the scope of the reimbursement the other party should bear.

As a result, the court granted the entire 10 million won reimbursement claimed by the client.

Daeryun, Korea's 9th-largest law firm (based on the National Tax Service's 2025 VAT filings), analyzes—from the civil litigation consultation stage—whether a right to claim has arisen, the scope of the other party's liability, and the amount that can be claimed, to devise a response strategy.

If you have alone paid a debt or damages that should have been borne together with another person, we encourage you to devise a litigation strategy through a civil litigation consultation.


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