Family of bullying victim takes 'no-show lawyer' case to Supreme Court

A damages lawsuit filed on behalf of the late Park Ju-won — whose appeal was deemed withdrawn after her attorney repeatedly failed to appear in court — will now go before the Supreme Court. The family said it cannot accept the appellate court's decision to declare the case closed without properly examining whether attorney Kwon Gyeong-ae's absences amounted to deliberate breach of duty rather than simple negligence.

Lee Gi-cheol, Park's mother, filed a petition for final appeal Wednesday against the Seoul High Court's ruling declaring the litigation terminated, according to the Legal Times. The Seoul High Court's Civil Division 8-2 ruled June 25 that "all litigation between the plaintiff and the defendants was concluded on Nov. 10, 2022, when the appeal was deemed withdrawn." The suit had been filed against the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, a school foundation, school staff and the parents of bullies.

In the petition, the family argued that the lower court misapplied the legal principles governing the effect of a deemed withdrawal of appeal. Because Kwon may have deliberately skipped hearings to conceal her own professional misconduct, the court should have summoned her as a witness to determine why she was absent, the family said.

The family also argued that relief remains possible even after a final judgment becomes binding. "Where a party's ability to present arguments or evidence was obstructed by another person's criminally punishable conduct, a retrial is available as a remedy," the family said. "It cannot be categorically ruled out that some form of relief is available even in cases of a deemed withdrawal of appeal."

The family further took issue with the failure to notify the client directly of the hearing dates. The provision requiring service or notice to be made to a legal representative does not mean notice must go exclusively to that representative, the family argued. When a representative is suspected of deliberately absenting herself in breach of her duties, the client should also have been notified of the hearing dates to protect her right to a fair trial, the family said.

Park died in 2015 after enduring school bullying. Her family filed a damages suit in 2016 against 34 parties, including the parents of the bullies, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, a school foundation and school staff. A first-instance court in 2022 found only one of the bullies' parents liable and dismissed the claims against the remaining defendants.

The family appealed the portions of the ruling that went against them. Kwon, who took on the appeal, failed to appear at two scheduled hearings in September and October 2022. She also did not appear at a subsequent hearing in November of that year, which had been reopened at the family's request. The court deemed the appeal withdrawn under Article 268 of the Civil Procedure Act. Kwon then received the appellate court's written ruling but did not inform the family, allowing the deadline for a further appeal to pass.