[Invest&law] Owners Say 'May Is the Month of Trials'

1st Trial Acquittal of Lee Jae-yong
Preparation Hearing for 2nd Trial on 27th
Kim & Chang Likely to Continue
Divorce Trial Verdict on 30th
Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young
Property Division is the Issue
Eight Law Firms Appointed

Next month, owners of major domestic companies will face important trials in court one after another, drawing attention from the business and legal communities. Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who was indicted on charges of involvement in unfair mergers and accounting fraud for succession of management rights and was acquitted in the first trial, will have the first hearing of the second trial at 3 p.m. on the 27th of next month. Three days later, at 2 p.m. on the 30th of next month, the divorce trial verdict of Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, Director of the Art Center Nabi, which has been highlighted as the "trial of the century," will be announced.

Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Lee Changes Main Legal Team, Will He Be Acquitted Again in the Second Trial?

It is highly likely that Chairman Lee will maintain the same legal team appointed during the first trial for the second trial as well. The main law firm is expected to be Kim & Chang. According to the legal community, Lee’s side reportedly made a bold move to change the main law firm during the prosecution investigation and the first trial, which helped them secure the desired verdict.

Among the nine law firms representing Lee, the law firm Bae, Kim & Lee initially took the lead during the investigation and early trial stages. However, as the trial progressed to a critical phase where the details of the charges were thoroughly examined, Kim & Chang took the forefront. Subsequently, Lee emphasized that the unfair merger and accounting fraud were carried out under "business judgment," and on February 5th, the court accepted this argument and acquitted him of all 19 charges.

The second trial will hold a preparatory hearing on the 27th of next month. This procedure involves confirming the positions of the prosecution and the defendant, organizing the issues, and planning evidence examination ahead of the full trial. The prosecution stated, "There is a significant difference in views from the first trial regarding the purpose and circumstances of the Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries merger for group control succession, evidence judgment on accounting fraud and unfair trading acts, fact-finding, and legal judgment."

Trial of the Century Divorce Case, Eight Law Firms Appointed

Chairman Choi and Director Noh have appointed a total of eight law firms during their divorce trial. Currently, ahead of the verdict, Chairman Choi has three law firms including KHL Law Firm, and Director Noh has four including Yulwoo Law Firm. Including Class Law Firm, which Director Noh appointed but later resigned from, a total of eight law firms have been involved in this divorce case. Chairman Choi also appointed two individual lawyers, including former judge Yoo Hae-yong.

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK and Director Noh So-young of Art Center Nabi
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The main issue fought over by Chairman Choi and Director Noh, who have brought many law firms to the forefront, is "property division." In particular, there has been a tense tug-of-war over SK Inc. shares. Director Noh claimed that the property should be divided due to the divorce and that 50% of the shares should be given to her, but the first trial court did not recognize this. Preparing for the second trial, Director Noh changed the claim amount to 2.003 trillion won in cash. After the request for share division was dismissed in the first trial, she changed the demand to a fixed cash amount, which is more likely to be accepted by the court in the second trial.

The last hearing of the divorce trial held on the 16th was conducted privately for about two hours. Both sides gave 30-minute presentations, and Chairman Choi and Director Noh each briefly stated their positions for about five minutes.

Previously, the two officially proceeded with the trial after the divorce mediation failed at the Seoul Family Court on January 16, 2018. In December 2022, the first trial accepted Director Noh’s divorce claim but dismissed Chairman Choi’s claim. While ordering Chairman Choi to pay 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in cash for property division, the court did not recognize the 50% of SK Inc. shares held by Chairman Choi that Director Noh requested. Both Chairman Choi and Director Noh appealed this ruling.