John Quin Quin Emmanuel CEO: "Samsung lost Apple lawsuit due to silence issues... Must prepare for testimony recordings"

Global Law Firm Quinn Emanuel CEO John Quinn
Lecture at Hankyung CEO Jeju Summer Forum
"The phrase 'Make Galaxy more like iPhone' is problematic"
"Korean culture of watching the boss harms trials"

John Quinn, the head of the global law firm Quinn Emanuel, said on the 12th, "In the Samsung-Apple lawsuit, the phrase 'make the Galaxy more like the iPhone' became an issue." He emphasized that to win lawsuits, it is essential to educate in advance about 'words not to be used' so that the opposing party cannot misuse deposition transcripts.

John Quinn, CEO of Quinn Emmanuel, attended the '2024 HKY CEO Jeju Summer Forum' held at Lotte Hotel Jeju on the 12th and gave a presentation on the topic "Business Strategies Learned from Cases of Korean Companies Winning International Litigation."
[Photo by HKY]

On the same day, Quinn made these remarks during a lecture at the '2024 CEO Jeju Summer Forum' hosted by the Korea Economic Leaders Association at Lotte Hotel Jeju in Seogwipo City. Attendees at the forum included Quinn, Ryu Jin, chairman of the Korea Economic Leaders Association, Nam Myung-geun, CEO of Korea Business Finance, Kim Ho-young, CEO of CareOne, Lee Tae-young, chairman and CEO of Taejun Pharmaceutical, and Kim Chang-beom, executive vice president of the Korea Economic Leaders Association.

The 30-minute lecture by Quinn was titled "Business Strategies Learned from Cases of Korean Companies Winning International Litigation."

He explained that in U.S. trials, the process of 'deposition' is frequently utilized. It is common to collect testimony from the opposing party’s owner (head) or CEO in both text and video formats. He stressed that being cautious with words is crucial to winning lawsuits in the U.S. In particular, phrases such as "let’s discuss separately" or "please read and respond" must never be used in documents.

Quinn stated, "There were many documents within Samsung saying 'make the Galaxy more like the iPhone,'" adding, "This can be exploited as a pretext for the argument of 'why are you trying to imitate the iPhone?'" He continued, "Therefore, it is necessary to educate in advance about which phrases to be careful with when drafting documents."

Quinn said that the uniquely high loyalty Koreans have toward their companies is advantageous in lawsuits. However, he noted that the culture of watching superiors’ reactions and overly complicated reporting systems negatively affect litigation. Quinn shared, "Two Korean employees from a famous large conglomerate came all the way to Los Angeles on a business trip and requested, 'Please do not ask questions because the chairman dislikes it.'" He added, "If I had spoken directly to the chairman, he would have accepted it."

He also said, "In a famous conglomerate lawsuit, the opposing party tried to take a deposition of our chairman, and when we requested three hours of preparation time, the company allowed only two hours. However, the chairman, who was doing a deposition for the first time, asked to have all the time needed to prepare." He warned, "We must be careful about the culture of being overly cautious about saying (uncomfortable) things to superiors in advance."

John Lee, Queen Emmanuel Asia Managing Partner, is giving a lecture at the '2024 Hankyung CEO Jeju Summer Forum' on the 12th.
[Photo by Moon Chaeseok]

Following Quinn, John Lee, the Asia Managing Partner of Quinn Emanuel, who spoke as a presenter, said, "My father, who worked as an executive at Daewoo in the U.S., told me that Korean businesspeople worked in the U.S. with a 'headfirst into the unknown' spirit. Now, Korean companies no longer have to headfirst into the unknown and can win disputes anywhere in the world."

He advised, "In fact, we have won disputes with opposing companies located in the U.S., Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada, and other places. We must respond to international disputes calmly and sophisticatedly while accumulating know-how."