Lawyer suspended for 'damaging profession's dignity' loses second appeal
A Seoul appeals court upheld a one-month suspension for a lawyer who promoted false credentials on nightclub billboards and danced in front of them.
The Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul
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A lawyer who was suspended for posting false advertisements on nightclub billboards and dancing in front of them has lost an appeal, with a Seoul court upholding the original ruling.
The Seoul High Court ruled against the lawyer on Thursday in a lawsuit they filed seeking to overturn a decision by the Ministry of Justice's attorney disciplinary committee that had rejected their objection, according to legal sources Monday.
The lawyer was handed a one-month suspension in September 2023 after billboards at clubs and other entertainment venues displayed phrases including "managing partner of a law firm," "King of Seocho" and "a lawyer born wealthy" — descriptions the disciplinary committee found damaging to the professional dignity of lawyers.
The "managing partner of a law firm" claim was also false, as the lawyer runs an independent legal office, not a law firm. In Korea, a "law office" typically refers to a sole practitioner, while a "law firm" refers to a practice with multiple partners. The disciplinary committee's investigation found that they had created business cards for an entertainment venue manager and tasked that person with handling business promotion.
The lawyer argued they had not personally requested the advertisements. Still, the disciplinary committee rejected that defense, finding that they had "not only failed to stop the advertisements but actively encouraged and facilitated them by dancing in front of the billboard."
A court ruled in November that the suspension was justified. Even accepting the lawyer's framing that his role amounted only to "encouraging and facilitating" the conduct, the court found it still constituted grounds for discipline on the basis of conduct unbecoming a lawyer.
The appeals court found no fault with that reasoning and dismissed the appeal.
BY SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
