Lawyer, a Former Prosecutor, Took on a Case from Former Workplace Less Than a Year After Retirement... Court Says "Discipline Justified"

[Financial News] The court has ruled that it is justified to discipline a 'lawyer, a former prosecutor' who took on a case from their previous workplace less than a year after retirement.
According to the legal community on the 14th, the 13th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Jin Hyun-seop) ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Lawyer A against the Ministry of Justice's Lawyer Disciplinary Committee to cancel a reprimand.
Lawyer A, who retired from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office in 2021, is a so-called 'prosecutor-turned-lawyer' working for a law firm. Lawyer A was reprimanded by the Korean Bar Association last year for taking on an injunction case filed by a client at the Seoul Southern District Court in March 2022.
According to the Attorney-at-Law Act, judges and prosecutors who retire and practice as lawyers are restricted from taking on cases from the court or prosecutor's office where they worked at the time of retirement for one year. In other words, Lawyer A could not take on cases handled by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Southern District Court for one year after retirement.
Lawyer A appealed the disciplinary action to the Ministry of Justice, and when it was dismissed, filed an administrative lawsuit. Lawyer A argued that a litigation staff member of the law firm listed his name on the appointment document without reporting to him. He also claimed that since the client withdrew the injunction before a hearing date was even set, he did not practically influence the lawsuit.
However, the court ruled that "even if it was a staff mistake, it cannot be said that Lawyer A did not breach his duty of care," and found the reprimand justified. The court further explained, "When a lawyer who has retired from public office takes on a case handled by the state agency where they worked at the time of retirement, it raises concerns about compromising the fairness of case handling," and "the need for sanctions cannot be dismissed merely because no substantial argument was made."



kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter