Don’t Get Mad. Get Even!

Is this your way of amubulance chasing?

My name is on the list, I’m glad!

No, it’s not. I wouldn’t take a case for a group of English teachers if you paid me a million dollars. But especially more so since you won’t.

This is not because of any fault of the teachers. It’s because the hagwon owners are among the worst human beings in the world and I can’t stand to deal with them, and can’t compel others in my office to do it either.

But there definitely is a case there. A case for somebody else, with a stronger tolerance for nonsense than I have, to handle. The Bar Association legal aid might do it, but I would guess they’ll run out of energy quickly. Form a group of aggrieved teachers, 100 strong, and each pay a private lawyer W500,000 to fight for you. That would be W50,000,000 to the lawyer — almost enough to cover the aggravation of dealing with the scummy hagwon owners — and relatively affordable for the teachers. You probably could win (uncollectible) damages of W1,000,000 – W2,000,000 each for defamation.

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It’s nonsense to say that foreigners have little recourse in the legal system. Foreigners have the same rights as a Korean (excepting the visa issue), and if you go to court you’ll get the same shake — in almost all cases (there are some bigots to be found even on the bench) — as a Korean.

If you go to the National Labor Relations Commission and file a complaint, your complaint will be investigated and acted upon just as a Korean’s. If you file a civil suit, you will get docketed and heard just like a Korean. But as a plaintiff, you have the burden of proving your complaint.

If you sit on your thumb and impotently grouse about things, well, then you won’t get much accomplished. Don’t like how you’re being treated? Sue. Just like a Korean.

That the legal system doesn’t operate in English for your convenience is not the same thing as having no recourse.

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However, a question for Mr. Carr: How does pro bono work in Korea compare to that of say the US? Or for that matter lawyers willing to work on contingency? In the states, we have bulldog lawyers that would sue your mother for overcooking your steak if they thought they could get a contingency out of it. I could be wrong, and stand corrected if I am, that contingency is just not done here.

Pro bono work is done here in Korea by Korean lawyers and by me myself. It’s just that I get to choose what I take on for free. And there is an element of whether or not the lawyer can afford to take a given matter — sometimes the timing is just wrong and the lawyer needs to concentrate more on making sure he has enough money to pay the rent.

Contingency is surely done here too. But contingency practice depends on the availability of a quantum of damages which allows for the plaintiff to recover enough to compensate the lawyer both for the work and for the risk of not prevailing. And Korean damage awards in personal matters are really crummy. Twenty-five percent of (a probably uncollectible award of) W2,000,000 — if we win, and are so lucky as to be able to collect the award — is not enticing enough to motivate any lawyer to get out of bed.

My partner Doil is handling a contingent-fee case which he’s probably going to lose. But if he wins, the fee will be W4,000,000,000 (US$4.4 million) because the property being fought over is valuable.

As I always say in these circumstances, a lawyer can work and not get paid, or not work and not get paid. As for me, unless the case is really compelling and I can afford to take it at that moment, I think I’ll sleep in or catch up on some reading. And I’d bet that’s why you don’t see a contingency-based plaintiff’s bar here.

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