NewJeans have appealed the court's decision to prohibit the group's independent activities outside ADOR. High-profile legal heavyweights, such as former judges, have joined the legal teams of NewJeans and ADOR as the legal dispute over their exclusive contract continues.
With NewJeans temporarily halting all activities following the dismissal of their objection to the injunction, the legal battle is intensifying with the involvement of major law firms and prominent legal figures, leading to speculation that this could become the "battle of the century."
According to the legal community, on May 21, the appeal case concerning the NewJeans members’ objection to the injunction has been assigned to the Civil Division 25 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges: Hwang Byung Ha, Jung Jong Kwan, and Lee Kyun Yong).
In this appeal trial, the NewJeans side has added Park Hyung Nam (age 65, 14th class of Judicial Research and Training Institute), a representative attorney from law firm Wooseung (Kim, Park & You) and former director of the Judicial Policy Research Institute, to its existing legal team from law firm Sejong (Shin & Kim).
Attorney Park, a top student who passed both the bar and civil service exams while in his fourth year at Seoul National University’s law school, began his career as a judge at the Seoul District Court. He served in elite positions, including litigation advisor at the National Court Administration and chief judge at Jeonju District Court. In 2008, he became a senior judge at the Seoul High Court and, in 2023, he became the fifth director of the Judicial Policy Research Institute, the judiciary’s official think tank, while still serving as an active judge. He joined the law firm Wooseung in February after retiring honorably. With his addition, NewJeans’ legal team now consists of 14 members, including Shin & Kim partner attorney Lee Won (age 55, 26th class).
ADOR has also strengthened its legal team. In addition to Kim & Chang, it recently appointed former Constitutional Court justice Kang Il Won (age 66, 16th class) and attorney Chun Ji Sung (age 47, 35th class), known as the daughter of former Justice Minister Chun Jung Bae. ADOR had already added former senior High Court judge Hong Seung Myeon (age 60, 18th class) to its legal team on May 12. The total number of lawyers representing ADOR now stands at 13.
Legal professionals are closely watching whether the addition of these prominent former judges and high-profile attorneys to both sides will lead to a turning point in the outcome of the case.
The five members of NewJeans began independent activities in November last year, claiming that their exclusive contracts with ADOR were void due to violations by the agency. In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit asserting that the contracts were still valid and requested an injunction to prevent the members from pursuing individual activities.
On March 21, the Civil Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Senior Judge: Kim Sang Hoon) ruled in favor of ADOR, granting the injunction request to prohibit NewJeans from engaging in activities that would undermine the agency’s position, including signing advertising contracts independently.
The court stated, "It is difficult to conclude that ADOR significantly violated its obligations under the exclusive contract, or that the mutual trust underpinning the contract has been irreparably damaged," thus siding with ADOR.
Although the NewJeans members filed an objection to the injunction, the court maintained its original decision, saying, “The injunction is justified.” Following this, the members immediately filed an appeal. Currently, all activities of NewJeans are temporarily suspended.
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