International Peace Institute (“IPI”), an independent non-profit research and policy development institution based in New York, filed a USD 16 million claim against Korea’s largest Methodist Church, Kumnan Church (“Kumnan”), and its pastor, Hong-do Kim (“Pastor Kim”). Piggybacking on the case, a certain law firm filed a criminal lawsuit against Pastor Kim. Lee & Ko successfully represented Pastor Kim at the appellate level by obtaining a reversal of the lower court’s decision. Specifically, in March 2015, Lee & Ko obtained full dismissal of the civil claims filed by IPI, reversing the District Court’s decision. Furthermore, in April 2015, Pastor Kim was found not guilty of the majority of the charges filed against him.. If the appellate court were to affirm the District Court’s decision, Kumnan and Pastor Kim would have lost all of their assets, not to mention Pastor Kim unjustly serving some time in prison.
Meanwhile, IPI also filed a lawsuit against Kumnan et. al to retrieve USD 24 million, in which Lee & Ko once again represented Kumnan et. al. Working in coordination with a U.S. based law firm, in April 2015, Lee & Ko successfully obtained a final court decision dismissing all of IPI’s claims.
This victorious outcome was a result of Lee & Ko attorneys’ collaborative teamwork, with their outstanding, in-depth expertise coupled with a keen analysis of the evidence that were relevant to the case.