As Timeev’s creditors grow in size… Large law firms also participate

Legal battle expected over self-rescue plan

Gwangjang, Lin, Daeryun, and Hwahyeon step forward as litigation representatives
Pacific, appoints a lawyer specializing in rehabilitation
Providing legal advice to the Creditors' Council

Jipyong supports ‘Timeef Corporate Rehabilitation’
Law firms, until the 30th rehabilitation conference
A confrontation is predicted over the effectiveness of the self-rescue plan.

The delayed settlement of ‘TimePrice’ (Timon/WeMakePrice), which has been brought to court, is leading to a legal battle between major law firms. In the process of Timeef's Autonomous Restructuring Support (ARS) program, a creditors' council was formed to negotiate with Timeef over the restructuring plan, and large law firms such as Pacific Law Firm and Gwangjang Law Firm are jumping in one after another, signaling a full-scale tug-of-war within the creditors.

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Horizon vs. Plaza/Pacific/Lin

According to the legal community on the 18th, ahead of the first creditors' council held privately on the 13th, law firms Gwangjang, Lin,Daeryun, Hwa-hyeon and others submitted a power of attorney as litigation representatives for creditors. Lynn,Daeryunetc.This is a law firm that has been communicating with affected businesses and individuals by launching a dedicated center and task force (TF) from the beginning of the incident.Creditors of large corporations joined in by appointing large law firms such as Gwangjang.
 

Pacific and others submitted their opinions as representatives of creditors. This means that even if they are not officially in charge of litigation representation, they are representing the interests of creditors by providing legal advice to them. In Pacific, it is known that rehabilitation lawyers from the Future Financial Strategy Center, led by Han Jun-seong, former vice president of Hana Bank, are representing several creditors belonging to the creditors' council.

Currently, Timon's creditors are SC First Bank and Simone Asset Management, and WeMakePrice's creditors are SC First Bank and Korea Culture Promotion Agency. Because there are so many creditors, it is highly likely that more law firms will join in the future.

The debtor, Timef, applied to the court for corporate rehabilitation on July 29 and appointed Jipyong Law Firm. Jipyong has long served as legal advisor to Q10 Group, the parent company of Timef. Among Jipyeong's representatives, attorney Jang Pom (Judicial Research and Training Institute 39th class) and Seo Dong-cheon (2nd class) are known as corporate rehabilitation experts.

However, Jipyong does not plan to take charge of filing criminal complaints or filing charges against executives such as Q10 Group CEO Koo Young-bae, Timon CEO Ryu Gwang-jin, and WeMakePrice co-CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun. It has been reported that Yoo & Yang Law Firm will be handling the criminal case against CEO Koo separately.

Chief Justice of the Rehabilitation Court who advocated the ‘principle of equality’

At the first creditors' council, TimePrice submitted a self-rescue plan that prioritized repayment of 100,000 small creditors (40,000 Timon and 60,000 WeMakePrice) whose damages amounted to less than 2 million won, but the court effectively rejected it. It is known that Seoul Rehabilitation Court Chief Justice Ahn Byeong-wook expressed a critical opinion citing the ‘principle of equality’ in rehabilitation procedures. Chief Justice Ahn is said to have expressed his position at the council meeting, saying, “It is against the principle of equality for creditors of the same amount to be repaid first because they are small amounts, while large creditors are not repaid or have delayed repayment.”

It is expected that there will be a fierce battle of brains between law firms over the effectiveness of the self-rescue plan before the second meeting on the 30th. Timef plans to accept the criticisms of the court and creditors and first seek ways to normalize the company. However, creditors are skeptical about the possibility of securing investment funds by the end of this month. A lawyer representing the affected company pointed out, “If an investor does not appear to invest sufficient funds, both the establishment of a new corporation and the rehabilitation plan are uncertain.”
 

Meanwhile, creditors who were not selected as members of the council are reportedly considering filing a constitutional complaint against the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
 

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