[Legal Spotlight] Coupang Litigation Battle Goes Full Swing···SJKP Teams Up with U.S. Law Firm

Securing Evidence with Napoli Shkolnik
"Will Create a Turning Point to Reclaim Victims' Rights"

The Personal Information Protection Commission on the 11th imposed a record-high fine of 624.681 billion won on Coupang, which caused a massive personal data leak. Amid the Korean government's extremely strong sanction putting Coupang's information protection responsibility under scrutiny, the class action against Coupang, Inc. filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York is also getting fully on track from the middle of this month, heightening the tension in legal circles even further.

As this is an unprecedented-scale privacy infringement case with numerous domestic and international victims across borders, attention is focused on how the defendant's governance structure and supervisory responsibility will be proven in the U.S. federal litigation procedure.

With Coupang preparing an airtight defense by retaining the world's top-tier law firm Kirkland & Ellis, we met with foreign attorney Son Dong-hoo of SJKP, the U.S. local corporation of Daeryun LLC representing the victims, to hear the key issues of the upcoming litigation and the counter-strategy.

Q. The defendant Coupang retained a giant law firm. In response, SJKP joined hands with Napoli Shkolnik.

"To break through the defensive wall Coupang has put up, securing decisive evidence that will determine the outcome of the trial—that is, powerful discovery capability—was absolutely necessary. Napoli Shkolnik, chosen as our partner, is renowned for possessing advanced in-house evidence collection and analysis capabilities in the field of U.S. federal class actions and data/privacy infringement litigation. Based on close collaboration with Napoli, SJKP will focus on the decisive proof that will block Coupang's evasion of responsibility and lead to fair compensation for the victims. If SJKP is the base camp dedicated to communicating with domestic victims and coordinating between Korea and the U.S., then Napoli Shkolnik plays the role of the striker commanding the overall local litigation. Based on a perfect division of roles, we will do our utmost to find concrete evidence to hold the management accountable."

Q. The Personal Information Protection Commission imposed a record-breaking fine on Coupang. What impact will it have on domestic and international litigation?

"The government investigation confirmed that the personal information of some 37.5 million users was leaked through vulnerabilities within Coupang. Accordingly, the Commission decided to impose a record-high fine of 624.681 billion won on Coupang, on grounds including negligent management of access rights to authentication means such as signature keys, failure to destroy the information of withdrawn members, delayed notification of the leak, and violation of safety measure obligations such as inspection of access records. This far exceeds the previous highest of about 130 billion won imposed on SK Telecom, and is a result that sounds an alarm on the legal responsibility of large platform companies. The domestic litigation is also proceeding without wavering, but this strong sanction result from the government appears likely to act as a very powerful lever in proving the defendant's violation of information protection obligations and poor internal controls in the U.S. federal litigation as well."

Q. The U.S. federal litigation goes full swing from the middle of this month. What is the specific schedule?

"The initial hearing will be held on the 17th, presided over by Federal Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry. On that day, based on the joint discovery plan submitted by both plaintiff and defendant, the method and scope of electronic data submission will be coordinated and future procedures will be finalized. At this occasion, we plan to request broad discovery of Coupang's electronic data and focus on securing evidence regarding the lax management and supervision at Coupang's headquarters. Afterward, through the defendant's submission of an answer and pre-trial defense motions in early July, a fierce legal battle is expected to unfold."

Q. Punitive damages of over 5 million dollars are at stake. What will be the biggest watershed determining the outcome of the trial?

"By far, it is the Class Certification stage. This is the procedure in which Federal Judge Ann M. Donnelly, who is handling the merits, formally recognizes whether the plaintiff's representative is qualified to represent the numerous victims. To this end, the scale of the victims, the commonality of the issues, and the adequacy of representation requirements must be strictly proven. If the court grants class certification, the defendant will face pressure to pay astronomical compensation to tens of thousands of people. According to Eastern District of New York statistics, a considerable number of cases in which class certification is granted are concluded immediately through settlement recommendations—that is how powerful it is. SJKP and Napoli will concentrate the plaintiff's capabilities."

Q. I heard the dedicated legal team leading the case is also solidly assembled.

"That's right. On SJKP's side, foreign attorney (U.S.) James Meaney, who has successfully led complex litigation for multinational corporations in federal and state courts for over 20 years, and foreign attorney (U.S.) Richard Won, who is well-versed in large-scale cross-border disputes, will work alongside me. On Napoli's side, representative attorney Hunter Shkolnik, who has overseen discovery in large-scale class actions, personally formed a dedicated team, and attorney Chun Ho Chung, a former Chief Legal Officer (CLO) of a Nasdaq-listed company, joined to add firepower. Currently, through the Daeryun and SJKP websites, participation from some 7,800 victims has gathered, and additional participation in the litigation is actively continuing."

Q. Finally, if you have a message for the victims and those considering additional participation.

"U.S. federal litigation is a battlefield where the truth is uncovered in full and fought over based on meticulous logic and thorough evidence collection. If privacy infringement damage has occurred across borders, solidarity and legal response must also be carried out systematically across borders in order to break through a giant corporation's shield. Based on solid joint cooperation with Napoli Shkolnik, the SJKP dedicated legal team will hold Coupang accountable to the end for its data protection and management responsibility, and will do its utmost to reclaim the lost rights of each and every victim."

Reporter Jung Ye-jin yejin0311@inews24.com

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[Legal Spotlight] Coupang Litigation Battle Goes Full Swing···SJKP Teams Up with U.S. Law Firm (Go)