1. The Client's Crisis

A client who had invested his retirement severance pay to run a restaurant in a commercial building was sued by the building owner for handover of the building on the grounds of "unauthorized structural alteration and illegal extension." Although the construction had been carried out with the landlord's consent and the lease term had not yet expired, he lost at first instance. Facing the risk of losing his livelihood, he came to Law Firm Jeonjae to prepare for the appeal.

2. Key Issues

To overturn the first-instance loss, it was necessary to prove again whether the landlord had consented to the facility changes at the time of the lease agreement and whether the rest area facilities constituted a change of use. The other side argued unauthorized structural alteration and breach of sublease rules, and because the first-instance court had accepted these arguments, it was a difficult case that required a complete reworking of the logic in order to reverse the judgment on appeal.

3. Jeonjae's Strategy

Attorney Shin Mari immediately determined a strategy aimed at total dismissal after analyzing the first-instance record, and redesigned the issue-by-issue rebuttal structure based on the lease agreement, construction drawings, and building status plans. With assistance from a cooperating appraisal firm, objective evidence was strengthened, and multiple motions for an order to produce documents were filed against the opposing party, who refused to submit materials, filling in the evidentiary gaps.

4. Result and Recovery

At the appellate stage, we obtained a victory that completely overturned the first-instance judgment. Thanks to the swift response, the lawsuit did not become prolonged, and the client was able to continue operating the restaurant without suffering major harm to his livelihood.

Attorney in charge: Attorney Shin Mari (handled numerous appellate reversal cases)

For confidentiality and protection of privacy, this case has been partially de-identified to the extent that does not undermine the essence of the matter.