According to legal sources on May 21, members of the girl group NewJeans filed a lawsuit to appoint additional lawyers in the Seoul Eastern District Court on May 9.
This group of lawyers is represented by the large law firm Shin & Kim, and with the latest additions, there are a total of 13 lawyers handling the case for NewJeans. Some lawyers in this group previously represented the former CEO of ADOR, Min Hee Jin - a producer of NewJeans.
On the other hand, ADOR Company (under HYBE Group) has appointed 12 lawyers through Korea's largest law firm, Kim & Chang. This highlights the strategic readiness of both sides and the seriousness of the legal battle.
Although the number of lawyers did not decide the verdict, the fact that the NewJeans members used more lawyers than ADOR showed the group's strong determination.
In the first hearing on April 3, in the main lawsuit between ADOR and NewJeans to "confirm the validity of the contract", NewJeans maintained the viewpoint of not being able to return to ADOR because the trust was broken.
NewJeans argue that CEO Min Hee Jin was fired and that the company's board has changed completely compared to when they initially signed the contract.
ADOR proposed the possibility of resolving the dispute through mediation, but NewJeans rejected this proposal, showing a steadfast stance.
The NewJeans members did not appear directly at the first hearing and their attendance at the second hearing has not yet been confirmed.
Currently, NewJeans is on hiatus after the court approved ADOR's request for a temporary ban in March. Accordingly, ADOR is allowed to maintain the management company's rights and NewJeans cannot operate independently without ADOR.
However, on May 19, NewJeans member Danielle attracted attention when appearing on a post by American group Emotional oranges. This has led many to suspect that NewJeans is resisting the court's ruling and preparing to release a new music product.
The quick Deletion of the post is understood to be a move to avoid legal troubles in the context of the ongoing dispute.
On May 21, Emotional Orange also explained that there was no collaboration between them and NewJeans, and the group was just producing a new song for Danielle's sister, singer Olivia Marsh.
The second hearing in the contract lawsuit between NewJeans and ADOR is scheduled to take place on June 5.
