Law Firm Cheongchul (Attorney in charge: Eom Sang-yoon, Lee Young-gyeong) represented a large online open market operator (defendant) in a case where a consumer (plaintiff) who purchased goods from a seller through an online marketplace filed a lawsuit for the return of the goods' payment, specifically arguing the obligations of intermediaries in electronic commerce under the Electronic Commerce Act to lead to a forced mediation resulting in the abandonment of claims.

The client in this case is a company operating a large online open market platform, and the plaintiff is a consumer who purchased goods from a shopping mall established on the platform operated by the client. The plaintiff requested a refund on the grounds that the goods purchased in the shopping mall, in which the client acted as an intermediary, were defective, but the seller refused to refund. Consequently, the plaintiff asserted that the client also had legal liability and filed a lawsuit against both the seller and the client for the return of goods payment and damages.

The Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the “Electronic Commerce Act”) clearly distinguishes between sellers and intermediaries and stipulates cases where legal liabilities are jointly assumed towards consumers. Accordingly, Cheongchul argued primarily that the open market operator does not share all the obligations that the seller bears towards the consumer simply by being an intermediary, and the court accepted this argument, denying the plaintiff's claims against the client.

This case is one that concluded early through mediation based on legal principles, protecting the client's interests as much as possible. This was possible under the judgment that even if the case proceeded to a ruling process based on solid legal grounds, there could be a chance of winning, and the court also reflected Cheongchul's arguments in the forced mediation proposal. Furthermore, Cheongchul submitted materials regarding the efforts made by the client to mediate the dispute between the plaintiff (consumer) and the seller, resulting in the best outcomes both substantively and procedurally.