At an interview held on the 19th at his office in Seocho District, Seoul, Managing Attorney Lee Seung-tae (30th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute) of the law firm City and People said, "As redevelopment and reconstruction expand, right-to-sunlight violations are emerging as a major dispute beyond simple complaints." He added, "Right to sunlight is not a matter of mere convenience but a right directly tied to the basic living environment of the people."
Since its founding in 2015, City and People has been a boutique law firm specializing in "urban issues" spanning environment, real estate, and construction. In particular, it has expanded its standing by taking on 630 lawsuits over right-to-sunlight violations.
After completing the Judicial Research and Training Institute in 2001, Lee practiced law and then earned a master's degree in urban planning from Michigan State University. He later received a doctorate in urban administration from the University of Seoul and completed his dissertation in 2024.
City and People is a small law firm with 20 attorneys, but it actively guarantees parental leave for its staff and received the "2025 Work-Family Balance Legal Culture Award" from the Korean Bar Association. Starting this year, it is also selecting in-house attorneys and supporting their graduate school tuition. Below is a Q&A with the managing attorney.
─ What led you to focus on right-to-sunlight lawsuits?
"As urban development became more active, disputes over right to sunlight naturally increased. While handling environmental and construction cases, right to sunlight emerged as a key issue, and I came to specialize in it."
─ How have the results been?
"So far, I have handled about 630 cases involving right-to-sunlight violations. I secured more than 20 court orders for suspension of construction. We achieved results in multiple areas, including Gocheok-dong in Guro District, Garak-dong in Songpa District, Daechi-dong in Gangnam District, and Dapsimni-dong in Dongdaemun District in Seoul."
─ Why is it difficult to obtain an order to suspend construction?
"Because courts are very cautious about halting construction. We have to prove harm that goes beyond mere inconvenience and is difficult to remedy. To that end, we respond based on objective materials such as sunlight-amount analyses and simulations."
─ Do you primarily represent residents?
"I handle cases for project operators as well as residents. By ratio, nearby residents are 8 and project operators are 2. By experiencing both sides, I have come to understand the structure of disputes in a more three-dimensional way."
─ You also handle environmental cases.
"The Young Poong Seokpo Smelter case involves cadmium, a heavy metal, leaking into groundwater and the Nakdong River from a Young Poong Group smelter that had produced zinc at the uppermost reaches of the Nakdong River in Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province, since 1970. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment imposed a 28.1 billion won penalty surcharge on the smelter, but Young Poong filed a lawsuit to cancel the disposition, saying the path and process of the cadmium leak could not be clearly specified. City and People went up against a major law firm representing Young Poong and won for the ministry, clearly proving the cadmium leak, and subsequently also won for the ministry in the lawsuit seeking to cancel the smelter's suspension of operations."
─ What about cases for residents harmed by environmental pollution?
"We led residents of More Village in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, to a final victory in 2023 in an environmental pollution damages lawsuit against a nearby shipyard. The residents claimed health deterioration and infringement of living rights due to iron oxide dust, but they lost at first instance for lack of proof. From the second instance, we took over the case and, with support from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, won, marking the first successful case under the legal support system for vulnerable groups."
─ Why did you study abroad while practicing law?
"About 10 years into practicing law, I went to the United States to study. Handling environmental and construction cases sparked my interest in urban engineering, and I simultaneously earned master's degrees from Hanyang University Graduate School and Michigan State University."
─ Do you also provide advisory work beyond litigation?
"Along with climate and energy-related projects, we are also conducting drone research with the Korea Institute of Aviation Safety Technology (KIAST). For example, there are not even standards on whether delivery drones may pass 10 meters above dwellings. The lack of laws on drone flight paths and altitudes is said to be constraining industrial development. In cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, we are also involved in easing regulations and refining laws. I also wrote a paper titled "A study on flight regulations for small drones to protect land ownership.""
─ Why do you fund graduate school tuition for your attorneys?
"This year, for the first time, one attorney entered the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Seoul National University, and we are supporting the attorney to focus on studies while maintaining salary. Unlike major law firms that send people overseas for training, we invest in strengthening the expertise of young attorneys. A law firm also needs values and direction. Rather than hiring former officials, it is important to cultivate internal talent to secure long-term competitiveness, and we will pursue steady growth even if it is slow."
─ Why do you allow general leaves of absence in addition to parental leave?
"We currently have 20 attorneys, and two have returned after taking parental leave. If they want, we also allow a general leave of two to three months. I believed that young attorneys today are already exhausted after going through entrance exams, law school, and the bar exam. Adequate rest also boosts work efficiency. If you try to hold on to an attorney who wants to rest, it can instead lead to attrition."
─ Why did you choose environment, real estate, and construction as your specialties?
"Growing up in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, I felt the value of the environment in nature. Later, while studying cities, I encountered New Urbanism (a social movement to develop cities by reviving the characteristics of traditional places) and realized the need for development in harmony with the environment. Based on this thinking, I founded the law firm "City and People" and specialized in environment, construction, and real estate within the framework of the city."