Sung Man Kim is a Partner at Lee & Ko and one of the leading attorneys of its Anti-Trust & Competition Practice Group. As a renowned specialist and leader in Competition Law, Mr. Kim joined Lee & Ko in 2007 after working for over ten years with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), where he held key positions such as Head of Monopoly Monitoring, International Affairs, Policy Development Planning, Standardized Contracts and E-Transaction Protection Teams. He is also currently the Vice President of the Antitrust Community of the Seoul Bar Association.
At Lee & Ko, Mr. Kim handles many significant fair-trade matters. Some examples of his past casework include: 1) Semiconductor and CRT international cartel cases, in which Mr. Kim successfully represented domestic and foreign companies in various competition authority investigations, including the KFTC and in the US, Canada, and EU. He also represented companies in various civil suits, many ending in acquittal or reduction; 2) International corporate mergers (for example, in the global iron ore market), in which Mr. Kim effectively represented companies to domestic and foreign competition authorities; 3) Successfully representing large corporations (such as Samsung Electronics) susceptible to frequent investigation by competition authorities. Mr. Kim brought about a ground-breaking ruling that effectively limited the scale of such investigations (for example, prohibiting the searching of non-related material on staff computers); 4) Mr. Kim represented 12 banks in a matter regarding fixed interest rates and overturned the KFTC's original verdict in the Court of Appeals.
As an expert in Competition Law, Mr. Kim has smoothly and efficiently executed various fair trade-related suits with exceptional results. Specific examples of his expertise include: 1) Providing legal advice and drafting documents in relation to domestic and transnational M&A inspections; 2) Handling cartel disputes involving leniency reports and representing before the KFTC; 3) Detecting and advising against various forms of unfair trading practices; 4) Dealing with investigations on numerous unfair subcontracting business transactions; 5) Providing legal consultation on fair trade-related issues including E-commerce, affiliation distribution and franchises.
Mr. Kim has handled a wide variety of Competition Law-related suits for domestic and transnational clients with an emphasis on proactive and comprehensive legal assistance. He holds particular strength in systematic and efficient management of investigations and provides a practical way for clients to resolve contentious matters.