Recent Developments

Lee & Ko has once again been ranked Tier 1 across all eight evaluated practice areas in the IFLR1000 2025 Edition (International Financial Law Review 1000). This achievement marks the fourteenth consecutive year that the firm has secured Tier 1 recognition in every category, an enduring testament to Lee & Ko’s market-leading capabilities in finance and corporate law. In addition to the firm-wide rankings, sixty-one of our professionals have been named Leading Lawyers across the individual practice areas, reaffirming our exceptional depth of expertise and the strength of our team. Notably, Hyunjoo Oh, a partner in our Banking & Finance Group, has been honored as a Women Leader for the sixth consecutive year. With more than 27 years of experience in capital markets, Ms. Oh is a highly respected finance specialist whose practice covers the full spectrum of capital markets transactions, including securities and derivatives, together with capital markets regulation, disputes, foreign exchange regulation, and other areas of corporate finance.


Banking and Finance
Capital Markets: Debt
Capital Markets: Equity
Capital Markets: Structured Finance and Securitisation
M&A
Private Equity
Project Development
Restructuring and Insolvency


 Banking and Finance: Sangwoo Ahn, Lachlan Barth, Yong-Jae Chang, Young Je Cho, Eun Sam Choi, Eui Yeon Jo, Woo Young Jung, Dong Eun Kim, Insoo Kim, Kwang Yul Kim, Hun Ko, Myoung Chul Kwak, Paul (Jung Woo) Moon, Yunjeong Seo, Dong Seok Woo, Paul H.J. Yoon, Yeo Kyoon Yoon
 Capital Markets: Sae Ho Ahn, Hyunji Bae, Jun Woo Cho, Kyoung Jun Cho, Kyu Hyeok Choi, Seung Hoon Choi, Wonkyu Han, Seunga Hyun, Donga Jung, Dongyon Kim, Jiseon Kim, Minsik Kim, Jin Hong Kwon, Han Kyung Lee, Eui Cheol Na, Hyunjoo Oh
 Corporate and M&A: Yong Seok Ahn, Da Hye Cho, Seok Pyo Hong, Sungmee Hong, Hwan Jeong, Ki Wook Kang, Sanggon Kim, Sung Min Kim, Daehoon Koo, Gu Beom Kwon, Eunjai Lee, Je Won Lee, Hyeong Gun Lee, Kyu Wha Lee, Ho Joon Moon, Joohyun Oh, Kyu Seok Park, Kyung Gyoon Park, Hyesoo Won, Yong Joon Yoon
 Investment Funds: Je Won Lee
 Project Development: Sangwoo Ahn, Lachlan Barth, Eun Sam Choi, Weon Sik Chung, Jinyoung Jung, Samsung Kim, Insoo Kim, Kwang Yul Kim, HyunJae Nam, Jungmin Pak
 Restructuring and Insolvency: Seok Pyo Hong, Sungmee Hong, Eunjai Lee, Jung Hyun Lee, Wanshik Lee, Jiwoong Lim

IFLR1000 is the only global legal directory focused exclusively on ranking law firms and lawyers for their expertise in finance and corporate transactions worldwide.

Vera Eun Woo Lee, a partner of Lee & Ko’s IP Group, has been named one of the “Top 15 Female Lawyers 2025” by Asian Legal Business (ALB) Magazine in its August issue. Among the 15 lawyers selected, she was the sole lawyer from Korea to receive this distinction, a testament to her exceptional expertise and distinguished accomplishments in the IP field.
 
Since joining Lee & Ko in 2004, Ms. Lee has built a distinguished career in IP law, handling the full spectrum of IP matters, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, domain names, unfair competition, IP licensing, and employee inventions. She has also overseen numerous high-profile copyright, trademark, and unfair competition litigations with considerable legal significance. Among her career highlights, Ms. Lee has successfully led complex dispute cases that had no prior legal precedents, namely, a Supreme Court case that served to establish the standards for determining copyright infringement in game works, as well as other landmark cases delineating the scope of protection for photographic works and addressing the long-standing unauthorized use of a mark. 

ALB Magazine is a leading legal magazine in the Asia-Pacific region published by Thomson Reuters, a prestigious legal business publisher. Each year, the magazine recognizes the “Top 15 Female Lawyers” who have demonstrated outstanding achievements throughout their careers, selecting honorees from 13 different Asian countries, including India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Japan.

Lee & Ko was selected as a top band law firm for seven consecutive years in the private wealth law category of “Chambers High Net Worth (HNW) 2025” as published by Chambers and Partners, a world renown legal media. 

Based on its high level of expertise in various practice areas, Lee & Ko provides advice on all legal and tax matters related to the accumulation, management, transfer and protection of personal assets to the owners and executives of large Korean conglomerates and their families. Recently, Lee & Ko has successfully represented a major shareholder of a Korean company in a USD 2 billion arbitration case, and continues to provide regulatory advice and has represented chairpersons of large Korean conglomerates in large-scale disputes involving company restructuring and reorganization. 
 
Dong Ha Kim, Lee & Ko’s dispute resolution expert, was selected as a Band1 attorney for two consecutive years in the individual category. Mr. Kim has extensive experience in corporate advisory and litigation, and his primary practice areas include litigation, corporate, medical, construction & real estate, government contracts and family law.
 
Chambers HNW represents the leading media in the field of private wealth law and is published in over 55 countries including Korea.

Partner Chang Ho Seong of Lee & Ko’s Dispute Resolution Group has been named by Asian Legal Business (ALB) to its 2025 list of the Top 30 Litigators in Asia.

Having served as a judge for 24 years since 1999, Mr. Seong brings deep insight from his time on the bench, during which he presided over a broad spectrum of civil, criminal, and administrative cases across multiple court levels spanning the Seoul Central District Court, the Seoul High Court, and the Supreme Court. He now draws on his extensive judicial experience to provide clients with litigation and legal advisory services in response to disputes and provisional dispositions involving civil, criminal, corporate, construction, real estate, banking, securities, financial, administrative and intellectual property matters.

Among his recent selected representations, Mr. Seong successfully defended SPC Group Chairman Young-in Heo in a high-profile criminal case involving allegations of breach of trust under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, securing a full acquittal at the court of first instance — an outcome ultimately upheld by both the appellate court and the Supreme Court. He also obtained a full acquittal at the court of first instance on behalf of former Chairman Yang-ha Choi of Korean furniture company Hanssem in a criminal collusion case, which was subsequently dismissed on appeal. These achievements reaffirm his proven expertise and capacity in handling complex criminal and administrative litigation.

ALB Magazine, published by Thomson Reuters, is a leading legal publication in the Asia-Pacific region. In its June issue, ALB recognized the top 30 litigators in Asia who have delivered outstanding results in high-impact litigation across the region.
 

Lee & Ko has once again garnered top-tier recognition across all evaluated categories in the 2025 edition of the IAM Patent 1000. The firm earned the highest band ranking of “Gold” in both patent litigation and prosecution, along with additional distinctions as “Highly Recommended” in transactions and “Recommended” in trade secret litigation. This marks the 11th consecutive year that the firm has ranked in the Gold tier for litigation and the fourth year running as a Highly Recommended firm for transactions. Notably, 10 attorneys and patent attorneys at Lee & Ko have been listed as “Recommended Individuals” across all key practice areas—litigation, prosecution, transactions, trade secrets, etc.—in recognition of their exceptional expertise in the patent field. 

 
 Litigation: Un Ho Kim, John Kim, Jae Hoon Kim, Keum Nang Park, Hwan Sung Park, and Hayoun Chun
 Prosecution: Hyeon Gil Ryoo and Sungsoo (Sean) Hwang
 Transactions: Hayoun Chun and Yong Jin Cho
 Trade secrets: Hong Seon Kim

Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group provides legal services catered to clients in response to various IP-related disputes in the United States, Europe, Japan, and other countries by leveraging its extensive overseas network while delivering optimal outcomes in IP-related consultancy and disputes through a nuanced understanding of both technology and law. A prime example of the group’s litigation excellence is its recent success representing Coway in a long-running patent infringement dispute with ChungHo Nais over ice water purifier technology. Following three years of protracted hearings, the Korean Supreme Court issued a final judgment in favor of Coway, bringing to an end the lengthy legal battle between the two companies that spanned 11 relentless years. Widely regarded as the longest-running patent litigation in Korea, this case began in 2014 when ChungHo Nais filed a complaint for patent infringement and damages against Coway. ChungHo Nais prevailed in the court of first instance, with the court acknowledging infringement claims and awarding significant compensation. Amid its multiple, though unsuccessful, patent invalidation attempts, Coway newly retained Lee & Ko in 2022 for the appellate phase, and stepping in at a pivotal juncture, the firm eventually secured a complete dismissal of all claims brought by ChungHo Nais, culminating a dramatic reversal and a landmark victory on behalf of Coway before the Supreme Court in this high-profile patent dispute.

Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group also successfully represented Wonik PNE in a case involving the unauthorized patent registration of a secondary battery activation device developed by one of its employees in the course of performing official duties, by leading the case from filing a patent ownership transfer suit to securing a favorable ruling on behalf of Wonik PNE. In addition, the group is at the forefront of protecting companies from the leakage or misappropriation of their core technologies through its active engagement in trade secret litigation. As additionally evidenced by a recent court victory on behalf of Naver, where the firm obtained an injunction against unauthorized crawling of real estate listing data, Lee & Ko continues to reaffirm its strong track record across the full spectrum of IP law, including patents, trade secrets, and copyrights. This year’s newly awarded Gold ranking in the prosecution category further highlights its deep bench and outstanding expertise throughout all facets of IP matters.

IAM is a global patent publication released every year that conducts surveys and interviews with patent experts and law firms all over the world, and ranks the best law firms and experts in the patent field by country and sector, based on submissions and client feedback.

Lee & Ko received the honor of “South Korea Firm of the Year” at the Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards 2025.

Presented annually by Benchmark Litigation, a leading global publication dedicated to litigation and dispute resolution, the “South Korea Firm of the Year” is awarded to only one leading firm in each country in the field of dispute resolution. Lee & Ko, recognized consecutively from 2021 to 2023, has received the esteemed accolade once again, reaffirming its continued standing as a top-tier dispute resolution practice in South Korea. This recognition reflects the firm’s competence and excellence in handling complex dispute resolution matters, as notably demonstrated by the IP Practice Group securing a final victory for Coway in a prolonged, nearly 11-year infringement dispute with ChungHo Nais over ice-making water purifier technology.

In addition, two of the firm’s attorneys garnered individual honors: Miji Lee, a partner of the Antitrust & Competition Group was named to the “Top 100 Women in Litigation 2025”; while Joohye Hong, a partner of the Real Estate & Construction Group was selected for the “Top 40 Under 40 2025.”
Asia-Pacific’s “Top 100 Women in Litigation” recognizes 100 distinguished female professionals within the region, selected through months of in-depth research. Ms. Lee is a seasoned antitrust lawyer with extensive experience in advising and representing both domestic and multinational clients across the full spectrum of competition law matters, from initial investigations by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) to successive stages of administrative, criminal, and other antitrust litigation.

On the other hand, Asia-Pacific’s “Top 40 Under 40” recognizes 40 lawyers, the most accomplished litigators under 40, selected through rigorous research and high evaluations. Ms. Hong is a construction and real estate specialist with strong industry experience in construction, real estate, energy, and social overhead capital (SOC) projects. Her practice includes negotiating EPC contracts related to the export of nuclear reactors to the Dukovany plant in the Czech Republic, providing regular legal counsel for overseas nuclear power plant exports for projects in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and representing special purpose companies established for privately financed infrastructure projects such as railways, particularly in cases involving total project cost increases and insurance claims. She also provides guidance and legal representation on a wide range of construction-related matters, including disputes arising from power plant construction projects.

Benchmark Litigation annually hosts the Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards, which recognize the most notable dispute resolution cases and law firms in the Asia-Pacific region each year, based on law firm submissions, interviews with litigation experts, and independent research.