Recent Developments

Lee & Ko was selected as Tier 1 law firm in Korea across 16 fields according to ‘The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2026’. Furthermore, 44 Lee & Ko attorneys were selected as ‘Hall of Fame’, ‘Leading Partners’, ‘Next Generation Partners’, and ‘Leading Associates’ in their respective fields.


Antitrust and Competition
Banking & Finance
Capital Markets 
Corporate and M&A  
Dispute Resolution  
Fintech and financial services regulatory  
Insurance 
Intellectual Property
International Arbitration
Labour and Employment
Projects and Energy  
Real Estate  
Regulatory: white-collar, compliance and investigations
Shipping
Tax
TMT


Antitrust and Competition: Hwan Jeong, Suruyn Kim, Jung Won Kwon, Jeong Yoon Choi
Banking & Finance: Yeo Kyoon Yoon, Myoung Chul Kwak
Capital Markets: Hyunjoo Oh
Corporate and M&A: Hyeong Gun Lee, Sang Gon Kim, Ho Joon Moon, Kyungchun Kim, Sung Min Kim, Daehoon Koo
Dispute Resolution: Pyoung Keun Song, Seong Won Chang, Jae Heon Park, Yeon Woo Lee
Fintech and financial services regulatory: Seong Hwan Ju
Insurance: Jin-Young Jung, Jin Hong Kwon, Sae Um Kim
Intellectual Property: Un Ho Kim, Keum Nang Park
Intellectual Property: PATMA: Soo Yeon Park
International Arbitration: Sanghoon Han, Saemee Kim, Han-Earl Woo
Labour and Employment: Chang-Soo Jin, Sang-Hoon Lee, Jae Hoon-Choi, William Kim, Shawn (Seong Ho) Han
Projects and Energy: Hun Ko
Real Estate: Jin Wook Yang, Jee In Kim
Regulatory: white-collar, compliance and investigations:: Tae Yop Lee
Shipping: Jin-Young Jung, Yun Jeong Seo, Yang Ho Yoon, Young Jae Park
TMT: Hwan Kyoung Ko, Kwang Bae Park, Il Shin Lee

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific is annually published by Legalease, a global agency that evaluates the capacity of law firms all over the world based on various standards through a comprehensive review of submitted documents by law firms, interviews with lawyers specialized in each field, and feedback from over 300,000 clients.
 

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.

Lee & Ko was selected as an outstanding law firm in all 24 sectors (below) of ‘Asialaw Profiles 2023 (28th edition)’ for three consecutive years.

In addition to the top law firm for all 8 categories of IFLR 1000 2023 edition, the firm has also been ranked as an outstanding law firm in all 24 categories of Asialaw profiles 2023 and was recognized once again for its high level of competence as a leading law firm in Korea. The fact that Lee & Ko was rated outstanding in all sectors evaluated by Asialaw should be taken as a considerable distinction which sets them apart from other domestic law firms that have only received outstanding rankings in certain fields.

Additionally, 41 Lee & Ko professionals were named Elite practitioner/ Distinguished practitioner/ Notable practitioner/ Rising star/ Senior Statesman and these individuals were provided special recognition for their expertise in the field.
 
[Firm Rankings]

Industry Sectors
 Aviation and Shipping
 Banking and Financial Services
 Consumer Goods and Services
 Energy
 Industrials and Manufacturing
 Infrastructure
 Insurance
 Media and Entertainment
 Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences
 Real Estate
 Technology and Telecommunications

Practice Areas
 Banking and Finance
 Capital Markets
 Competition/Antitrust
 Construction
 Corporate and M&A
 Dispute Resolution
 Intellectual Property
 Investment Funds
 Labour and Employment
 Private Equity
 Regulatory
 Restructuring and Insolvency
 Tax

[Individual Rankings]
 Banking & Financial services: Hyunjoo Oh, Yeo Kyoon Yoon, Yong-Jae Chang, Woo Young Jung, Seunga Hyun
 Banking & Finance: Myoung Chul Kwak, Yeo Kyoon Yoon, Yong-Jae Chang, Woo Young Jung
 Capital Markets: Hyunjoo Oh, Seunga Hyun
 Competition/Antitrust: Hyun Chul Kim, Jeong-Ho Sun, Yong Seok Ahn, Hwan Jeong
 Corporate and M&A: Sanggon Kim, Ho Joon Moon, Kyu Wha Lee, Hyeong Gun Lee
 Dispute Resolution: Won Seok Ko, Saemee Kim, David Kim
 Energy: Hun Ko, Dong Eun Kim
 Infrastructure: Hun Ko, Dong Eun Kim
 Insurance: Jin Hong Kwon, Gidon Nam, Jinyoung Jung
 Intellectual Property: Un Ho Kim
 Labour and Employment: William Kim, Hyunseok Song, Sang Hoon Lee, Chang Soo Jin
 Media and Entertainment: Kwang Bae Park
 Restructuring and Insolvency: Wan Shik Lee, Eunjai Lee, Jung Hyun Lee
 Shipping: Gidon Nam, Jinyoung Jung
 Tax: Sung Hwan Kim
 Technology and telecommunications: Hwan Kyoung Ko, Samuel (Soon-Yub) Kwon, Kwang Bae Park, Yong Seok Ahn


Asialaw Profiles is published by Asialaw, which is an affiliate of the global financial journal Euromoney, and each year Asialaw Profiles ranks law firms and professionals in the Asia-Pacific region based on law firm submissions, interviews with lawyers and clients, and independent research and announces the results.

Lee & Ko was selected as an outstanding law firm in all 24 sectors (below) of Asialaw Profiles 2023 for two consecutive years.
 
Industry Sectors: Aviation and Shipping, Banking and Financial Services, Consumer Goods and Services, Energy, Industrials and Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Insurance, Media and Entertainment, Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences, Real Estate, Technology and Telecommunications

Practice Areas: Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Competition/Antitrust, Construction, Corporate and M&A, Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property, Investment Funds, Labour and Employment, Private Equity, Regulatory, Restructuring and Insolvency, and Tax

In addition to the top law firm for all 8 categories of IFLR1000 32nd edition, the firm has also been ranked as an outstanding law firm in all 24 categories of Asialaw profiles 2023 and was recognized once again for its high level of competence as a leading law firm in Korea. The fact that Lee & Ko was rated outstanding in all sectors evaluated by Asialaw should be taken as a considerable distinction which sets them apart from other domestic law firms that have only received outstanding rankings in certain fields.

In addition, 39 Lee & Ko professionals were named Elite practitioner/ Distinguished practitioner/ Notable practitioner/ Rising star and these individuals were provided special recognition for their expertise in the field.
 
Asialaw Profiles is published by Asialaw, which is an affiliate of the global financial journal Euromoney, and each year Asialaw Profiles ranks law firms and professionals in the Asia-Pacific region based on law firm submissions, interviews with lawyers and clients, and independent research and announces the results.

Lee & Ko was selected as Tier 1 law firm in Korea for the following 9 categories by ‘Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2022.’

Commercial and Transactions  Competition/Antitrust  Construction  Insolvency  Intellectual Property  International Arbitration  Labor and Employment  Product Liability and Recall  White Collar Crime 

Also, 23 Lee & Ko attorneys were chosen as ‘Litigation Star’ and ‘Future Star’ and were recognized for their achievements in their respective fields.

Benchmark Litigation is a world-renowned publication which highlights the fields of dispute resolution and litigation and publishes rankings based on in-depth analysis of submissions by law firm and interviews with lawyers, clients, and litigation experts every year.