On 12 March 2019, Lee & Ko was honoured to receive the Arbitration Award at the 2019 Korea Legal Awards. Lee & Ko successfully represented a leading domestic manufacturer of rolling stock against a state-owned Indian passenger train manufacturer in an ICC arbitration concerning breach of an MOU worth hundreds of billions of Korean won, and won the case in its entirety.
The 2019 Korea Legal Awards is a prestigious award hosted by Money Today’s Law magazine, “The L”, which selects cases worthy of recognition for its innovative approach, and awards the firm that handled the work. It also awards the Pro Bono Award to the firm or attorney which has contributed the most over the last year or has engaged in meaningful work.
Lee & Ko received the 2019 Arbitration Award for winning an arbitral award in favour of the domestic company whom it represented against a state-owned Indian passenger train manufacturer in an ICC international arbitration dispute. The plaintiff Korean company had entered into an MOU with an Indian state company to transfer core technology and know-how, in return for exclusive partnership in future rolling stock projects in India. However, once the Indian state company received the core technology, it refused to pay any royalties and tried to bid for projects on its own.
In response, the Korean domestic company retained Lee & Ko as its sole counsel, and filed an ICC arbitration for breach of the MOU. Lee & Ko requested for an order confirming that the Indian state company breached the MOU and requiring it to pay royalties. The Indian state company appointed a leading law firm and made extensive counterclaims including a claim for damages, but the arbitral tribunal ruled in favour of Lee & Ko’s arguments.
This win holds great significance for the client as it means that they are able to prevent unauthorised use of their core technology for future projects in India. The success of this arbitration also means that our client can avoid incurring astronomical economic loss, and is well-positioned for similar projects in India. The governing law in this case was the UNIDROIT Principles, which is less common among Korean companies. By obtaining a landslide victory acting as sole counsel, this achievement reinforces Lee & Ko’s ability in the area of commercial arbitration.