As we welcome 2022 together, I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a new year filled with hope and happiness.
Even though the past year was filled with various challenges and hardships due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we witnessed people from all walks of life pulling together as a community and doing their utmost to pursue the well-being and development of our community. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to these people, who have shown us the courage and strength to face 2022 with renewed optimism.
2021 was a very busy year for Lee & Ko, with highly capable professionals from more than 80 teams actively engaged in various matters. Last year, we saw an appreciable increase in the number of cases handled by our firm, both in terms of advisory matters including M&A, financial transactions, and compliance consulting, as well as dispute-related cases including litigation, arbitration, adjudication, and criminal cases.
This year, we will continue to provide quality legal services at home and abroad as your trusted partners. In 2022, we will especially focus on further enhancing the level of professionalism, specialization and efficiency of our services so that we can provide the best value not only to our clients, but to members of our firm as well. To this end, we are opening our Pangyo Office in February to enhance operational efficiency and convenience for both our clients and lawyers.
We at Lee & Ko firmly believe that our goals for growth should be guided by the fundamental principle of justice. In the Year of the Black Tiger, my hope is that we can all make courageous advances like brave tigers while remaining steadfast with our values and keeping to the right path forward. With our core values always in mind, we vow to fulfill our roles and responsibilities as a leading law firm in Korea and to dedicate our services to facilitate greater development in the legal services industry.
Thank you again for your continued support, trust and partnership over the past 44 years. We wish this year will be a wonderful year full of health and peace for everyone.
Yong Seok Ahn
Managing Partner, Lee & Ko