최근소식

On December 1, 2024, the Korea Economic Daily reported on a notable victory by the Employment & Labor Team of Lee & Ko, regarding the complex issue of whether an operating company is obligated to directly employ toll collectors, who were not direct employees but subcontracted workers. The article stated, "The 17th Civil Division of the Suwon District Court fully dismissed the claims of 22 former toll collectors from a private highway operator (Company A) in a labor-related lawsuit filed against Company A on the 2nd of last month." The ruling is significant as it marks the first court decision affirming that private highway operators have no obligation to directly employ toll collectors affiliated with subcontractors. This outcome diverges sharply from a Supreme Court ruling in April of last year and is expected to set an important precedent for disputes involving worker dispatch relationships.

In connection with the case, Jae-in Noh, an attorney from Lee & Ko’s Employment & Labor Team who represented Company A, commented, "In dispatch cases, it was crucial to demonstrate that the “substance” of the contractual relationship, as evidenced by emails, text messages, and KakaoTalk messages exchanged between the parties, takes precedence over “formalities” such as contracts and task orders.

On November 26, 2024, Hankyung Business featured an interview with Sang Gon Kim, Managing Partner of Lee & Ko. The article highlighted that “Lee & Ko maintained its position as the second-highest revenue law firm last year, following Kim & Chang,” and added, “A traditional powerhouse in M&A, Lee & Ko has been increasing its presence in criminal trials this year, successfully resolving high-profile cases with significant corporate legal risks, including securing acquittals in cases involving the chairman of Hanssem for violating the Fair Trade Act and the chairman of SPC for breach of trust.” In the interview, Mr. Kim further elaborated, “Next year’s goal is to maintain our top competitiveness,” and “through expansion and specialization, we’re committed to devoting all necessary efforts to ensure that all our specialized teams can maintain the industry-leading competitiveness, while successfully navigating generational transitions,” he added.

On November 26, 2024, Seoul Economic Daily reported on Lee & Ko’s recent move to expand into overseas markets. The article noted, “Major domestic law firms are focusing on international expansion, with Lee & Ko also working to establish a liaison office in Kazakhstan,” further explaining, “This strategic move aims to secure a strong foothold in the local legal market, capitalizing on the influx of Korean conglomerates such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Motor, which have relocated to Kazakhstan following their exit from Russia due to the aftermath of the war.”

On November 25, 2024, an article ‘What is good corporate governance?’ by research fellow (Ph. D) Suyeon Kim was published in KBIZNEWS. In the article, she stated “a good corporate governance system is an important requirement for the long-term success of a company. Unfortunately, we tend to overgeneralize certain structural features as good corporate governance without regard to company’s size, industry, or characteristics.” Dr. Kim emphasized, “when evaluating corporate governance, it is necessary to consider the quality of corporate governance (such as leadership quality, board oversight, culture, and incentives) as well.”

Lee & Ko has been named Korea's leading law firm in both Patent Contentious and Trademark Prosecution categories at the 2024 Asia IP Awards, as reported by EDaily on November 22, 2024. According to the article, this marks the first time in Korea that a law firm has earned the distinction of Firm of the Year in two categories at the Asia IP Awards. The article further mentioned that "Lee & Ko's Intellectual Property Group continues to deliver exceptional results in both domestic and international patent litigation and strategic counselling, leveraging their profound technical understanding and robust legal reasoning.”

Asia Today reported Lee & Ko’s expansion of its presence in Southeast Asia on November 21, 2024. According to the report, "Korean law firms are actively providing legal services to secure their market position in Southeast Asia, aligning with the increasing demand from Korean companies entering the market."

The article noted that "Lee & Ko has stationed attorneys Woongryol BAEK, Kyungsup Kris KIM, Joo Hee CHO, and Soonsung LEE at its Vietnam office, and is also considering opening a local desk in Indonesia."

Furthermore, "Lee & Ko is expanding its reach beyond Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Ukraine. In response to market conditions and client demands, Lee & Ko's international tax and customs experts visited Saudi Arabia in late 2022 to conduct tax law training programs and enhance exchanges and cooperation with local tax authorities."

On November 19, 2024, the Legal Times featured a detailed article on Lee & Ko’s performance and achievements in 2024. In the article, the Legal Times noted that “Lee & Ko excelled Kim & Chang to take the top position in terms of deal size in the cumulative South Korean M&A market league table for the third quarter of 2024 recently released by Bloomberg”, and that “the firm’s strength in M&A and Deal advisory practice has once again been demonstrated as the M&A market continues to recover”. Further, “Lee & Ko has been ranked as the top law firm in all eight categories of the 'IFLR1000 2024' evaluation published by IFLR, a financial and special specialist magazine and as the top law firm in all 24 categories of the Asialaw Awards 2024 by winning ten awards including ‘Asia Firm of the Year’”. 

On November 17, 2024, the Korea Economic Daily reported on the refugee litigation represented by Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee. The Korea Economic Daily introduced that “large law firms are increasingly entering the legal market regarding immigration and nationality, which was once considered the area of individual practitioners”, and added that “Lee & Ko provides legal pro bono support by signing an MOU with NANCEN, a non-profit organization and conducting more than three refugee litigations per year”. Further, “Lee & Ko has won three administrative cases consecutively by actively justifying the purpose of the refugee status screening referral system in cases that led to litigation due to the failure to refer to the refugee status screening during the immigration process”. 

November 16, 2024
Newsis reported on the comments of attorney Kyungchun Kim of Lee & Ko regarding the proposed amendments to the Commercial Law aimed at strengthening corporate governance regulations. Newsis reported, "As the Democratic Party recently adopted the amendment to strengthen corporate governance regulations as its party platform, the business community has reacted not with approval, but with strong opposition, arguing that the amendment could provide speculative capital a pretext for hostile takeovers and could lead to companies being caught up in lawsuits and disputes, rather than being able to focus on their core business." In response, Kyungchun Kim stated, "The proposed amendment could expose legitimate capital transactions, such as mergers and physical divisions, to challenges from a minority of shareholders," and added, "This could make it difficult for management to make decisions regarding corporate restructuring."
 

November 2, 2024
The Korea Economic Daily reported in detail on the 10th M&A Forum held by Lee & Ko. Lee & Ko’s managing partner, Sanggon Kim, pointed out, “The era when lawyers only reviewed legal matters is over. Now, M&A lawyers are required to take on the role of comprehensive consultants, from formulating transaction strategies to persuading board members and dealing with regulatory authorities." The head of Lee & Ko’s private equity (PE) team, Ho Joon Moon, added, “Contract negotiations now go beyond simply reflecting the parties' agreements. Strategic advice, considering market practices and industry trends, has become essential."

On October 30, 2024, The Law Times featured an interview with Eun Young Park, Head of Lee & Ko’s International Dispute Resolution Group. During the interview, Mr. Park highlighted that, “These recent years have seen many complex dispute cases, often accompanied by penalties and investigations due to different regulatory frameworks. To address these, we have assembled experts from our existing teams across disciplines – from arbitration and litigation to trade and patent – to offer a multilayered response tailored to the nature of the case.” He further noted with an example: “When a straightforward patent case in Korea escalates into a high-stakes lawsuit in the United States or evolves into a full-scale criminal investigation, our dedicated team will readily take charge and coordinate seamlessly with other professionals, starting with 2 or 3 members but scalable up to 20 or more depending on the scale of the case. Specifically in large-scale international disputes, we aim to provide a multifaceted and timely response by establishing a new scheme that supports the efficient review and analysis of substantial volumes of documents.”

On October 28, 2024, an article ‘Stakeholder Capitalism and ESG’ by research fellow(Ph.D) Suyeon Kim was published in KBIZNEWS.