Recent Developments

Lee & Ko’s Litigation Practice Group was introduced in a JoongAng Ilbo article published on March 23, 2023. The article notes, “Lee & Ko’s Litigation Practice Group, operated by 30 specialized teams comprising more than 150 lawyers, seamlessly works together with experts having vast experience in legal practices and creates greater synergies as a team,” and further highlights, “It is worth noting that the firm has enhanced its competitiveness with the recent hires of a number of former elite judges.”

On March 22, 2023, the Korea Economic Daily reported that Lee & Ko was selected as the legal advisor of HMM, the only shipping company of the Korean origin. The Korea Economic Daily added “There was fierce competition among various accounting and legal advisors", reporting that, "Samil PwC was selected as the accounting advisor, and Lee & Ko was selected as the legal advisor”. 

March 3, 2021: The Aju Economic Business Daily reported that Lee & Ko is strengthening its Antitrust Criminal Investigation Team by aggressively recruiting talent. The news report read, “In February, Lee & Ko recruited Su Jin Jung, an experienced antitrust judge, to bolster is criminal and civil litigation teams” and “In addition, Lee & Ko has recently recruited a former KFTC director and deputy director, and is working on hiring two former senior-level prosecutors with expertise in antitrust.”

On March 8, 2023, Chosun Biz reported on a legal victory achieved by Lee & Ko. Lee & Ko won on behalf of Jeju Air in a suit for damages in an amount of KRW 23 billion, filed against Eastar Jet and others for their failure to close an M&A transaction. Chosun Biz said, "The KRW 23 billion is double the amount of the security deposit (KRW 11.5 billion) initially paid to Eastar Jet by Jeju Air," emphasizing, "Lee & Ko secured the court’s order to pay double compensation, an uncommon remedy in M&A-related lawsuits”. This victory has been led by, to name a few, Jaeheon Park, Yongjoon Yoon and Eunah Kim of Lee & Ko.

March 2, 2023. The Money Today reported that Young Hun Song, the former Executive Director of the Korea Exchange (KRX), has joined the firm as a senior advisor. Until recently, Mr. Song served as the head director at KRX’s KOSPI market division, and is a widely recognized expert with extensive experience in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets. 

February 16, 2023.  The Money Today reported that Lee & Ko was named the “Best M&A Legal Adviser” at the 20th Money Today IB Awards hosted by Money Today, Korea’s leading media outlet in the field of finance and economy, for its accomplishments in providing legal advice and consultation on high-profile transactions.  “Lee & Ko stood out for its outstanding performance in advising on large-scale transactions, such as Samsung BioLogics' acquisition of Biogen’s stake in the Samsung Bioepis joint venture, GS Consortium's acquisition of Hugel, and LS Group’s acquisition of a large portion of a stake in LS Nikko Copper,” Money Today reported.

Kim Un-Ho, a partner of Lee & Ko, has been appointed as the chairman of the Korean Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Association (KIPLA), published by the Law Times on February 14, 2023.  The Law Times said that Mr. Kim as “a lawyer with expertise in the intellectual property law has made a significant contribution to establishing new legal principles in the IP rights area, having actively engaged and advised in diverse landmark cases including the smartphone patent wars between Samsung and Apple, elastomer patent litigation between LG Chem and Mitsui Chemicals, trademark fight between Lacoste and Crocodile which is well-known as ‘Crocodile Battle,’ and unfair competition prevention case for Haeundae Amso Galbi (Korean beef ribs) restaurant.”  Meanwhile, Kwak Jaewoo who is a partner of Lee & Ko was also appointed as the secretary general of KIPLA.

On January 4, 2023, Legal Times published a detailed report on Lee & Ko’s seminar entitled “Changes in Intellectual Property Landscape in 2022 and Responses,” which was hosted by the firm’s IP Practice Group on December 1, 2022.  Noting that “Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group’s seminar series marks its 8th anniversary and is a forum for identifying overall trends in intellectual property law and discussing how to respond to these changes in practice,” Legal Times provided a summary of the major topics for each session. 

On January 3, 2023, the Law Times reported that Lee & Ko has recruited Jae Cheol Yoo, the former Director of the NTS Jungbu Regional Office, as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Yoo began his career serving as a tax official at the National Tax Service, followed by the Tax Office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as Chief of the Prime Minister’s Office, as a Tax Officer at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in New York, as Director General of Investigation Bureau 1 of Busan Regional Tax Office, as Director General of Investigation Bureau 4 of Seoul Regional Tax Office, as Director of the Corporate Tax Department of the NTS, before being appointed as the 21st Director of the NTS Jungbu Regional Office. The Tax and Customs Group at Lee & Ko is thrilled to announced the addition of Mr. Yoo to our team, and we eagerly anticipate the valuable insights and expertise he will bring to the table, enhancing our already formidable capabilities in this field. 

On January 2, 2023, IB Tomato carried an article on its recent interview with Hyunjoo Oh of Lee & Ko.  Ms. Oh, with more than 20 years of experience in capital markets, currently heads the capital markets team at Lee & Ko.  She emphasized that “as the capital market faces very difficult times, lawyer’s “problem-solving” ability becomes ever more important”.  She further noted that “we have a market that is deeply retrenched where borrowing is difficult to obtain and disputes over losses are occurring with greater frequency as payment defaults increases”.  She stressed that “in these uncertain times, lawyers need to be meticulous and be able to come up with the most rational response to unclear points”.

On January 2, 2023, a New Year’s message from Lee & Ko’s attorney and executive managing director Sang Gon Kim was introduced in Legal Times. In his message, Mr. Kim noted, “Greeting the Year of the Black Rabbit, we hope that this year will be the best time for you to take a huge leap forward like a lively rabbit to start anew while moving past the discouraging days of Covid-19 and enjoy remarkable achievements to come.” And he added, “Lee & Ko also pledges that, with steadfast commitment to fundamental principles and justness, we will exert our utmost to carry out our roles and responsibilities to facilitate a greater development in the legal service industry.”

2023年1月1日亚洲经济刊登了韩国广场律师事务所崔山云合伙人对近期赴华投资趋势的看法。亚洲经济报道，在华法律咨询服务市场正处于已赴华韩资企业的出售、撤资等结构调整及新设合资公司等两大变化。对此，崔山云律师也表示，“近期，拥有半导体、医疗保健等相关技术的韩国企业倾向于与中国企业设立合资公司”，“不仅如此，中国企业也在积极在韩国寻求电池·医疗保健等行业的合作方，这类法律咨询需求正与日俱增”。