Recent Developments

On January 14, 2025, the Law Times featured Lee & Ko’s heartwarming participation in bread making program at the Love Bread Sharing Center. In this event, nearly 30 employees and their family members came together to knead and bake bread for around three hours starting at 1:30 p.m. and delivered these freshly baked loaves to undernourished neighbors in partnership with the Korean Red Cross. Since 2019, Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee has remained committed to this annual volunteer activity at the Love Bread Sharing Center with a spirit of “fostering an uplifting culture of social engagement through volunteer programs that are easy to join and open to everyone.”

On December 5, 2024, Korea Herald Business highlighted the wholehearted participation of Lee & Ko in this year’s Briquettes of Love Campaign. Lee & Ko’s Public Service Committee coordinated volunteer efforts to deliver coal briquettes to those most vulnerable in Guryong Village, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to provide much-needed warmth in the winter months and further donated 5,000 coal briquettes to support the “Briquettes Sharing Movement for a Warm Korean Peninsula.” The Committee has been an active participant in this campaign since 2011, contributing a total of 69,230 briquettes over the past 14 years.

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”. 

ㅁOn October 24, 2024, the Asia Today reported on refugee litigations, stating that “obtaining recognition of a refugee status in Korea through a lawsuit is as difficult as a camel going through the eye of a needle because the applicants must prove everything themselves where it is not easy to secure evidence that they were persecuted in the country where they lived, and the judgment is made based on a strict criteria so that it is likely to be unsuccessful if one thing goes wrong”. While the Asia Today mentioned Lee & Ko’s success in refugee litigations, Lee & Ko’s attorney Seok Pyo Hong stated that “most refugee litigations are also likely to fail due to a slight deviation despite consistent evidence and statements just as it is difficult to be acquitted in criminal cases”. He further added that “there are a lot of limitations in proving the evidence, since most applicants have not secured objective evidence due to urgent departure from the home country”. 

On April 15, 2024, E-Daily featured an interview with Lee & Ko’s attorney Seok Pyo Hong. The firm has recently received the Specialist award – Pro Bono at the 2024 IFLR Asia Pacific Awards, hosted by IFLR, a global financial and legal magazine, in recognition of its contribution to winning a lawsuit involving a refugee case. Commenting on this achievement, Mr. Hong, overseeing the firm’s overall public interest activities, said, “This signifies that Lee & Ko’s contribution to public interest has been acknowledged as the most impactful among law firms across the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia.” He further noted, “The award carries considerable significance in that it is unprecedented for domestic law firms to be awarded for their pro bono activities.”

On April 3, 2024, E-daily reported on Lee & Ko’s winning of the Specialist award – Pro Bono at the 2024 IFLR Asia Pacific Awards, hosted by IFLR, a global legal magazine specializing in finance. The firm received this specialist award in recognition of its contribution to winning an administrative lawsuit against the Incheon Airport Office of Immigration on behalf of refugees from Mali and Angola, seeking the cancellation of the decision not to refer refugee status for review. This case has become a significant precedent for the Korean government to conduct the refugee screening in accordance with due process. 

On February 28, 2024, Law Times reported that Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee delivered donations to four organizations such as “Heavenly Dream School”, an alternative school for North Korean defectors, “Together Goodwill Employment Support Center for North Korean Defectors” supporting North Korean defectors to settle in the society, “Open Door Youth Foundation”, a family community for children and youths abandoned due to abuse and “Myoungryun Orphanage”, a community living institution for children and youths. The donations delivered by Lee & Ko to these four organizations have been raised through the “Matching Grant Method” in which Lee & Ko Pro Bono Committee has additionally supported the same amount gained as the profits of “Lee & Ko Bazaar Sharing Love” hosted last year. 

On February 28, 2024, Edaily reported the successful completion of “Lee & Ko Friends” project, a program in which Lee & Ko attorneys and North Korean defector university students are matched one-on-one as a “Older Friend” and “Younger Friend”. The Lee & Ko Friends project, jointly run by Lee & Ko and social welfare foundation Together Goodwill’s employment support center for North Korean defectors, is a pro bono activity that helps North Korean defector university students to adapt as a healthy member of our society through daily meetings with Lee & Ko attorneys. Lee & Ko started the program as the first among domestic law firms in 2018 and completed its fourth term this year. As a successful pro bono activity model that grows and develops mutually beyond formal mentoring, the project is also leading to the participation of other law firms. 

On January 23, 2024, Chosun Biz reported Lee & Ko’s pro bono activity. About 30 people, including employees and their families of Lee & Ko, participated in the volunteer work of “Bread of Love Sharing Center” at the Seongdong Bread Sharing Center of the Seoul branch of the Korean Red Cross on January 20. The volunteers made bread such as Bean Past Hotteok and Chestnut Muffin, and delivered it to undernourished neighbors in the community through the Korean Red Cross. Seok Pyo Hong, administrator of the Pro Bono Committee, said “We hope this bread, which is clumsy but made with all our heart, will be a little help to the neighbors who are on the verge of undernourishment”. 

On December 12, 2023, Money Today featured the award acceptance of Lee & Ko’s attorneys: Da Joo Jung, Seok Pyo Hong, Moon Won Lee, Da Hye Kim, Sang Bin Kim, Yoo Lim Oh, and Beum Jun Kim. At the 6th Korea Legal Awards co-hosted by Money Today, the Korean Bar Association, and the Korea In-House Counsel Association, this team of attorneys received the grand prize for legal public service for their administrative litigation against the determination to deny the referral review for refugee status recognition rendered by the Incheon Airport Office of Immigration. During the ceremony, the media noted, “Lee & Ko sets the standard for refugee protection by filing an administrative lawsuit against the reasons for referral review denial under the Refugee Act, which has long been one of the obstacles for asylum recognition.”

On December 5, 2023, Legal Newspaper highlighted the wholehearted participation of Lee & Ko’s Public Service Committee in this year’s Love Briquettes Sharing Campaign. The Committee sponsored 5,000 briquettes as part of a donation to the organization, Coal Briquettes for Neighbors in Korea, and 2,000 of these were directly delivered to 10 households residing in Guryong Village in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on December 2, with the help of 30 Lee & Ko employees and their family members. Attorney Won Seok Ko, the Head of the Public Service Committee, noted, “Lee & Ko’s Public Service Committee will continue to strive to spread the meaning of love and sharing wherever possible to people in need.”

On September 14, 2023, the online media outlet Dailian introduced “Lee & Ko Friends Program – Becoming Friend of North Korean Defector Students,” hosted by Lee & Ko. The program was described as an “initiative in which North Korean defector students and attorneys establish one-on-one mentorship relationships.” The participants in this program “have the opportunity to meet individually for five months, fostering meaningful connections and genuine relationships, rather than mere formalities,” the article highlighted. Lee & Ko attorney Seok Pyo Hong underscored the significance of the program, noting that “Although there are many youths in Korea who are lonely and alienated, North Korean defectors are particularly proud friends just by attending university.” As part of its commitment, “Lee & Ko attorneys are also delivering lectures on topics such as real estate or employment contracts, and we believe this is our role as a law firm, bearing considerable significance,” he added.