Paul Hastings and Cohen & Gresser have received approval from the South Korean Ministry of Justice to open an office in the country. The two firms become the fourth and fifth foreign law firms respectively to receive official approval. The other three firms to have received such approvals are Clifford Chance, Ropes & Gray and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.
Paul Hastings partner Jong Han Kim will head the new Seoul office, alongside partner Daniel Kim and a team of associates and counsel. The team’s key focus areas will be M&A, private equity, capital markets, intellectual property and antitrust litigation.
Cohen & Gresser partner S.C. Sohn will head the Seoul office for the firm, with a focus on M&A, private equity, international arbitration, cross border litigation and intellectual property.
The17 foreign law firms which have applied to open offices in Korea are:
|
Law Firm |
Headquarters |
Korea office head |
Korea focus areas |
|
Clifford Chance |
UK |
Brian Cassidy, Hyun Kim |
Capital markets, M&A, Banking and finance, Project finance, Arbitration |
|
Cohen & Gresser |
U.S. |
S.C. Sohn |
M&A, PE, Capital markets, IP, Dispute resolution |
|
Paul Hastings |
U.S. |
Jong Han Kim, Daniel Kim |
PE, M&A, Project finance, Capital markets, Litigation |
|
Ropes & Gray |
U.S. |
William Yongkyun Kim |
Corporate, IP, Business litigation, Arbitration |
|
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton |
U.S. |
Seth Byoung Soo Kim |
Corporate, Finance, Antitrust, IP, Entertainment |
|
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton |
U.S. |
Yong Guk Lee, Jay Hoon Choi |
Corporate, Finance, Regulatory, Litigation, Arbitration |
|
Covington & Burling |
U.S. |
William Park, Daniel Spiegel |
Corporate, Banking and finance, Antitrust, IP, Litigation |
|
DLA Piper |
U.S./UK |
N/A |
N/A |
|
H.C. Park & Associates |
U.S. |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Herbert Smith (Rumoured) |
UK |
|
|
|
K&L Gates |
U.S. |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Linklaters (Rumoured) |
UK |
|
|
|
McDermott Will & Emery |
U.S. |
In-Young Lee |
M&A, Finance, Antitrust, Restructuring, International trade, IP, Litigation |
|
McKenna Long & Aldridge |
U.S. |
Andrew Park |
N/A |
|
O’Melveny & Myers |
U.S. |
Sungyong Kang, Jinwon Park |
Corporate M&A, Antitrust, International trade, Litigation |
|
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett |
U.S. |
Youngjin Sohn |
M&A, Capital markets, PE, Antitrust, IP, Litigation |
|
Squire Sanders |
U.S. |
Joon Yong Kim |
N/A |
*If your information is not listed, please email Kanishk.verghese@thomsonreuters.com
Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
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