The Legal 500

Within Antitrust and competition, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Clients appreciate Lee & Ko for its ‘expert attorneys with specialist know-how in antitrust issues, and high levels of experience’. Highlights included representing Korean Airlines in a KFTC investigation into alleged abuse of market dominance. Sung Man Kim heads the antitrust practice, and has a ‘wealth of knowledge and experience in the area’, and was joined by five antitrust attorneys from Shin & Kim, including leading figures Hwan Jeong and Min Ho Lee.

Within Banking and finance, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s finance team is ‘dedicated and professional’. 2010 saw it advise the lenders, including Korea Development Bank and Woori Bank, on their refinancing of the Oriental Brewery LBO. Practice head Woo Young Jung is ‘dedicated and professional, and provides prompt and adequate legal advice on Korean legal aspects for international financing deals which involve Korean sponsors, borrowers, and export credit agencies’.

Within Capital markets, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s team, led by Wonkyu Han, attracts praise for its ‘response times, business acumen and legal knowledge’. In 2010 it acted for Korea Finance Corporation in its establishment of a A$2bn Australian debt issuance programme. Hyunjoo Oh is ‘an expert in structured corporate derivative transactions’; Geen Kim is ‘incredibly knowledgeable’; and Won Sik Cho is also recommended. The team recently hired Kwan Soo Park, who brings experience from his time at the Department of Capital Markets Investigation.

Within Corporate and M&A, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko ‘consistently exceeds expectations on all fronts’, fielding a 100-lawyer team with the capacity and expertise to handle a volume that regularly sees it topping M&A league tables in the region. In 2010 it completed 65 deals, many of them firsts of their kind; Sang Gon Kim and Jun Taek Lee, for example, represented six IT and media companies (O Media Holdings, ON Media, CJ Media, CJ Internet, Mnet Media and CJ Entertainment) on their merger, the first such deal in the Korean marketplace. Team head Kyu Wha Lee is ‘very commercial’, and Hyeong Gun Lee is ‘always clear, succinct and very responsive, with excellent client service skills’.

Within Dispute resolution, Lee & Ko is a second tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s has ‘a strong team that does high-end work that is streets ahead of its competitors’. 2010 saw it represent the sellers of Daewoo Shipping & Marine Engineering against Korean conglomerate Hanwha in its claim for the return of a $315m security deposit. It also has commercial arbitration expertise, and acted for LG Electronics in a Korean Commercial Arbitration Board case against a Middle East distributor. Sungwoo Lim heads the arbitration practice, and Won Seok Ko leads the international litigation team. Also recommended are former Supreme Court judge Kyu Hong Lee; former head of the Administrative Court In Soo Kim; and former High Court judge Kwang Joong Kwon.

Within Employment, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s 22-lawyer employment team is one of the largest in South Korea, and is notable for its labour union and restructuring-related expertise. Work highlights included advising Deutsche Bank on the introduction of a new retirement pension scheme in Korea. Wan Joo and Sang Hoon Lee jointly head the team.

Within Insurance, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s very active insurance practice advised ACE INA Holdings in its acquisition of New York Life Korea, and Munich Re Group in its acquisition of a 65% stake in Daum Direct Auto Insurance for $58m. It also acted for Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance in connection with an insurance claim dispute. Tae Soo Jung heads the practice.

Within Intellectual property, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s 90-strong team is ‘responsive, very industry savvy, and always on point’, and includes ‘highly capable and qualified’ IP litigators and patent attorneys. It acted for Samsung Electronics in a patent infringement claim against Apple Korea before the US, German, Japanese and Korean courts. It also acted for Lacoste in a trade mark cancellation trial against Crocodile International’s combination mark. Jae Hoon Kim heads the IP litigation team.

Within Intellectual property: patents and trade marks, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Changse Leon Kim heads a specialist technology team at Lee & Ko that handles patent matters for clients such as Nokia and Intel. It also advises on trade mark matters for international brands.

Within Legal market overview,

Kim & Chang, Shin & Kim, Lee & Ko, Bae, Kim & Lee LLC and Yulchon are the major domestic firms.

Within Projects and energy, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s ‘premier’ projects practice provides ‘timely responses’, and has ‘great industry knowledge’. Thomas Shin leads a team of six dedicated partners who provide M&A-related expertise in energy and natural resources projects. It acted for STX Energy and Korea National Oil Corporation in their acquisition of a stake in an oil field in Alabama; and for POSCO Power Corporation in acquiring 30% participation from AES Mong Duong Holdings in a project involving a 1,200MW anthracite coal-fired power plant located in the Quang Ninh province of Vietnam.

Within Real estate, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko’s real estate team has ‘deep understanding and knowledge of the property sector in Korea’, and provides ‘responsive assistance that is efficient and tailored to meet clients’ demands’. Highlights included acting for Solomon Investment & Securities in its indirect purchase as part of a consortium of Korean investors of two building complexes in Japan; and for the project company in a $500m golf course real estate project in Incheon, Korea. Dong Eun Kim leads the team, which includes Chan Ik Jang, who has ‘impressive expertise’, and Junghwan Lee, who recently joined from Shin & Kim.

Within Shipping, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko has ‘thorough background knowledge, and delivers it in a detailed and articulate manner’. In 2010, it acted for Orient Shipyard Co in five shipbuilding contract disputes, and it has also been engaged in the rehabilitation procedure for Korea Line Corporation. Practice head Jin-Young Jung is valued for his ‘dedication and precision’.

Within TMT, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko has ‘a strong, high-end team that is streets ahead of others in the TMT field’. It represents the key players in the Korean TMT industry, including KT Corporation, LG Uplus and SK Telecom, and in 2010 advised on the merger of six IT and media companies to form the largest integrated media and content company in the country. Practice head Kwang Bae Park is ‘one of the leading TMT practitioners, and has extensive knowledge of local telecoms law’.

Within Tax, Lee & Ko is a first tier firm,

Lee & Ko has a breadth of expertise within its dedicated tax team, which includes former members of the National Tax Service, the Customs Office and the Korean judiciary, and is regularly engaged in precedent-setting cases. In 2010, it acted for AIF-MSO, an investment fund established by AIG in Malaysia, in a dispute concerning a tax rebate, which was the first case of a refund being granted under new Corporate Tax Act regulatory provisions. Mee-Hyon Lee leads a seven-partner team, which was joined by former administrative court judge Pyoung-Keun Song.