LAB PARTNERS

Number of partners: 10
Number of lawyers: 20+

Firm Overview:

Named the “Avengers” of the Korean legal market by media, LAB PARTNERS is a premier boutique law firm established by partners from the top law firms in Korea.  Our firm provides a one-stop service in all major practice areas.  The diverse expertise of our partners enables us to provide a full range of services, which is uncommon for a firm of our size.  Our partners have decades of experience and are regarded as the leading experts in their fields.

LAB PARTNERS has been praised by clients for finding successful solutions, by applying expert knowledge and commercial insight, in an agile and efficient manner.  Our collaborative structure allows us to advise clients seamlessly without dwelling on factors extrinsic to clients’ interests.  As testament to such efforts, LAB PARTNERS was ranked in the Chambers Global Guide 2025 in Band 2 for Capital Markets: Securitisation and Band 3 for Corporate/M&A.  We were selected as a ‘Recommended Firm’ by asialaw for 2023 and a ’Recommended Firm’ in the 31st edition of IFLR1000 for 2021-2022.  We were also recognized as the ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’ in the Euromoney Legal Media Group asialaw Awards 2020, and as the ’Boutique Law Firm of the Year’ by Thomson Reuters Asia Legal Business Korea Law Awards in 2019.

Our clients include Fortune 500 companies and numerous other global and domestic companies.  We drive transactions proactively, and advocate aggressively on behalf of our clients, offering a new dimension of legal solutions.

Main Areas of Practice:

Foreign Investment:

Global companies conducting business in Korea are exposed to a variety of complex risks.  The success rate of JV structures is decreasing, whilst civil, criminal, and administrative liabilities for executives (including CEOs and headquarters), are becoming increasingly severe, in the overall operation of local subsidiaries. Fair trade disputes involving subcontractors or agencies are strictly regulated.  In the field of employment law, regulations and supervision are becoming stringent, under rapidly changing governmental policies. Furthermore, compliance standards have been strengthened in various fields, such as trade secrets and personal information, whereas many local subsidiaries are not prepared to immediately comply with such standards.

With its expertise, extensive experience and dedication, LAB PARTNERS assists clients in making optimal management decisions by providing one-stop advisory and support services necessary for every stage, from entry into the Korean market to business development and liquidation.

Mergers and Acquisitions:

LAB PARTNERS’ Corporate/M&A team is composed of lawyers with expertise in M&A, private equity funds, venture capital, joint ventures, corporate governance, foreign exchange regulations, and general corporate matters. The extensive experience, know-how and in-depth knowledge of our Corporate/M&A team lawyers enable clients to benefit from optimum deal structures, custom-tailored to meet clients’ goals.  As one of our clients commented, our Private Equity team is known for “bringing commercial insight and business acumen to the table”.

Our team culture of agility and efficiency is akin to that of private equity funds, which is something clients do not often expect from larger competitor firms.  As a result, our Corporate/M&A team builds strong collaborative relationships with investors and private equity funds, and has become a popular law firm amongst various financial institutions. Our Corporate/M&A team is highly regarded by clients for providing a seamless transactional advisory experience, starting from tax-efficient structuring of transactions to successful closings, whilst ensuring protection against any potential legal risks along the way.

Finance:

The Finance Team is composed of attorneys with extensive prior experience at major law firms, providing legal advisory services on a range of financial transactions, including acquisition finance, structured finance, project finance, IPOs, and other securities issuances.  Since its establishment, LAB PARTNERS has rapidly grown to become a top-tier advisor in domestic M&A transactions, with a notable increase in acquisition finance services that are essential to M&A activities.  Leveraging extensive experience from major law firms in securitization transactions involving domestic financial companies and airlines, the firm now advises on numerous domestic and international structured finance transactions, serving both issuers and lead arrangers.  Additionally, LAB PARTNERS actively engages in legal advisory services for real estate and energy-related project financings, both domestically and internationally, as well as for IPOs and other securities issuances.

LAB PARTNERS provides effective advisory services for the expanding international ventures of domestic financial institutions, as well as local licensing matters, collaborating with local law firms to ensure practical advice tailored to the local regulatory environment.  This approach, integrated with the firm's experience in international M&A, facilitates more practical and relevant guidance.  In addition, the Finance Team offers advisory services on compliance and regulatory investigations for various financial institutions, including banks, securities firms, insurance companies, credit card companies, and capital firms.

Labor and Employment:

LAB PARTNERS provides optimal legal services in all aspects of labor law ranging from employment policies, HR systems, employment contracts, benefits, early retirement, and salary peak systems, to collective bargaining and labor union relations.  With our client-oriented approach and negotiation skills, we frequently achieve successful outcomes with respect to any complex labor and employment issues.  We routinely handle labor disputes, collective bargaining agreements, workplace harassment concerns, employee termination matters, and workplace safety and health issues.  Our clients include a U.S. software company, a foreign automotive company, a multinational electronic components company, and Korean conglomerates.

Internal Investigations and Corporate Compliance:

Our Compliance team, with extensive experience in internal investigations and compliance matters gained at top law firms, provides solutions to clients to minimize tangible and intangible losses that may arise in the event of compliance violations.  Our team protects corporate clients through prompt and effective response measures in the event of unfortunate incidents (including suspected corruption, embezzlement, cartels, leakage of confidential information, industrial accidents, harassment, wrongful termination of employment, etc.).

Our team advises clients on matters involving the Korea Fair Trade Commission, including business combination filings, guidelines on B2B issues (such as franchise law and sub-contractor related matters), and domestic and cross-border M&A practice in relation to business combination filings with the Korea Fair Trade Commission.  Our expertise lies in: (i) internal whistle-blowing; (ii) internal investigations and development of internal compliance policies, practices, and review systems, including risk analysis; (iii) establishment of procedural systems; (iv) periodic audits and education; and (v) litigation related to whistle-blowing and compliance.

Insurance and Reinsurance:

The Insurance and Reinsurance team advises leading domestic and international insurers and reinsurers on a wide spectrum of contentious and non-contentious matters.  With extensive experience in the Korean and global insurance markets, our team delivers practical, business-oriented legal solutions tailored to the commercial realities of the industry.  Our expertise spans across claims management, policy interpretation, product development and regulatory compliance under the Insurance Business Act of Korea and related financial regulations.  We are recognized for our in-depth knowledge and experience encompassing warranty and indemnity insurance, product liability, construction and engineering risks (EAR/CAR), business interruption, financial lines, reinsurance treaty disputes, and specialty insurance areas such as energy, marine and professional indemnity.

Drawing on our strong track record in handling cross-border claims and arbitration, we represent insurers and reinsurers before Korean courts and arbitral tribunals (domestic and international, often in collaboration with English counsels) and assist in international recovery actions and settlement negotiations.  Our team also frequently advises on fronting arrangements, facultative and treaty reinsurance, proportional and non-proportional placements, and regulatory filings with the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea.  At LAB PARTNERS, we combine the analytical precision of leading legal professionals with the market insight of former in-house counsel with extensive experience at major insurance and reinsurance companies, enabling us to provide unparalleled service to clients operating in this highly specialized sector.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice:

The Litigation team is particularly renowned for M&A related litigation and shareholder disputes, including development of hostile takeover and defense strategies and injunctions related to shareholder meetings.  We are also recognized for financial institution-related litigation involving securities, investment trusts, and private equity funds, as well as civil and criminal litigation related to short-swing profits, insider trading and fraudulent trading.  Our Litigation team has successfully represented clients in labor and employment-related disputes regarding dismissal, suspension and executive retirement.