Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Bae Kim & Lee’s litigation practice, numbering over 100 lawyers, is among the largest and most prominent in Korea. This year, it added partner Chae Wong Lim, formerly a presiding judge at Seoul Family Court.

Partner Chiyong Rim represented creditor Samsung Motors in a KRW600 billion (US$531 million) judgment against Woori Bank, Korea Exchange Bank, Korea Development Bank and Citibank Korea. The litigation involved debt owed after a restructuring in the 1997-98 financial crisis. In January 2011, the Seoul High Court ordered the lenders to repay the creditors. The case is now moving to the Supreme Court and is the largest civil lawsuit in Korean history.

The firm’s international arbitration practice has grown steadily over the past year with the addition of an associate from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Partner Kap-you (Kevin) Kim, head of the firm’s practice, is leading a post-M&A dispute on the sale of Daewoo Motor’s assets against General Motors (GM) after GM declared bankruptcy. The case is highly complex, involving 29 separate claims and a counterclaim, and is worth more than US$400 million.

Kim & Chang bolstered its esteemed litigation and international arbitration practices this year. It added 12 former judges and six prosecutors to its litigation practice and three lawyers to its international arbitration area. “The firm has unmatched resources in Korea,” says one peer.

No fewer than 15 of the firm’s partners, including Chang Hoon Baek, Soo Hyung Kim and Sang Keun Kim, and 60 associates are defending 12 banks, six Korean and six foreign, in over 300 high profile cases relating to ‘Knock in-Knock out’ (Kiko) derivative contracts that companies entered into with the banks for foreign exchange hedging purposes. Altogether the 300 cases are worth KRW2 trillion (US$1.5 billion), the plaintiffs contend that these OTC derivatives were designed unfairly from a financial engineering perspective. Though some cases are still pending, the court has ruled that Kikos did not have an unfair structure and that their sale was not a fraudulent act.

In another landmark case, partners Sang Yoon Lee, Neung Kyu Lee and Woo Jin Lee, from the firm’s litigation and pharmaceutical teams, represented a Korean pharmaceutical company in a dispute regarding recognising injury from asbestos exposure, which previously had no precedent in Korea. Although the company won the first round of decisions, the plaintiffs have appealed.

Barun Law has maintained its strong standing in the litigation rankings this year. Peers mention its ability to recruit former judges and prosecutors.

Clients find Barun Law’s global perspective useful. Many of the firm’s lawyers were educated overseas, and there is very little in the way of a language barrier between them and the firm’s English-speaking clients. A US client says: “The firm’s attorneys understand how Americans think.”

In a case that showcased the firm’s international prowess, partner Gwan Joong Kim and senior foreign attorney Tom Pinansky represented Richard Garriott, a well known video game developer who coined the term MMORPG (Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), in a Texas lawsuit against MC Soft over termination of his employment. The trial judge allowed applicable interpretation of Korean law and Garriott was awarded US$28 million in damages.

Lee & Ko has an enormous litigation department with well over 100 attorneys. This did not stop the firm hiring three new partners, all former judges. Lee & Ko has been involved in several large transactions this year, including one where it defended the validity of ‘Knock-In Knock-Out’ (Kiko) contracts issued by Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea in a well publicised case.

Partners Chan Ik Jang and Dong Kyu Yoo were involved in an eight-year lawsuit, which concluded in November 2010 and was considered key to interpreting and applying the Urban and Living Environment Improvement Act. In a case that garnered intense media scrutiny, the firm successfully represented a housing cooperative in an internal dispute involving 6,800 members regarding a US$2 billion price increase for a large scale reconstruction and improvement project.

Shin & Kim’s litigation team has been active in defending companies in product liability issues, a rapidly growing field in the Korean legal market. The addition of three partners and five associates, including former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Yong Dam Kim, illustrates Shin & Kim’s increasing workflow in the litigation area.

In a notable case, the firm defended Hyundai Motors and other automobile manufacturers in a KRW710 million claim by 23 bronchial asthma patients who claimed car pollution aggravated their asthma. In another product liability matter, partner Ghyo-Sun Park led the successful defence of cigarette manufacturer KT&G in a KRW170 million claim by seven smokers alleging that they contracted lung cancer as a result of smoking.

Yoon & Yang has an impressive list of clients in the litigation space, having represented Seoul Guarantee Insurance, SK Gas, SK Energy, Air Hong Kong, Intel Corp and Cathay Pacific Airways, among others.

It defended Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea against 16 claimants seeking up to KRW100 billion (US$90 million) compensation for damages relating to currency option derivative contracts with ‘Knock-In Knock-Out’ (Kiko) conditions.

Partners Sung Bom Park and Sinsung (Sean) Yun are leading the defence of SK Gas and SK Energy in their appeal to the Seoul High Court to repeal an administrative surcharge of KRW669 billion (US$600 million), the highest ever issued by the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

Yulchon has expanded its associate capabilities in the dispute resolution area, hiring six between February and March 2011. The firm’s partners are highly recommended by peers, with one saying that Sae Youn Kim is “very professional and very courteous”.

In Yulchon’s largest case this year, partner Yong Sup Yoon, head of the firm’s civil litigation practice, advised Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power regarding the bidding process for the New Uljin Nuclear Plant, worth KRW1.4 trillion (US$1.2 billion). After the electronic bidding system broke down, Yoon worked with interested consortiums to construct a legal solution in order to fairly conclude the successful sale of the contract.

Although the litigation practice at Jipyong & Jisung lost a handful of associates this year, the firm managed to hire Hong-Hyun Lee from the Constitutional Court of Korea as its new managing partner for litigation.

Partner Seong Kang led a case for Korean Development Bank against Hanwha Consortium regarding a security deposit in the cancelled acquisition of DSME, one of the largest ship-building companies in the world. The KRW322 billion decision concluded that a preferred bidder cannot withdraw a bid without penalty citing changes in the economic climate.

Hankyul Hanul

In a high profile case, Hankyul Hanul partner Sang-Hee Lee is representing 239 individuals against the Korean government regarding the massacre of members of the Bodoyeonmaeng, an association formed for the reformation of leftists, during the Korean War. The individuals are requesting damages of up to KRW15 billion, although the firm is proceeding with some difficulty as the statute of limitations has run out.