International lawyers in high demand

Domestic law firms are rushing to hire international lawyers to meet growing demand for qualified legal professionals eligible to practice law overseas amid rising legal disputes between Korean and foreign firms.

Major Korean companies with global operations, including Samsung, are looking for law firms with experienced lawyers who can help them settle disputes with rivals on the international stage.

Market watchers say that the recent patent war between technology giants Samsung Electronics and Apple has propelled the trend. A U.S. federal court in California issued a ruling in favor of Apple last month after the nine-member jury concluded that Samsung copied the appearances and features of Apple’s flagship products, awarding the Silicon Valley firm more than $1 billion in damages.

Lee & Ko is leading the trend by employing high-end attorneys who have rich legal backgrounds in the U.S. and other countries. The firm’s new partner John Kim, who has licenses to practice law in Washington D.C., Maryland and California, is a good example.

The former partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan based in California joined the top-tier Korean law firm last year and practices in the field of international arbitration and cross-border litigation.

“Kim is a specialist in international dispute resolution, and worked previously as a partner attorney at Quinn Emanuel, one of the best law firms in the U.S. His presence shows that the status of Korean law firms has been upgraded,” said Lim Sung-woo, a partner of Lee & Ko, who heads the company’s International Dispute Resolution Practice Group.

Lim said that Lee & Ko hires scores of attorneys every year, and about half of them have licenses to practice overseas.

Kim & Chang, the nation’s biggest law firm, is also hiring foreign law specialists. The company has hired attorneys who have licenses to practice in Germany and France as well as the U.S. and other advanced countries.

Kim & Chang has hired about 10 foreign attorneys every year, and raised the number to around 15 last year, according to an industry source familiar with the matter.

He said that the company is bracing for the market change as more Korean companies advance into foreign economies and an increasing number of global firms come here looking for business opportunities.

Mid-tier law firms, such as Shin & Kim, Yulchon, and Bae, Kim and Lee, are also seeking foreign law specialists. Some 40 to 50 foreign attorneys are working at those firms, providing legal services for Korean companies doing business in overseas markets.

Among them, David Yang of Shin & Kim has drawn attention from the market as the first lawyer here with a license to practice law in Latin America. Yang is an Argentine law specialist who studied at the University of Buenos Aires. He heads the company’s Latin America Practice Group, advising Korean companies interested in investing in the region. <The Korea Times/Kim Jae-won>

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