Global legal practice Squire Sanders has opened an office in Seoul, after its application to practice in the Republic of Korea was approved by the Korean Ministry of Justice. The office is led by Joon Yong Kim, a US licensed lawyer who was admitted as a foreign legal consultant by the Ministry of Justice in July.
The Seoul office of Squire Sanders will focus on M&A and other transactional work, as well as litigation and arbitration. Other practice areas include infrastructure projects, intellectual property and anti-trust and trade disputes.
Joon Yong Kim will be joined by corporate partner Edward Ghiyun Kim, who is relocating to Korea from Squire Sanders’ Tokyo office. Edward Kim’s practice focuses on corporate transactions, M&A, project finance and commercial matters. Other Squire Sanders lawyers are also applying to practice in Korea and will relocate during the course of the coming year. The new office will be located in Ferrum Tower in Eulji-ro, in the heart of Seoul’s Gangbuk business district.
Joon Yong Kim commented: “We are pleased that our application has been successful and that we have been able to move quickly to open our office in Seoul. We believe our local knowledge, our reputation for comprehensive, cost effective legal counsel, and our cross-border experience and global platform will benefit Korean businesses of all sizes, including mid-market companies that are looking to grow and invest abroad. We will be able to represent Korean companies in key markets throughout the Asia Pacific region, the US, South America, the Middle East and Europe. And with an office in Seoul, we will also be ideally placed to advise our global clients on Korea-related work.”
James J. Maiwurm, Squire Sanders chair and global CEO, added: “We have been watching developments in Korea for some time. With an export-orientated economy, driven by multinational conglomerates with interests in sectors where we have considerable experience, such as energy, infrastructure, automotive, shipbuilding, electronics, finance and securities, it was an obvious market for us to consider.
“We are excited about our prospects in South Korea. We believe our long history of representing manufacturers and trading houses in Asia will stand us in good stead as we launch our office in Seoul.”
Squire Sanders has been advising a wide range of Korean companies from the automotive, chemicals, communications, construction, energy, electronics and steel industries, from several key offices, including Tokyo, Beijing and Los Angeles, for nearly 30 years. The launch of the Seoul office is part of a wider investment in Asia-Pacific over the past 12 months: The legal practice has added offices in Australia (Perth) and Singapore, grown its offices in China with senior hires, including eight new partners, and now has a total of 124 lawyers across the Asia-Pacific region.
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