Recent Developments

Lee & Ko was selected as a top law firm for six consecutive years in the private wealth law category according to “Chambers High Net Worth (HNW) 2024” as published by Chambers and Partners, a world renown legal media. 

Based on its high level of expertise in various practice areas, Lee & Ko provides advice on all legal and tax matters related to the accumulation, management, transfer and protection of personal assets to the owners and executives of large Korean conglomerates and their families. Recently, Lee & Ko has successfully represented a major shareholder of a Korean company in a USD 2 billion arbitration case, and continues to provide regulatory advice and has represented chairpersons of large Korean conglomerates in large-scale disputes involving company restructuring and reorganization. 
 
In the individual category, Lee & Ko’s dispute resolution expert, Dong Ha Kim, was selected as a Band1 attorney. Mr. Kim has extensive experience in corporate advisory and litigation, and his primary practice areas include litigation, corporate, medical, construction & real estate, government contracts and family law.
 
Chambers HNW represents the leading media in the field of private wealth law and is published in over 55 countries including Korea.

Lee & Ko has been selected as one of the “2024 Asia Top 15 ESG Law Firms" by Asian Legal Business for the second consecutive year.

This selection highlights the achievements of a one-stop, full service provided by the firm’s ESG Group, an integrated network of its ESG-related teams dedicated to Environment, Occupational Safety & Health, Compliance, Corporate, Labor, and more. It is noted that the Group has garnered positive reviews for its commitment to advancing ESG regulations in Korea, reflecting its efforts in participating in various government service projects to address legal and institutional shortcomings within the ESG framework and devise proactive measures to bolster support for the ESG industry. In recent years, unwavering endeavors to help enhance the global competitiveness of Korean companies have also been made by the Group, offering preemptive measures in response to anticipating full-fledge due diligence legislation on supply chains, such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, on a global scale, as well as undertaking extensive ESG due diligence projects to analyze risks found in their business activities with human rights impact assessments, etc. and to identify areas for improvement. In addition, the Group has successfully represented companies in greenwashing investigations to safeguard their brand value and market trust, while remaining committed to addressing emergent negative connotations associated with greenwashing in society.
 
Asian Legal Business, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters, publishes legal industry magazines for the Asia-Pacific region and selects the top 15 law firms in the ESG field in Asia based on experience, expertise, and evaluations from clients and peers.

Lee & Ko has been named to this year’s IAM Patent 1000 in Patent Litigation, receiving the highest band ranking of Gold for the 10th consecutive year and “Highly Recommended” in Patent Transactions again for the third year running. In addition, 10 attorneys and patent attorneys at Lee & Ko have been listed as “Recommended Individuals” across all categories including Patent Litigation, Patent Prosecution, Patent Transactions, etc. in recognition of their exceptional expertise in the patent field. 

 
Litigation: Un Ho Kim, John Kim, Jae Hoon Kim, Keum Nang Park, Hwan Sung Park, Julie Shin, Choong Jin Oh, and Hayoun Chun
Prosecution: Sungsoo (Sean) Hwang
Transactions: Julie Shin, Hayoun Chun, and Yong Jin Cho

Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group provides legal services catered to clients in responding to various IP-related disputes in the United States, Europe, Japan, and other countries by leveraging its extensive overseas network while securing the best outcomes for clients in consultancy and IP-related disputes through a nuanced understanding of both technology and law. Notably, the Group has successfully claimed a favorable judgment on behalf of Coway in a patent infringement case involving water purifiers with compensation for damages worth KRW 10 billion and advised LG Energy Solution on IP-related issues in transactions for establishing a joint venture overseas. Beyond assisting Korean companies in infringement proceedings before the US district courts, the Group excels in delivering superior legal services to clients across all areas of IP law, encompassing patent litigation, transactions, etc.  

IAM is a global patent publication released every year that conducts surveys and interviews with patent experts and law firms all over the world and ranks the best law firms and experts in the patent field by country and sector, based on submissions and client feedback.

Lee & Ko attorney Vera Eun Woo Lee in the Intellectual Property Group was chosen as a ‘Top 250 women in IP’ for two consecutive years.
 
Since joining Lee & Ko in 2004, Vera Eun Woo Lee has been handling a wide variety of matters in Intellectual Property field, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, domains, unfair competition, IP licensing and transaction (M&A), and work-for-hire inventions. Recently, she led the first-ever Supreme Court ruling recognizing copyright infringement against imitation mobile games. 

MIP(Managing IP) is a specialized legal magazine in the IP field published by Euromoney, a leading publication in England, which conducts annual surveys of experts in the IP field worldwide and highlights female IP lawyers who have produced exceptional results in the past year.

Lee & Ko attorney Keum Nang Park was selected as 2024 ‘Top 100 Women in Litigation’ for the Asia-Pacific region as published by Benchmark Litigation.

As the Co-head of Lee & Ko’s Healthcare Group, Keum Nang Park has gained experience in the practice areas of intellectual property and healthcare. Ms Park has been demonstrating excellent competency and expertise in advising clients in the areas of intellectual property matters such as pharmaceutical and biotechnology patent disputes, regulatory matters related to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and Ministry of Environment, as well as other biotechnology and pharmaceutics, medical devices, cosmetics, food product, health supplements, household chemicals etc.. 

Benchmark Litigation, published by Delinian(formerly Euromoney), is a world-renowned publication which highlights the fields of dispute resolution and litigation and publishes rankings of ‘Asia-Pacific’s Top 100 Women in Litigation’ by selecting 100 female lawyers in the Asia-Pacific region who have received excellent ratings based on months of in-depth analysis.

Sung Hui Yoon, an attorney of Lee & Ko, was selected as ‘Top 40 Under 40 2024’ for the Asia-Pacific region as published by Benchmark Litigation.

As one of the key attorneys in Lee & Ko’s Construction & Real Estate Group and Environmental Safety Group, Mr. Yoon advises and represents clients in various litigations and arbitrations in construction, real estate, occupational safety and serious accidents, public-private partnership project, administrative litigation and government contracts. 

Benchmark Litigation, published by Delinian (formerly Euromoney), is a world-renowned publication which highlights the fields of dispute resolution and litigation and publishes 40 outstanding lawyers under the age of 40 in the Asia-Pacific region, which has been highly evaluated based on in-depth research.