Leading Korean law firm Yulchon has a roster of more than 450 professionals in its dispute resolution team alone, including more than 150 trial lawyers led by nearly 30 partners. These experienced litigators have a lengthy track record of success in representing clients in high-stakes litigation matters. In addition to legal practitioners, the group has other professionals such as accountants and industry experts to provide support to its litigators. The disputes offering covers the full spectrum of practice areas, with the market acknowledging its strengths in tax, finance, competition, construction, product liability, labour, intellectual property and white-collar crime. The firm is recognised as a pioneer in class action disputes and for its Supreme Court wins, overturning lower court decisions at a high rate. The firm has extensive experience in handling complex international disputes, and its lawyers are well versed in the rules and procedures of various international arbitration institutions.
Post-Covid, the firm launched a handful of new initiatives mirroring client demands. These include a new team dedicated to overseas litigation, a private wealth management centre, a tax crimes investigation response centre and a financial regulatory and investigation team. The latter two offerings dovetail nicely with the firm’s Centre for Responding to Regulations and Investigation on Financial Assets. The overseas litigation team is notably strong in US-based disputes, with its lawyers offering more than 35 years of combined BigLaw and US Department of Justice litigation experience. The private wealth management centre has more than 20 experts in litigation and tax.
The group has expanded its scope of expertise to encompass new areas such as mobility, blockchain, education, healthcare, hospitality, sports and entertainment, personal data protection, and environment and energy. The firm has segmented intergroup practice teams to offer tailored specialisation for its clients, with members of both the transaction side and disputes side in each team. For example, the firm offers finance, healthcare, mobility, insurance and sports and entertainment teams, among others.
The firm also has special regional practices, with experts from diverse practice groups equipped with the appropriate language and cultural background to suit clients’ needs. Yulchon has offices in China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Russia and Vietnam, and it is part of the TechLaw Group, Ius Laboris, and Taxand networks and alliances.
A recent accomplishment for the Yulchon commercial disputes team was its complete victory for client Mirae Asset in one of the largest litigations in the hospitality industry against China’s Anbang Insurance in the Delaware Chancery Court as well as in the Delaware Supreme Court.
Client feedback
“The team provides customised advice on various matters. It has good co-operation between various areas within legal, especially between transactions and related disputes.” – Banking and financial services
“The lawyers put their ability and energy into our case from the very beginning. It even seems that they thought more about our case than we did. I was very impressed with their witness examination and how they prepared it.” – Banking and financial services
“Yulchon’s Cecil Chung is a pre-eminent antitrust lawyer in South Korea. Cecil and the Yulchon have significant expertise navigating the merger review process in Korea, providing business-oriented advice, and delivering great results.” – Competition/antitrust
“All lawyers are friendly, and the quality of their work is high. Even though the cost is cheaper than Kim & Chang, I think the quality of work is same or better.” – Construction
“Regarding the complex and sophisticated matters, Yulchon showed a meticulous approach but was bold at the same time. Even though the case involved several issues, the direction of the lawsuit they presented was creative, but it made sense, and it served as an opportunity to lead in a good direction. When Yulchon gives advice, they present every small detail and possible way it could develop in order us to make the right decision.” – Intellectual property
“Based on their long-standing experience in dealing with similar cases, they could propose reasonable solutions.” – Labour and employment
“It was known that despite article 628 of civil law of Korea, the courts tended not to recognise claims to reduce commercial rental fees. However, Yulchon persuaded courts that Covid-19 was an extremely exceptional disaster and nobody could have foreseen such a pandemic. Thanks to such efforts, the courts now are recognising the reduction of rental fees.” –
Real estate
“I appreciate their work expertise, knowledge, customer response, and pre-emptive attitude.” – Tax
Yong Whan Choi
“As a legal expert, he always collects opinions from not only the Korean branch but also the headquarters to represent the needs of the company to the domestic government and to maximise the company's profits.”
Cecil Chung
“He provides an in-depth knowledge and expertise in M&A matters with antitrust issues and helps us navigate the thorny merger review process in Korea.”
Hee Woo Jo
“Hee Woo Jo from the Yulchon Intellectual Property Team is the one I would like to recommend to other clients. Mr Jo is capable of complex and sophisticated matters, handling them with profound professionalism. He is a true hard worker and a perfectionist at the same time. When we are not sure of what to do with the case, he gives us every possible solution or method, which allows us to step up to another level. We were surprised to see that he found out hundreds of similar precedent cases. That, by the way, led us to win the case. Mr Jo’s attitude toward the case and the clients is admirable. He quickly recognises what the client wants and needs. Thanks to this, we can proceed with the fast-paced case comfortably. I am familiar with lawyers in big firms giving late responses or rough answers. However, Mr Jo is the one who sacrificed his personal time for the client’s case. Moreover, Mr Jo has rare expertise in this field. The industry has changed and diversified so rapidly that it is very difficult to grasp all the details. Other lawyers only understand it by researching a lot of information, but he is already very familiar with this industry and knows all the latest technologies, laws, precedents and trends. That is why we could follow his lead and move in the correct direction accordingly – because we could trust that he knew everything and was managing it, even if we didn't know everything. Mr Jo explains things well. We do not know every single subject in the industry, even though we are working in this field. He can present matters in a way everyone can understand. Also, he is a well-known industry expert, who was invited to the popular YouTube channel to explain the general trademark matters. Moreover, he is frequently invited to seminars and academic societies to give presentations.”
Sy Nae Kim
“Good communication skills, knows the law and the industry, and is confident and reliable.”
Il Bong Moon
“He could grasp the facts and legal issues in a very short period of time. Based on that understanding, he organised the team with proper experts and co-ordinated our needs and the team’s ability. More specifically, he led us to dig into the relevant facts that we never even considered. Accordingly, we could find more facts that are advantageous to us, and it was crucial in winning the case. Also, he was great at witness examinations. He was able to draw favourable statement from a hostile witness by elaborately orchestrating the whole examination.”
“He has an advantage in communicating with clients due to his experience as a judge and long litigation history. He is good at litigation management.”
Jung Han Oh
“Attorney Oh Jung Han has extensive knowledge across a variety of litigation cases and, in particular, has excellent expertise in the construction and real estate fields as he manages several construction companies as clients.”
Jae Woo Park
“He is able to react quickly and provide a sensible approach when needed.”
Jeong Keun Yun
“Provides friendly customer responses.”
