Leading Korean law firm Yulchon has a roster of approximately 300 professionals in its dispute resolution team alone, including more than 150 trial lawyers led by nearly 30 seasoned 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.
The firm has launched a number of new initiatives mirroring client demands. Since Korea’s new Minister of Justice has reinstated the powerful Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Team within the prosecution service, cases on financial fraud, virtual currency and market price manipulation are expected to increase significantly. The launches 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 Center 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 ‘Big Law’ and US Department of Justice litigation experience. The private wealth management centre comprises 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 boasts 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.
As a testament to the quality of its legal professionals and the respect with which they are held in the market, several partners of the dispute resolution practice were called to join the new government administration that came into power last year. These former partners now serve as the minister of the interior and safety, the vice-minister of national defense and the secretary in the office of the president.
Partners Dong Ryul Choi, Seok Hoon Kang, Il Bong Moon and Yong Pyo Yeom are key contacts in the firm’s commercial disputes team. Other core leaders for disputes work include international litigation and arbitration specialists Yun Jae Baek and Jeonghye Ahn, intellectual property expert Jeong Yeol Choe, insolvency partner Chul Man Kim, tax partner Seok Hoon Kang, competition specialist Sang Hyean Gwack, construction and real estate expert Ju Bong Park, and labour litigator Jae Keun Lee.
The Yulchon team successfully represented Mirae Asset and its affiliates in a landmark $5.8 billion dispute in the Delaware Court of Chancery as well as in the Delaware Supreme Court. The litigation is related to a massive hotel deal and challenged a lawsuit filed by the US subsidiary of China-based Anbang Insurance. In another highlight for the firm, it is defending Shinhan Investment in an action raised by investors for damages regarding an investment in leveraged crude oil futures exchange-traded notes (ETN). The key issue of this case is whether the client, as the issuer of the leveraged crude oil futures ETN and the liquidity provider, should be liable to the investors for their losses. Yulchon helped its client prevail in the first instance and the case is now pending at the appellate stage.
Another feather in the cap victory saw the Yulchon lawyers successfully assist Genesis BBQ before the Korean courts in what was dubbed “the biggest chicken fight in Korean history”. The client was engaged in a long-running battle against its main chicken business competitor, BHC. The opponent, through its buyer, started the fight in 2013 by bringing post M&A disputes arbitration against Genesis BBQ, which resulted in a series of civil and criminal cases including trade secret infringements, contract disputes, corporate disputes and even defamation. The Yulchon team successfully defended its client on all battlefronts.
The top-rated tax litigation team was successful for 12 foreign financial institutions, including JP Morgan Chase, in their education tax assessment litigation. There are novel complexities relating to education tax matters, as there is no case law. Despite difficulties, the firm successfully obtained rulings from the Supreme Court in favour of their taxpayer clients. These outcomes will have a considerable impact on foreign banks operating in Korea. Through these cases, the court acknowledged for the first time that foreign currency spots, foreign currency derivatives, valuation gains and losses, and trading gains and loss are all related items, based on a detailed legal analysis of the Education Tax Act.
The competition team mounted a successful defence for Evergreen Marine Corporation in a KFTC container shipping cartel investigation. From the beginning, this was a highly controversial investigation because the Marine Transportation Act of Korea conditionally exempted the container shipping industry from antitrust laws and the relevant government agency for the industry, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, openly disagreed with the KFTC’s interpretation of the relevant laws and enforcement stance. Yulchon was able to reduce Evergreen’s administrative fine from $24 million to less than $3 million. The case is ongoing and will likely lead to legislative revisions to the Marine Transportation Act and its relationship with Korea’s antitrust laws. The team continues to act for Qualcomm in the high-profile, long-running battle against the competition authority’s abuse of dominance accusations and $920 million fine. The matter is now before the Supreme Court.
The group added five new white-collar crime partners from various prosecutor’s offices. General disputes partners Yu Kyung Lee and Hyung Suk Suh joined from Logos and LKB & Partners, respectively, while tax litigation specialist Won Gyo Han joined from the Seoul Administrative Court.
The firm counts domestic giants such as Hana Bank, Hanwha Group, Hyundai Motors and Samsung as loyal clients.
Client feedback
“Yulchon maximises clients’ interests by establishing strategic multi-phased frameworks of dispute prevention, litigation and follow-up, utilising highly competitive and capable lawyers who are experts in theory and practice.” – Commercial and transactions
“They always form good teams that are solid at identifying issues and communicating with the investigation authority.” – Construction
“The Yulchon real estate group has a great reputation in its area. It has a unique focus on newly arising services and industries.” – Government and regulatory
“Yulchon regularly recruits reliable professionals and advises many start-ups regarding challenging issues. The professionals there energetically have joined many forums, legal academic groups and chased new trends in our field.” – Government and regulatory
“The matter they advised us on was the largest accident that occurred after the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. It was reported in the media nationwide, and attracted great public attention. All the presidential election candidates visited the scene. At the time, the government announced that those responsible for this accident should be seriously punished. Then Yulchon stepped in for us and organised a team of experts from various fields to resolve the case and actively worked to bring about desirable results.” – Labour and employment
“Another law firm lost the first trial so we changed to Yulchon and won the second trial successfully.” – Tax
“Yulchon achieved a successful result for us in a very complex lawsuit case against the Korean tax authorities.” – Tax
“Yulchon has many merits. First, it always tries to understand what the clients want and need. Second, it presents its best lawyers, who have proven track records and specialties. Lastly, it charges at an appropriate level.” – Tax
“Yulchon has been able to provide a high quality of professional advice to every question and query on this case. The lawyers have come up with an appropriate strategic plan since the inception of the appointment. The team comprised all the skill sets necessary to defend the case from start to finish and they were also able to comprehend the stance of the accused thoroughly. They understood them well enough to reflect on the best position for the lawsuit. In particular, the lawyer who has field experience in criminal areas from the local police has been a key player in this matter, and with his judgement that has kept us one step ahead of the other side, he made it possible to draw the best outcome out of each case scenario.” – White-collar crime
“They respond quickly to customer inquiries and understand customer's needs well.
They have many customers, so they always take care to ensure there are no legal conflicts.” – White-collar crime
Yun Heui Cho
“He was a judge and gives an accurate opinion based on his extensive experience. He is good at writing papers and persuading judges.”
Jung Ji Choi
“Ms. Choi is empathetic and deeply concerned with every aspect of the challenging matters in which her client is involved – big and small, visible and invisible, material and even emotional. It is obvious to the client that she puts herself in the shoes of the actual party or private banker suffering from the dispute. Then, she puts all her energy and efforts into bringing about the utmost and most satisfying result for the client in each case, based on her excellent legal expertise and experience amassed as a litigator for banks and securities companies since 2014. Her relentless commitment to each case pays off at all times by winning the entire case to the satisfaction of clients.”
Woo Young Hur
“Woo Young Hur is an eminent legal expert in the criminal field. He listens, understands the client’s personal needs and tries to meet their requirements from A to Z with his instant feedback and appropriate advice. He thinks, considers and empathises with the client, and uses all his best abilities to come up with the best outcomes for each scenario.”
Seung Hyun Lee
“She previously had a career as a prosecutor and is an expert in criminal law. She has a caring personality and has excellent communications with the client.”
Dae Shik Lee
“Attorney Dae Shik Lee has more than 10 years of experience working in the police department and, in particular, he is a lawyer who belongs in Yulchon’s Serious Accident Centre. He has experience in handling various industrial accident cases, so he is a lawyer with excellent expertise in this field.”
Ki Seon Shin
“He always properly reflects on the client's opinion and helps the client to achieve their desired results, even if there are issues that arise. When the client needs to make important decisions, he is very helpful in providing us with a clear and concise explanation. This has helped us a lot to make the right decisions and be confident.”
Sun Mi Yang
“She is energetic, provides creative solutions to her clients, and she is communicative.”
