A good number of our placements over the last six years have been of Korean-speaking attorneys, most of whom are Korean natives who were educated in the United States after a preliminary legal education in Korea. There are very few UK-trained Korean transactional lawyers interested in practicing in Asia. [If there are any out there we don’t know yet, we hope you will get in touch.]
In the earlier years of our practice involving placement of these lawyers, we had a large contingent of junior to mid-level candidates who had little interest in Korea as a place to lateral to, although some moved to Korea to work in Korea firms, for family reasons, or because it was easier for them to land positions in Korean firms than in US or UK firms.
Some of our more senior Korean US associate candidates over the years have been making strategic career moves to Korean law firms, as well as moves there for family reasons.
Many Korean US associates based in US have long realized that if they wanted to work on deals where their Korean cultural and language skills would provide a head start over others, they needed to do this from overseas in Hong Kong or Tokyo (most likely in Hong Kong, where most Korea practices are based). Increasingly, though, the question has changed from, “What firms in Hong Kong or Tokyo have the best Korean practices?” to, “How soon is it going to be possible for my firm to open in Seoul?” In this post we will attempt to describe in very basic detail the legal framework under which firms who wish to be in Korea as soon as possible can be there. We will also discuss the reasons why the expected boom of Korean US associate hiring in Hong Kong and Seoul, at UK and US firms, in 2011 has been thus far beendelayed for 6+ months.
Historical View of Korean Legal Market for Foreign Legal Consultants
By necessity, due to the closed nature of the legal market in Korea, lawyers admitted in the United States have historically had two choices: these attorneys could either be based in other jurisdictions around Asia (Hong Kong and Tokyo predominately) but fly into Seoul on a regular basis for transactions (and Karaoke), or they could move to Korea to work in a Korean law firm as a foreign legal consultant (“FLC’s”). Some of the most well known transactional firms who have employed FLC’s include: Kim & Chang; Bae, Kim & Lee; Lee & Ko; Shin & Kim; Yulchon; Hwang Mok Park; and Kim, Chang & Lee; Lee & Ko (just to name a few of the best known such firms). For years these firms and others like them have held sway over the indigenous Korean legal market. By virtue of their power to block international competition, they have done very well in the hiring market and some of the more senior partners have earned US top-firm money.
Tags: Asia | Hong Kong
