Established in 1977, Lee & Ko is a premier full-service Korean law firm with 550 professionals practising in 40 practice areas. Apart from its offices in Seoul and Pangyo, the firm also has offices in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
Focusses / specialisms
The firm is strong across all transactional practice areas including banking and finance, M&A, private equity, capital markets, project development and finance, and restructuring and insolvency.
The firm also routinely provides services to clients that require legal assistance in countries such as China, Japan, Vietnam and other southeastern nations, India, the Middle East, Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States, North and South America, and Europe.
Key clients
Key clients of the firm include Alchemist Capital Partners Korea, the Korean government (Ministry of Economy and Finance), Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea Development Bank, Hana Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Korea Post, SK Group, POSCO, LG Group and Carlyle Group.
Research period review:
33rd edition (2022/2023)
The banking and finance team has been active in advising borrowers and lenders in a wider range of financing and financing-related mandates including general banking, project finance, acquisition finance, structured finance and securitization, trade finance, lease and transportation finance, derivatives transactions, insurance and development of financial products.
In the capital markets, the firm was particularly active in debt issuance, advising issuers and underwriters as well as in securitizations. Active industry sectors include banking and financial services, government-owned financial institutions, social infrastructure, energy, natural resources, mining, manufacturing, construction and materials. On the equity side, the firm continues to be active in handling IPO transactions and block trades. Senior consultant Sang June Park joined the firm’s capital market team from the Financial Services Commission in 2022.
The corporate team was particularly busy with significant deals across all industry sectors, both domestic and cross-border. The firm bolstered its M&A team by adding partner Hyungsuk Kang, partner Jin Wook Lee, and partner Jin Hwan Chung in 2022.
In the project area, the team continued to cover work in inbound and outbound transactions in infrastructure, PPPs, solar power, onshore and offshore wind, fuel cell power plant, data centres, logistics and biomass energy projects.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
ArcLight Energy Partners’ $1.24 billion acquisition financing of eight power-generating facilities.
Korea Development Bank's issuance of approximately $2 billion global bonds.
Sale of approx. $1.1 billion shares in Samsung Electronics by way of block trade.
LS Corp’s KRW933 billion ($0.7 billion) acquisition of 49.9% of the equity interest of LS-Nikko Copper.
Development of the wind farm project in Gunwi-gun and Uiseong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do.
Client feedback: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
Asset finance
“We can identify the key points we need and get feedback at the right time.”
Banking and finance
“Lee & Ko, especially Hyunjoo Oh, is very responsive and provided very detailed advice to my clients to solve their issues.”
“Very responsive and professional. Efficient and smart.”
“Prompt feedback and reasonable legal fee amount.”
“Professional advice with in-depth expertise and timely manner.”
Capital markets
“They provide the best advice to clients based on their high understanding of capital market regulation.”
“Ms. Hyunjoo Oh's team is the most experienced team in Korea for capital market transactions. In debt capital market transactions they are an unparalleled top team in terms of deal flow, knowledge and experience. Lee & Ko has good client coverage, which in turn means they understand client needs well. They have tried to provide client-orientated and customised legal services.”
“They provide the best advice to clients based on their high understanding of capital market regulation.”
“They have a lot of experience and track records in capital market transactions and always provide reliable advice.”
“They have high expertise across the capital markets, I think they provide the best advice in any type of transaction.”
“I received a lot of help with their quick reply and detailed guidance.”
“Expertise with good knowledge about the industry.”
M&A
“They have a wealth of experience in this field as well as great legal knowledge. They always offer competitive solutions.”
“Lee & Ko identified risk points and countered new, unheard of moves brilliantly, not just fighting back and forth, finally finding middle ground where both parties could align.”
“Very attentive and well supported.”
“They always strive to find the best solution for their clients based on their specialised knowledge and wealth of experience.”
“They served every area that needed to be conducted during whole M&A transaction. They represented from setting deal structure, commercial/legal terms negotiations, foreign currency act both in US and Korea, and all administrative regulation compliance including but not limited to antitrust.”
Private equity
“Lee & Ko has in-depth knowledge in this private equity/private debt fund business and has maintained a good network with the financial supervisory boards.”
Project development
“Practical alternatives based on rich and varied experience. Leveraging our experience working with global law firms.”
Investment funds
“They are very active in advising deal term negotiation by leveraging their experience as a corporate side adviser (opposite side of mine).”
Dongyon Kim
“Very responsive and professional.”
“She has high expertise in capital markets and shows good performance in both the debt capital markets and equity capital markets.”
“She has a lot of experience and expertise, and she is faithful to communicating with customers, always providing the best advice.”
“Compared to work experience with other law firms, her expertise in financial law is excellent, and her loyalty to customers is also very nice.”
Hyunjoo Oh
“She has a great reputation in Korean capital markets amongst the lawyers and clients as well as in-depth knowledge of and expertise in the market based on years of experience. Great networking capabilities. Prompt responses at all times. Hard-working.”
“She is a really hard worker. Whenever I ask something, she responds as quickly as possible. I've never seen such a rapid response, which has good content as well. She seems to have abundant knowledge on the Korean debt market.”
“Hyunjoo is very experienced and always provides helpful advice and solutions.”
“She is the most experienced lawyer in the Korean DCM market. She has good coverage on the clients as well. She always tries to understand the situation and to provide better solutions or customised solutions to the transaction team.”
“She has the best understanding of market practice as well as financial regulations, and it is impressive that she actively tries to communicate with customers.”
“Since she has excellent expertise in both financial transaction advice and regulatory advice, she has the advantage of being able to provide integrated advice in relation to the deal.”
“She has excellent expertise and knowledge regarding the industry, and has outstanding expertise in all areas of financial transactions without being limited to certain areas.”
“In-depth legal knowledge for finance companies such as banking, securities and insurance companies, as well as private funds.”
“Active and diverse.”
“Good client relationship, knowledge about the industry and capital market products.”
“Deep knowledge in financial market and prompt response.”
Ho Joon Moon
“He always comes up with legal solutions that can actually help.”
Je Won Lee
“He is one of the most senior lawyers in Lee & Ko and the most responsive one, too.”
Sung Min Kim
“Has very good communication skills with superb knowledge.”
Sanghyun Ahn
“Quick response and friendly guidance.”
Seunga Hyun
“He has a high level of expertise that is hard to find in other law firm lawyers, and he is particularly excellent in advice for financial transactions in the capital markets.”
“He has excellent expertise in both financial transactions and financial regulations, and is also sensitive to the latest market and regulatory trends.”
“He always communicates with customers and tries to provide necessary advice from the customer's point of view, and as a result, he always provides timely and appropriate advice.”
“Very responsive and professional.”
Tae Jung Kim
“He has various experience in both domestic, and cross-border deals.”
Tom (Seungwook) Shin
“Mr. Shin is able to provide us with solutions and alternatives to the problems we face based on his many years of extensive experience.”
Yong Joon Yoon
“He has all the required properties to be an excellent lawyer for a client.”
“He is responsive and quick to identify negotiation points.”
Yi Jun Chang
“He has bright energy and shows great responsibility in solving tasks given by the clients.”
