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Overview

West Tower 23rd Fl., Mirae Asset Center 1 Building
26 Euljiro 5-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul 04539
Republic of Korea
F: +82.2.6030.3030

Office Managing Partners: Johneth Park and Wonsun Jung
Office Representative: Paul Kim
Office Administrator: Youna Choi

Office Description 

Sheppard Mullin was one of the first U.S. law firms to open an office in Seoul in 2012, and we celebrated our ten year anniversary in 2022. We have provided a broad range of services to Korean businesses for more than 20 years. Since establishing a “foreign legal consultant office” in Seoul* following the opening of the Korean legal market, our Seoul lawyers have worked seamlessly with more than 40 lawyers globally from our highly-ranked Korea Practice.

Our Seoul office has grown significantly since opening and is now one of the largest foreign firms in South Korea. Lawyers in our Seoul office focus primarily on: Antitrust and Competition; Banking and Finance; Private Equity; Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions; Intellectual Property (including patent litigation and trade secrets); International Arbitration; and Litigation and Investigations.

All of our Seoul lawyers are Korean native speakers with educational and cultural backgrounds in Korea. We understand Korean multinational business issues, as several lawyers served as in house counsel in South Korean chaebols. We regularly provide thought leadership and author a Korea blog, “U.S. Legal Insights for Korean Businesses.” Although we are not allowed to practice Korean law, we coordinate with local counsel for non-Korean clients’ needs for Korean legal advice.

* Sheppard Mullin’s Seoul office is a foreign legal consultant office approved by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea. Under the Foreign Legal Consultant Act of Korea, our Seoul office is only allowed to provide legal advice on US law, with respect to treaties of which the United States is a party, and to universally recognized customary international law. Our Seoul office is allowed to represent clients in international arbitration cases unless US law is not applicable.

Articles: 

Rankings:

  • Sheppard Mullin was the first foreign law firm to open a permanent office in Seoul.
  • Chambers Asia-Pacific and Chambers Global rank Sheppard Mullin among firms in South Korea for Dispute Resolution.
  • Asian Legal Business named Sheppard Mullin the 2022 Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year in the International category at its Korean Law Awards. The firm was named a finalist two other categories in 2023: International Deal Firm of the Year and Litigation Law Firm of the Year.
  • Variety and Billboard Magazine have recognized Seoul and Century City partner Han Kim among their annual lists.

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