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Jurisdiction · KR · G20

Top Law Firms in South Korea

Kim & Chang leads, on recognitions from 4 independent publishers, as the firm announced them. 10 of the 23 firms on file are placed on evidence; the rest are listed, not ranked.

Firms on File
23
Region
Asia-Pacific
Evidence coverage
30% of 50% needed
Press mentions
36
South Korea: Lotte World Tower and Namsan Tower in Seoul
South Korea: Lotte World Tower and Namsan Tower in SeoulArturbraun · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lotte World Tower

Top 10 Law Firms in South Korea

By recognitions

In South Korea, 10 of 22 verified firms are placed: 10 placed by recognitions the firm announced from at least two independent publishers, reconciled to one figure per publisher. Firms on file without either are listed in the directory below and are not ranked. No composite score is published for South Korea.

  1. 1Kim & ChangRecognised by 4 independent publishers
  2. 2Bae, Kim & LeeRecognised by 3 independent publishers
  3. 3YulchonRecognised by 3 independent publishers
  4. 4Yoon & YangRecognised by 3 independent publishers
  5. 5Lee & KoRecognised by 2 independent publishers
  6. 6Shin & KimRecognised by 2 independent publishers
  7. 7Peter & KimRecognised by 2 independent publishers
  8. 8JipyongRecognised by 2 independent publishers
  9. 9D&A LLCRecognised by 2 independent publishers
  10. 10Dentons LeeRecognised by 2 independent publishers

Rankings by practice area in South Korea

17 practice areas · read from the publishers’ tables

Each publisher’s placement as it stands on the publisher’s own table, side by side. The practice areas are grouped under one name where publishers word them differently; the publisher’s own wording is shown on hover.

Litigation and Disputes

FirmChambersThe Legal 500
Kim & ChangBand 1Band 1Band 1Tier 1
Lee & KoBand 2Band 2Band 3Tier 1
Shin & KimBand 1Band 3Band 1Tier 1
YulchonBand 1Band 3Band 3Tier 1
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLPBand 1—
Peter & KimBand 1—
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLPBand 1—
Bae, Kim & Lee LLCBand 2Band 2Band 2Tier 2
Yoon & Yang LLCBand 2Band 3Band 3Tier 2
Arnold & PorterBand 2—
Clifford ChanceBand 2—
DLA Piper LLPBand 2—
White & Case LLPBand 2—
Barun LawBand 4Tier 3
D&A LLCBand 4Band 4Band 5Tier 3
Jipyong LLCBand 3Band 5Band 4Tier 3
A&O ShearmanBand 3—
Clyde & Co LLPBand 3—
Dentons Lee—Tier 3
FreshfieldsBand 3—
Mayer Brown PK Wong Pte. Ltd.Band 3—
Paul HastingsBand 3—
Ashurst Perkins CoieBand 4—
Baker McKenzie LLPBand 4—
Sage LawBand 4—
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and AffiliatesBand 4—
Watson Farley & WilliamsBand 4—

Corporate and M&A

FirmChambersThe Legal 500
Bae, Kim & Lee LLCBand 1Tier 1
Kim & ChangBand 1Tier 1
Lee & KoBand 1Tier 1
Ropes & Gray LLPBand 1Tier 2
Shin & KimBand 1Tier 2
White & Case LLP Foreign Legal Consultant OfficeBand 1Tier 1
YulchonBand 1Tier 2
Ashurst Perkins CoieBand 3Tier 2
DLA PiperBand 2Tier 2
Simpson Thacher & BartlettBand 2Tier 4
Yoon & Yang LLCBand 2Tier 2
O'Melveny & Myers LLPBand 2—
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & AffiliatesBand 2—
Jipyong LLCBand 3Tier 3
Latham & Watkins LLPBand 3Tier 4
MilbankBand 3Tier 3
Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm—Tier 3
Baker McKenzie LLPBand 3—
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton—Tier 3
Paul HastingsBand 3—
SEUM LawBand 3—
D&A LLCBand 4—
Linklaters—Tier 4
Sage LawBand 4—

Energy, Resources and Infrastructure

FirmChambersThe Legal 500
Kim & ChangBand 1Tier 1
Lee & KoBand 1Tier 1
LinklatersBand 1Band 2Tier 1
MilbankBand 1Tier 2
Shin & KimBand 1Tier 1
A&O ShearmanBand 1—
Baker McKenzie LLPBand 1—
Ashurst Perkins CoieBand 2Tier 2
Bae, Kim & Lee LLCBand 2Tier 2
DLA PiperBand 3Band 2Tier 2
White & Case LLP Foreign Legal Consultant OfficeBand 2Tier 2
YulchonBand 2Tier 2
D&A LLCBand 3Tier 3
Latham & Watkins LLPBand 3Tier 3
Yoon & Yang LLCBand 3Tier 4
Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm—Tier 3
Watson Farley & Williams LLP Foreign Legal Consultant Office—Tier 3
Jipyong LLCBand 4Tier 4

Shipping, Aviation and Transport

FirmChambersThe Legal 500
Kim & ChangBand 1Tier 1
Lee & KoBand 2Tier 1
Stephenson HarwoodBand 1Tier 1
Reed Smith LLPBand 1—
Bae, Kim & Lee LLCBand 2Tier 2
Kwon & CoBand 3Tier 2
Watson Farley & Williams LLPBand 2Tier 2
Norton Rose FulbrightBand 2—
Sechang & Co.—Tier 2
Jipyong LLCBand 3Tier 4
Yoon & Yang LLCBand 3Tier 4
Choi & KimBand 3—
Moon & Song—Tier 3
Yulchon—Tier 3
D&A LLC—Tier 4

Arbitration

FirmChambersThe Legal 500
Kim & Chang—Tier 1
Lee & Ko—Tier 1
Peter & Kim—Tier 1
Bae, Kim & Lee LLC—Tier 2
Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm—Tier 2
Shin & Kim—Tier 2
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP—Tier 3
White & Case LLP (Foreign Legal Consultant Office)—Tier 3
Yoon & Yang LLC—Tier 3
Yulchon—Tier 3
Clifford Chance—Tier 4
Jipyong LLC—Tier 4
Mayer Brown—Tier 4

Compliance, Investigations and White-Collar

FirmChambersThe Legal 500
Kim & Chang—Tier 1
Lee & Ko—Tier 1
Bae, Kim & Lee LLC—Tier 2
Shin & Kim—Tier 2
Yulchon—Tier 2
Yoon & Yang LLC—Tier 3

Guides Written by Firms in South Korea

90 chapters

Country chapters firms contributed to the directories' comparative guides. The firm wrote it; the link goes to the host. Chapters stay with the host.

How South Korea Is Ranked

11 of 23 firms in South Korea are ranked here, ordered by a reconciliation of 6 external publishers (Benchmark Litigation, Chambers, Law.asia, Legal Times, Lexology Index, The Legal 500). Each figure is the weighted mean of the best tier every publisher gave that firm, and no firm appears without at least two independent publishers agreeing. Firms with no reconciled figure are listed below the ranked ones, alphabetically, and are not ranked.

Publishers Reconciled Here

Benchmark Litigation · Chambers · Law.asia · Legal Times · Lexology Index · The Legal 500

What This Ranking Does Not Rest On

  • 1 of 23 entries still rest on a Wikipedia category rather than the firm's own website
  • no court record feeds any firm's position — judgments are collected but not yet attributed to the firms that argued them
  • no firm has made a submission, because intake is not open
  • no peer or client review has been collected
Firms ranked
11 of 23
Verified against own site
22 of 23
Evidence coverage
30%

Ranked Firms

By reconciled consensus, then A–Z
FirmPress
Bae, Kim & Lee9
Lee & Ko—
Shin & Kim10
Kim & Chang3
Yulchon—
Peter & Kim2
Jipyong—
Yoon & Yang6
D&A LLC—
Dentons Lee1
Barun Law5
Cha & Kim—
Choi & Kim—
Daeryun Law—
HMP Law—
Hwawoo Law—
LIN—
Law Firm Seowoo—
Lee International IP & Law—
Logos Law—
SEUM Law—
Yoon & Lee—
Yoon & Partners—

Every firm above is a real entity with a source recorded against it. Inclusion is not an endorsement. Firms recognised by at least two independent publishers are listed first; the rest follow alphabetically. Founding years are shown only where a source states one.

Bar associations, in-house counsel bodies and arbitral institutions, by market · 86

Korean Bar Association대한변호사협회Korea In-house Counsel Association한국사내변호사회Japan Federation of Bar Associations logoJapan Federation of Bar AssociationsJapan In-house Lawyers Association logoJapan In-house Lawyers AssociationAll China Lawyers Association logoAll China Lawyers AssociationLaw Society of Hong Kong logoLaw Society of Hong KongHong Kong Corporate Counsel AssociationTaiwan Bar Association logoTaiwan Bar AssociationLaw Society of SingaporeSingapore Corporate Counsel AssociationBar Council of IndiaIndian Corporate Counsel AssociationLaw Society of England and WalesBar Council of England and WalesAmerican Bar AssociationAssociation of Corporate CounselCanadian Bar Association logoCanadian Bar AssociationCanadian Corporate Counsel AssociationLaw Council of Australia logoLaw Council of AustraliaBundesrechtsanwaltskammer logoBundesrechtsanwaltskammerBundesverband der UnternehmensjuristenBUJConseil national des barreaux logoConseil national des barreauxAssociation Française des Juristes d'Entreprise logoAssociation Française des Juristes d'EntrepriseOrdem dos Advogados do BrasilOABLaw Society of South Africa logoLaw Society of South AfricaNigerian Bar Association logoNigerian Bar AssociationIstanbul Bar Association logoIstanbul Bar AssociationIsrael Bar Associationלשכת עורכי הדיןKorean Commercial Arbitration Board대한상사중재원Japan Commercial Arbitration Association日本商事仲裁協会China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission logoChina International Economic and Trade Arbitration CommissionHong Kong International Arbitration Centre香港國際仲裁中心Singapore International Arbitration CentreAsian International Arbitration Centre logoAsian International Arbitration CentreThai Arbitration InstituteสถาบันอนุญาโตตุลาการVietnam International Arbitration Centre logoVietnam International Arbitration CentreIndonesian National Board of Arbitration logoIndonesian National Board of ArbitrationPhilippine Dispute Resolution Center logoPhilippine Dispute Resolution CenterMumbai Centre for International Arbitration logoMumbai Centre for International ArbitrationChinese Arbitration Association, Taipei logoChinese Arbitration Association, TaipeiLondon Court of International ArbitrationICC International Court of Arbitration logoICC International Court of ArbitrationGerman Arbitration InstituteDeutsche Institution für SchiedsgerichtsbarkeitSwiss Arbitration Centre logoSwiss Arbitration CentreNetherlands Arbitration Institute logoNetherlands Arbitration InstituteMilan Chamber of Arbitration logoMilan Chamber of ArbitrationMadrid International Arbitration CenterCentro Internacional de Arbitraje de MadridArbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce logoArbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of CommerceIstanbul Arbitration Centreİstanbul Tahkim MerkeziDubai International Arbitration Centre logoDubai International Arbitration CentreSaudi Center for Commercial Arbitration logoSaudi Center for Commercial ArbitrationIsraeli Institute of Commercial Arbitrationהמוסד הישראלי לבוררות עסקיתLagos Court of ArbitrationArbitration Foundation of Southern Africa logoArbitration Foundation of Southern AfricaAmerican Arbitration Association, ICDR logoAmerican Arbitration Association, ICDRADR Institute of CanadaInstitut d'arbitrage et de médiation du CanadaCentro de Arbitraje de México logoCentro de Arbitraje de MéxicoCAM-CCBCCentro de Arbitragem e Mediação da Câmara de Comércio Brasil-CanadáAustralian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration logoAustralian Centre for International Commercial ArbitrationInternational Centre for Settlement of Investment DisputesPermanent Court of ArbitrationCour permanente d'arbitrageIntegrated Bar of the PhilippinesMalaysian BarMajlis Peguam MalaysiaLawyers Council of Thailand logoLawyers Council of ThailandVietnam Bar FederationLiên đoàn Luật sư Việt NamIndonesian Advocates Association logoIndonesian Advocates AssociationMacau Lawyers Association澳門律師公會Law Society of IrelandDlí-Chumann na hÉireannGerman Bar AssociationDeutscher AnwaltvereinParis Bar logoParis BarConsiglio Nazionale ForenseConsejo General de la Abogacía EspañolaNetherlands Bar logoNetherlands BarSwiss Bar AssociationSchweizerischer AnwaltsverbandSwedish Bar Association logoSwedish Bar AssociationUnion of Turkish Bar AssociationsTürkiye Barolar BirliğiFederal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation logoFederal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian FederationDubai Legal Affairs Department logoDubai Legal Affairs DepartmentSaudi Bar Associationالهيئة السعودية للمحامينLegal Practice Council of South AfricaBarra Mexicana, Colegio de Abogados logoBarra Mexicana, Colegio de AbogadosColegio Público de la Abogacía de la Capital FederalInternational Bar Association logoInternational Bar AssociationLAWASIA logoLAWASIAUnion Internationale des Avocats logoUnion Internationale des AvocatsInter-Pacific Bar Association logoInter-Pacific Bar Association