Who has the most U.S. lawyers in Seoul? It's not one of the nearly 20 big-name American firms that have been launching Korea offices since the legal market liberalized last year. It's top local firm Kim & Chang, a full-service firm that has 120 U.S.–qualified foreign lawyers, about a fifth of its professional staff.
Other large Korean firms now boast a similar proportion of foreign lawyers, but it was Kim & Chang founder Young Moo Kim who spearheaded Korea's unique foreign lawyer subculture. While a student at the University of Chicago and Harvard Law School in the 1960s, Kim observed that American lawyers were trained to address their clients' needs and solve their problems, but Korean lawyers tended to see themselves more as impartial lawgivers. Kim was determined to bring the U.S. approach to Korea, and foreign lawyers were a part of Kim & Chang almost from its founding in 1973.
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