McDermott Will & Emery is opening a new office in South Korea, becoming one of the first western law firms to establish a base in the wake of bar liberalisation.

The Seoul-based branch will be led by In-Young Lee, currently head of the US law firm's Korea practice group, and will focus largely on outbound work.

Lee commented: "Under the model we have adopted, any work inbound to Korea will be handled in close consultation with local Korean firms, where McDermott can serve as a referral and cultural resource for our Western clients. We do not seek to provide any Korean law advice to any clients – internal or external. There is simply no need for us to seek to compete in the local marketplace."

The 1,000-lawyer firm recently hired Jay Eizenstat, former trade negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative, to help grow its Korean practice.

McDermott is the latest in a series of US firms to announce plans to launch in Seoul in the wake of a trade deal between the US and Korea, which eased the restrictions on American law firms practising locally. Other firms to announce plans to launch in the closely watched Asian market include Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Paul Hastings and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

UK law firms were already able to launch locally following the passage of a trade deal between the European Union and Korea last year, leading to a number of major City firms to draw up plans to forge local practices.

The launch will add to McDermott's international network, which includes offices in London, Brussels, Duesseldorf and Rome. The top 50 US law firm also has a strategic alliance with Shanghai-based MWE China Law Offices.

The news comes after McDermott posted rising revenues for 2011, recording a 4.7% increase to $826m (£524m), with profits per equity partner (PEP) up 2.7% to $1.5m (£950,000).

For more, see CC plans South Korea launch as legal market opens to international firms.

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