White & Case Hires Herbert Smith Freehills' Seoul Office Managing Partner
Dongho Lee joins as the third partner in the office for the U.S. firm following a three-partner exodus in 2019.
April 07, 2020 at 12:26 PM
2 minute read
White & Case has hired a mergers and acquisitions partner in Seoul, South Korea.
Dongho Lee joins from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was managing partner of the Seoul office. Lee, who is U.S.-qualified, represents global and Korean companies on cross-border mergers and acquisitions transactions and private equity investments. In 2016, Lee advised Korea's YG Entertainment on an $85 million investment by a Chinese consortium led by technology giant Tencent Holding Ltd.
Lee joined Herbert Smith Freehills in 2014 from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and became a partner in 2016. Earlier in his career, he practiced with Paul Hastings.
"The cross-border M&A market involving Korean entities has been active," said Baldwin Cheng, White & Case's Asia Pacific head of corporate finance and restructuring, adding that Lee, a Korean native, will help the firm advise Korean investors looking for opportunities overseas in the current low-interest-rate environment.
Last year, White & Case lost Seoul partner and private equity specialist Kyungseok Kim, who joined Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer alongside former partners James Lee and Jun Hee Kim. The trio, led by James Lee, who previously headed White & Case's Seoul office, launched a new office in Seoul for Arnold & Porter.
In November, White & Case added of counsel and corporate lawyer Won Sun Jung in Seoul. The firm now has three partners in the office. In addition to Dongho Lee, finance partner Ji Hoon Hong is also based in Seoul and serves as office executive partner, and projects partner Mark Goodrich splits his time between London and Seoul.
At Herbert Smith Freehills, disputes partner Mike McClure has taken over as Seoul office head. Seoul-based of counsel Charles Kim and senior associate Ken Nam now lead the office's corporate practice. Nam also serves as the office representative.
A spokesperson said the firm remains committed to its presence in South Korea and that its market focus in corporate, energy, oil and gas, investment funds and disputes remains unchanged.
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