CC plans South Korea launch as legal market opens to international firms
Clifford Chance (CC) looks set to become the first leading City firm to open an office in South Korea, with the firm planning to launch after the country's legal market is opened up to foreign law firms this summer. The firm is one of a number of the UK top 10 looking at the region in the wake of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Europe and South Korea that was approved by the European Parliament last month (17 February).
March 23, 2011 at 08:03 PM
4 minute read
Recently-signed free trade agreement entices firms to fourth-largest economy in Asia
Clifford Chance (CC) looks set to become the first leading City firm to open an office in South Korea, with the firm planning to launch after the country's legal market is opened up to foreign law firms this summer.
The firm is one of a number of the UK top 10 looking at the region in the wake of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Europe and South Korea that was approved by the European Parliament last month (17 February).
The long-awaited agreement, initially signed at the EU-South Korea summit in Brussels in October last year, sets out a timescale for foreign law firms to open in the market, with international firms to be able to open representative offices from July, once the agreement is ratified.
CC confirmed that it is planning to open in the country, Asia's fourth-largest economy, once the market is liberalised, with other firms including DLA Piper and Allen & Overy (A&O) in earlier stages of evaluating the market.
CC Asia head Peter Charlton (pictured) said: "We have ambitious plans for growth in Asia and Korea is an important part of that strategy. We welcome the recent legal liberalisation and are working towards having a suitable presence in the country at the first available opportunity."
Under the terms of the FTA and legislation set out by the South Korean Government, liberalisation is set to happen over three stages.
From July, EU-based law firms will be able to open representative offices in South Korea to advise on non-Korean law. By July 2013 firms will have the right to enter into co-operative agreements with Korean firms and advise on legal issues involving a mixture of domestic and foreign law. By July 2016, EU firms will be able to invest in local firms and hire Korean lawyers.
A&O Asia managing partner Thomas Brown said: "Korea is a very important market in Asia and we are looking at it very seriously, but we haven't made a decision either way as yet.
"We already have a very healthy South Korea practice and any presence on the ground would help us build on what we already do – especially as we won't be able to practise local law. So our focus would remain on the international law elements of deals involving South Korea."
Other firms exploring the market include DLA Piper, where Asia managing director Alastair Da Costa said: "We are very interested in the market, having a thriving Korea practice with lawyers in Tokyo, Hong Kong, London and the US. Korea fits as a geography with our strategic framework and we are keen to explore what we can do to strengthen our position in that market."
Firms ruling out entering the market in the near-term include Ashurst, Eversheds, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Freshfields Asia managing partner Robert Ashworth said: "There are increasing signs of cross-border activity and a renewed confidence of Korean corporates to pursue overseas projects work and acquisitions. The long-awaited liberalisation of the legal market will facilitate this process and I would not be surprised to see law firms from the EU taking advantage of the FTA to open offices. We are continuing to develop our successful offshore Korean practice but I do not anticipate our having a formal presence in Korea in the near term."
The US signed an FTA with South Korea in June 2007 that so far has yet to be ratified by either government, with several US firms looking at the region in anticipation of the FTA's ratification.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllHSF Hires Trio for Luxembourg Launch, Builds Private Capital Practice
LexisNexis Responds to Canadian Professor’s Criticism of Lexis+ AI
CMS Targets Mauritian Investment Market with Local Boutique Partnership
3 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250