Western Law Firms Get Approval for South Korea Offices

[WSJ Law Blog]

Two U.S. firms, Ropes & Gray and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, became and first and second respectively to receive approval Monday to set-up Korean practices.



South Korean activists wave flags of the United States and South Korea to celebrate the free trade agreement in March.

Western firms’ entry into South Korea will be incremental. At first, they will only be allowed to advise clients on the law of their home jurisdictions, as well as international arbitration. Two years from now, they will be able to team up with Korean law firms to advise on cases together, and three years from then, they will be allowed to hire local lawyers or merge with South Korean law firms.

Over a dozen U.S. law firms have applied to open in South Korea, including Clearly, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Paul Hastings, Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett, McDermott Will & Emery and Covington & Burling.

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