First joint law office with overseas firm to open in Korea

The first South Korea-overseas joint law firm is set to start operations in Seoul.

The joint firm of Korean law firm Hwahyun and UK’s Ashurst has achieved regulatory approval for its establishment, the Ministry of Law said on Tuesday. The two firms will jointly hold shares in the new entity, called Ashurst Hwahyun.

Based in Seoul, Hwahyun is specialized in corporate, intellectual property and international arbitration. Ashurst, headquartered in London, has expertise in corporate, finance and restructuring, real estate and strategic advisory.

It is the first joint law firm since the Korean government opened the country’s law services market to some of its free trade agreement (FTA) partner countries in August 2016.

Under the regulations in Korea, a Korea-foreign law office should meet requirements for registration such as having more than three years' track record; each investor firm employing at least one lawyer with more than three years in practice; hiring five or more advisory firms on foreign law; limiting the foreign law firm counterpart’s shareholding rate to 49%; and completing a contract for the establishment of the joint law office.

A joint law office, based in Korea, can employ local lawyers as well as provide services related to Korean law.

However, Korean-foreign law offices cannot offer some legal services such as litigation, notarization and work related to the Korean government, labor, intellectual property and official registration of entities, real estate and others.

The first Korean-foreign law office will spur competition in the local legal services market and enhance the service quality competitive edge, a law ministry official said.

Write to Jin-Seong Kim and Hanjong Choi at jskim1028@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.