Ropes & Gray to open office in Seoul
US-headquartered law firm Ropes & Gray has announced that it will open an office in Korea. The firm has become the first foreign practice to gain permission from Korea’s Ministry of Justice to establish a presence in the country.
Ropes & Gray has applied to the Korean Bar Association for registration, which remains the final hurdle before the firm can open its office in Seoul. Last month, William Yongkyun Kim, the Ropes & Gray partner who will lead the office, became the first foreign legal consultant to be registered by the bar association.
"We are honored to receive this endorsement from the Ministry of Justice and look forward to serving our clients with their US law issues," said Kim. "The fact that we are the first firm to be honored with this designation reflects the seriousness of our intent to expand our presence in Korea as soon as it was possible to do so."
In Seoul, Ropes & Gray will focus on corporate transactions, intellectual property, complex business litigation and arbitration, and US government regulatory issues. Under Korea's regulations governing international law firms, the firm will only be able to practice US law.
This news comes after Ropes & Gray appointed two partners in Hong Kong last month, and announced plans to double its number of Asia-based partners by the end of 2012.
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