Bae, Kim & Lee

BKL is a leading law firm in Korea for corporate and M&A transactions. We have represented clients in matters ranging from landmark M&A deals to investments in middle market business enterprises and startup companies. With our broad understanding of corporate transactions and extensive experience covering a range of industries and sectors, we are able to provide carefully tailored legal services and advice to each client and deliver high-quality and business-focused advice.

We have handled a wide range of transactions including mergers and acquisitions, investments, business transfers, divestures and spin-offs, and have extensive experience in all types of inbound/outbound transactions. We advise clients from the beginning of a transaction to the closing and post-closing integration of the transaction by guiding them through various issues, including regulatory matters, labor and employment matters, fair trade and tax.

We draw upon attorneys from different industry practice groups, including finance, energy, environmental, pharmaceutical, medical, IT and media, to effectively serve the clients who are situated in, or are looking to make investments in, the relevant industries. We have one of the most experienced teams of transactional lawyers among Korea’s top law firms who are geared to provide individualized services to clients and can advise and structure transactions in the most efficient and effective manner.

Our M&A Group ranks Tier 1 on Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and Asia Legal Business and has been recognized by clients across industries for having the expertise and ability to assist the clients in complex transactions seamlessly and efficiently.

Established in 1980, BKL is a leading full-service law firm in Korea. At the core of our practice is our commitment to client service, and we assemble experts of the highest caliber to provide each client with quality legal services.
Our experts work together in close collaboration to anticipate client needs and deliver practical solutions that enable our clients to focus on running their businesses.

As one of the largest law firms in Korea, BKL is comprised of approximately 800 professionals, including lawyers qualified in Korea and foreign jurisdictions, accountants, patent attorneys and other qualified specialists and advisors.
Our clients have access to our expertise across a full range of practice areas, including corporate/M&A, foreign investment, finance, fair trade and competition, regulatory, labor and employment, tax, intellectual property, real estate and construction, criminal matters, litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration.

Established in 1980, BKL is a leading full-service law firm in Korea. At the core of our practice is our commitment to client service, and we assemble experts of the highest caliber to provide each client with quality legal services.
Our experts work together in close collaboration to anticipate client needs and deliver practical solutions that enable our clients to focus on running their businesses.

As one of the largest law firms in Korea, BKL is comprised of approximately 800 professionals, including lawyers qualified in Korea and foreign jurisdictions, accountants, patent attorneys and other qualified specialists and advisors.
Our clients have access to our expertise across a full range of practice areas, including corporate/M&A, foreign investment, finance, fair trade and competition, regulatory, labor and employment, tax, intellectual property, real estate and construction, criminal matters, litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration.

With vast expertise and experience in IP disputes, both within Korea and globally, BKL IP Group achieves superior outcomes for our clients in Korean domestic IP disputes, as well as in legal proceedings and transactions involving foreign jurisdictions and legal issues. Our competitiveness in the global arena has been well recognized by prominent industry awards given by both domestic and foreign media and is attested by the clients that we represent.

BKL IP Group consists of over 80 professionals, bringing together Korean attorneys, foreign-qualified attorneys, patent attorneys, and other professionals with diverse backgrounds and experience, including with the Supreme Court, the Patent Court and the Korean IPTAB. With an outstanding level of knowledge in critical technical fields, BKL IP Group deploys with our clients at the forefront of IP disputes and advisory issues, both domestic and foreign.

One Stop Service

BKL IP Group is comprised of both the IP Litigation/Transaction Practice Group of Bae, Kim & Lee LLC and the IP Prosecution Practice Group of BKL IP, our patent prosecution firm of patent attorneys. The synergies created between the two teams allow BKL IP Group to provide clients with a one stop service ranging from IP rights applications, prosecution, invalidity and confirmation trials at the KIPO, to representation in criminal and civil litigation proceedings.

BKL advises leading global and domestic insurers and reinsurers on complex insurance transactions, disputes, governance, licensing and investigations by regulatory authorities in Korea. We work with clients across the world on transactions, governance and contentious issues. 

Our clients benefit from our sector expertise and collaboration between attorneys and other professionals with practical experience in insurance regulation, product development, accounting and insurance policy. 

We are committed to a thorough understanding of our clients’ businesses and developments in the industry. As well as major global and domestic insurers and reinsurers, we serve insurance federations, insurance development institutes and associations of insurance agents of Korea.  

In addition to advising private insurance businesses, BKL’s expertise extends to trade insurance provided by Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Korea Post’s postal savings insurance and other mutual-aid projects. We have close working relationships with Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service and provide advice on interpretation of regulations affecting the industry as well as research and policy consultations.

The Labor and Employment Practice Group prides itself on offering commercial, practical solutions to the issues that our clients face, founded on a thorough understanding of our clients’ businesses, the regulatory framework and the practices of regulatory authorities. Serving both domestic and international clients in a broad range of labor and employment issues, the Labor and Employment Practice Group has consistently received the highest recognition within both domestic and global legal markets.

Our Professionals

BKL brings together an exceptionally qualified group of labor specialists with experience from a diverse range of backgrounds, numbering Korean and foreign-qualified lawyers, former judges, certified labor consultants, and former Ministry of Employment and Labor officials.

Our Expertise

BKL has on many occasions negotiated or litigated successful outcomes in contentious cases, representing major domestic and multinational corporations. We have also accumulated rare experience in achieving successful outcomes in the Supreme Court of Korea. Our clients appreciate BKL’s practical advice and guidance on issues such as corporate workforce restructuring, drafting and reviewing compliant employment policies, collective bargaining, union disputes, regulatory investigations and safety and health violations. BKL’s high caliber of representation and advisory work is reflected in its consistent placement as one of the top labor and employment practices by major legal publications, including Chambers and Partners.

BKL, as the first law firm in Korea to launch a practice group integrating construction and real estate, boasts a rich pool of experts capable of advising on myriad transactions and issues.  BKL’s Real Estate Practice Group offers specialized advice across the comprehensive range of real estate advisory services, as well as other integral practice areas.  At the core of our real estate practice are complex domestic and global commercial real estate transactions and development projects, real estate collective investment schemes, offshore real estate investments and real estate financing.  

BKL has long advised on a complete range of inbound and outbound transactions (sales and acquisitions), investments and development projects, covering commercial, residential and greenfield developments, property including offices, retail facilities, hotels/resorts, theme parks, logistics facilities, data centers and rental housing.  Our professionals offer tailored, in-depth advice to clients in all areas of the real estate industry, including high-profile cross-border development projects - for example, the development of the Songdo International Business District in the Incheon Free Economic Zone (Gale Company and POSCO E&C), a new city in Bismayah, Iraq (Hanhwa E&C), and a new city in South Saad Al Abdullah, Kuwait (Korea Land and Housing Corporation).  

BKL has worked extensively with REITs since the enactment of the Real Estate Investment Company Act back in 2001, and has gained unsurpassed expertise and experience advising on the establishment, operation and use of REITs. Our experience includes major public offerings of REITs beginning with Shinhan Alpha REIT in 2018 and continuing on with Lotte REIT and NH Prime REIT in 2019, and Mirae Asset Maps I REIT, Koramco Energy Plus REIT and JR Global REIT in 2020.  In response to the increasing global trend toward the use of alternative investment vehicles, we offer asset management companies and securities companies comprehensive services encompassing the establishment and operation of real estate funds and REITs, the acquisition of requisite approvals and licenses and compliance with real estate and finance laws and regulations. 

From 2016 through 2020, BKL has continuously ranked first with respect to our real estate/construction practices in the annual surveys for in-house counsel conducted jointly by the In-House Counsel Forum (IHCF) and the Law Times.  BKL’s Real Estate Practice Group has also ranked top on a global level - notably, Asia Pacific Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Asian Legal Business and other media with international authority.  Recently, BKL won the Real Estate Deal of the Year category at the 2019 ALB Korea Law Awards for its Renaissance Hotel transaction, and the Most Innovative National Firm-South Korea category at the 2020 IFLR Asia Pacific Awards for the establishment and public offering/listing of Lotte REIT.  These domestic and international recognitions are testament to BKL’s consistently client-oriented services.