[Law Firm Now] Law Firm Sechang Maritime Team Armed with '31 Years of Expertise'

Law firm Sechang promotes its maritime team as its "flagship."

Sechang's maritime team embodies the dedication of its lead attorney, Kim Hyun (67, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 17), who served as the President of the Korean Bar Association from 2017 to 2019. After earning a Ph.D. in Maritime Law from the University of Washington in the United States and obtaining U.S. attorney qualifications, Kim returned to Korea and founded law firm Sechang in April 1992. The maritime team's achievements have been ongoing for 31 years since then.

(From the front row left, counterclockwise) Lawyers Ahn Younghwan, Kim Hyun, Kim Dongchan, Lee Kanghyun, Thomas Kim, and Joo Jintae of Sechang Law Firm Maritime Team (Photo by Sechang Law Firm)

The maritime team is directly overseen by lead attorney Kim. Attorney Ahn Young-hwan (class 29), who joined in 2000, serves as team leader, and attorney Joo Jin-tae (class 34) acts as deputy team leader. They have extensive experience in litigation and advisory work. Additionally, foreign attorney Thomas Kim, who holds bar qualifications in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, USA, and attorney Lee Kang-hyun (11th bar exam), a recent graduate of Hanyang University Law School, also work together on the team.

The maritime team has achieved remarkable results by representing numerous cases in litigation. In a case where a large crane was damaged during maritime transport and the cargo owner claimed insurance money from the cargo insurance company, the team represented the cargo insurer and successfully concluded the case favorably through mediation. Currently, they represent a Korean freight forwarder in a lawsuit between a Canadian freight forwarder and the owner of silver bars worth 10 billion KRW that were stolen en route to Canada. This lawsuit is ongoing in both Korean and Canadian courts.

Moreover, the maritime team is handling litigation on behalf of cargo insurers in cases involving hundreds of new export cars damaged by fire on a car carrier ship, and in another case where hundreds of new cars were flooded due to negligence in ballast water management during the ship's departure preparations. In a lawsuit where the government sued construction companies for damages related to collusion in the construction of Pohang Yeongilman Port, the team represented the government and secured a 7 billion KRW compensation ruling from the Supreme Court.

They also represented reinsurers in a reinsurance claim lawsuit filed by a domestic insurance company against a British reinsurer, resulting in the dismissal of the plaintiff's claim. Reinsurance is insurance purchased by insurance companies themselves. Insurers buy reinsurance to prepare for incidents requiring astronomical insurance payouts. Most reinsurance contracts are based on English law. However, in this case, the governing law of the reinsurance contract was recognized as Korean law, proving to be a meaningful ruling that could serve as a guideline for reinsurance contract disputes governed by Korean law.

Based on such expertise and capability, Sechang serves as legal counsel for Korea’s leading maritime institutions and shipping companies, including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea Shipping Association, Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation, Korea International Freight Forwarders Association, Korea Pilots Association, and KSS Shipping. The counsel position for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is the longest-held. Lead attorney Kim Hyun was also inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame selected by the Asia Pacific Legal 500. The Hall of Fame recognizes attorneys who have demonstrated outstanding ability for over eight years in their respective fields. In 2022, Kim published the 6th edition of "Maritime Law Theory."