Recently, there have been several notable cases in which Yulchon LLC has been appointed to take over cases previously handled by Kim & Chang, the largest law firm in Korea. In particular, as high-profile cases have shifted from Kim & Chang to Yulchon, there has even been speculation that the two firms may be in some sort of close relationship. It is common for companies to appoint major law firms such as Kim & Chang, Kwangjang, Bae, Kim & Lee, Shin & Kim, Yulchon, and HwaWoo as representatives in large-scale cases such as management disputes. Analysts suggest that Yulchon has strategically filled the vacancies left by Kim & Chang in cases where there were no conflict of interest issues.
Among recent cases involving a change of legal representation, the most high-profile was the management dispute involving Korea Zinc. In February, ahead of a provisional injunction to suspend the effect of a resolution at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, Korea Zinc, which is in a management dispute with the Youngpoong-MBK Partners alliance, changed its legal team from Kim & Chang to Yulchon. Attorney Ko Changhyun (age 60, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 19), who had been in charge of advisory and litigation for Korea Zinc at Kim & Chang, left the firm and joined Yulchon, continuing to represent Korea Zinc. Yulchon led Korea Zinc to victory in the provisional injunction case and has been handling several related cases simultaneously, reportedly earning billions of won in fees to date. The Youngpoong-MBK alliance, dissatisfied with the outcome of the injunction, filed an appeal and additionally appointed Law Firm YK as their representative.
The so-called "color lens war" is another similar case. Kim & Chang had been representing Wink Company, which operates a color lens reservation app service, in a criminal complaint case. However, Kim & Chang withdrew from the case recently due to a conflict of interest. This conflict arose because CVC Capital, a major UK-based private equity fund and a client of Kim & Chang, acquired 49% of Starvision, the operator of O-Lens, in January 2025, becoming its second-largest shareholder. Starvision had filed a complaint against Wink, claiming that Wink's in-person lens pickup service violated the Medical Technicians Act. After Kim & Chang withdrew, Yulchon and others took over the case.
The divorce case between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, is another example where legal representation shifted from Kim & Chang to Yulchon. In January 2024, just two days before the first appellate hearing in the divorce case, Chairman Chey additionally appointed lawyers from Kim & Chang as his representatives. However, after the Seoul High Court's Family Division 2 ruled in May 2024 that Chairman Chey must divide 1.38 trillion won of assets with Director Noh, Kim & Chang withdrew for the Supreme Court appeal, and Yulchon was newly appointed as the legal representative.
There have also been recent cases where Kim & Chang and Yulchon have jointly handled criminal cases. The two firms were both listed as defense counsel in the criminal trial of Hong Sungwon, former CEO of Sampyo Industries, and the Sampyo Industries corporation, who were indicted in December 2024 on charges of unfair support of affiliates (violation of the Fair Trade Act).
An attorney at a major law firm commented, "In the Korea Zinc management dispute, Bae, Kim & Lee and Shin & Kim were already representing the MBK alliance, and HwaWoo had previously represented Korea Zinc together with Kim & Chang in a provisional injunction to prohibit treasury stock acquisition. Therefore, among the six major law firms, only Yulchon and Kwangjang were left to newly join the case." He added, "Yulchon was relatively free from conflict issues compared to other firms and strategically emphasized this, which seems to have enabled them to participate in major cases as Kim & Chang's successor." He further stated, "I do not believe, as some rumors suggest, that there is a special relationship between Kim & Chang and Yulchon. For companies, changing legal representation due to conflict issues or concerns about maintaining work quality is a high-risk decision, so there are not that many cases where the representation shifts from Kim & Chang to Yulchon." A Yulchon representative also said, "We do not have a special relationship with any particular law firm. Clients choose Yulchon because of our expertise."
Hong Yoonji, Legal News Reporter
※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.
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