Sheppard Mullin Strengthens Seoul Office With Leading Corporate Partner Paul Kim
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that partner Paul J. Kim has joined the firm’s Corporate & Securities Group in Seoul, South Korea. He was most recently a partner at McDermott Will & Emery in its Seoul and New York offices, where he led that firm’s Seoul office until its closure earlier this month. With Kim’s addition, Sheppard Mullin will have seven lawyers in Seoul, including four partners. Kim’s joining follows that of Albert Joon-Ho Tae who recently joined the firm’s Seoul office from Skadden Arps as a Special Counsel in the Litigation Group.
“Our Seoul office and our overall Korea Practice are thriving and busy,” said Seth Kim, head of Sheppard Mullin’s Seoul office. “Paul is a great fit for us as he complements our existing capital markets and finance capabilities extremely well. His private equity practice is especially interesting as it strategically connects with our growing private equity practice in the U.S. so that we now have outstanding private equity capabilities in both the U.S. and in Korea.”
Commenting on Paul’s addition, Jon Newby, Sheppard Mullin’s Vice Chairman, said, “As a leading foreign law firm in Seoul, we want to continue to expand our services for clients in Korea. Having someone with the stature and reputation of Paul join us is a testament to our exceptional Seoul office and our broader Korea capabilities.”
Kim advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, general corporate matters, private equity, venture capital, securities, and restructurings. He has more than 20 years of experience representing a diverse range of clients operating in numerous industries and in many countries. His clients include private equity funds and investment managers, industrial and manufacturing companies, pharmaceutical and biotech companies and commercial banks and other financial institutions. Kim has particularly broad experience representing Asian, European and US clients in complex, multi-jurisdictional transactions, restructurings and other matters, and has been recognized by Chambers Global, Chambers Asia Pacific, The Legal 500 United States and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. He is admitted in New York and as a Foreign Legal Consultant for US Law (New York Lawyer) in the Republic of Korea. He obtained his A.B. from the University of Chicago in Economics and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Sheppard Mullin was the first foreign law firm to open a permanent office in Seoul (2012) and is currently the fifth largest foreign law firm in Seoul. The firm’s Korea Practice, which includes lawyers from various offices, has more than 40 lawyers (including 29 partners) and serves clients such as Samsung, Doosan and Hyundai. Sheppard Mullin is also one of the only US law firms to have a blog focused on Korea, U.S. Legal Insights for Korean Businesses.