Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has announced it is to open an office in the South Korean capital, Seoul, in the first half of 2012. The announcement potentially puts the New York firm among the first wave of foreign firms to enter the country’s legal market, which had been closed to them prior to the passage of a free trade agreement.
The new office will be headed by partner Yong Guk Lee and will initially be staffed with counsel Jay Hoon Choi and up to five associates drawn from the firm’s 17-lawyer Korea team in Hong Kong. Lee says the firm plans to move “the bulk” of its Korea practice to Seoul with the next two to four years. “If there’s demand for more lawyers, we’ll go at a higher pace,” he adds.
