Last fall international law firms responded to the long-awaited opening of the Korean legal market by stampeding through the door. At this writing, some 20 U.S. or U.K. firms have opened or have announced plans to open Seoul offices, and still more are expected. Most of those offices are quite small, with one or two partners and a handful of associates.
Yet one firm in Seoul already has more than 100 U.S.–qualified lawyers on the ground, and a few more have at least 30. These particular firms haven’t taken some kind of powerful steroids. Their growth, while impressive, has been relatively steady. In fact, the Korean market has been open to them for quite some time.
