“Foreign Companies Rank KIM & CHANG, YULCHON, BKL, and Lee & Ko as Top Law Firms”
After Publication
In the '2025 Korea Law Firm Consumer Report,' 47 foreign-invested companies-including Nike, Pfizer, BMW, and Amazon-took part in the evaluation for the first time, making it possible to see which firms they are most interested in and entrust work to. By number of responses, the 47 foreign companies most preferred and most often entrusted work to KIM & CHANG. Of the roughly 100 foreign-company in-house counsel who took part, 35 evaluated KIM & CHANG. Holding the standing of 'Korea's largest and best firm,' KIM & CHANG enjoys high recognition abroad as well. The second-largest number of responses went to YULCHON (20), followed by BAE, KIM & LEE (16), SHIN & KIM (10), YOON & YANG (7), and Lee & Ko and JIPYONG (5 each).
KIM & CHANG No. 1 in Legal Skills and Expertise
Among the four firms that received 10 or more responses, KIM & CHANG earned the best rating for legal skills and expertise, at 4.68. It was followed by YULCHON (4.40), SHIN & KIM (4.30), and BAE, KIM & LEE (4.19). For satisfaction with outcomes, YULCHON received the best rating among the four firms at 4.32, with KIM & CHANG just behind at 4.30, and SHIN & KIM and BAE, KIM & LEE at 4.10 and 4.07 respectively. On re-engagement and recommendation, YULCHON was again highest at 4.42, followed by KIM & CHANG (4.27), BAE, KIM & LEE (3.93), and SHIN & KIM (3.80).
YOON & YANG, Lee & Ko, and JIPYONG, which received between five and 10 responses, also posted solid ratings across the capabilities assessment. For legal skills and expertise, JIPYONG scored 4.60, YOON & YANG 4.29, and Lee & Ko 4.20. They fared well on satisfaction with outcomes, too: YOON & YANG and JIPYONG scored 4.50 and Lee & Ko 4.40. On re-engagement and recommendation, all three exceeded 4.00-YOON & YANG 4.43, Lee & Ko 4.40, and JIPYONG 4.20.
YULCHON No. 1 in M&A
In the practice-area assessment, the areas in which a single firm received 10 or more responses were M&A, corporate governance, tax, antitrust and competition, labor and employment, data privacy, IT & TMT, and administrative litigation. These can be seen as the main areas in which foreign companies chiefly use Korean law firms' services. The firm with the most responses in each of these areas was KIM & CHANG, which earned the highest ratings in corporate governance (4.40), IT & TMT (4.17), and administrative litigation (4.20).
YULCHON also drew strong reviews from foreign-company in-house counsel, recording the top rating in each of the following: M&A (4.25), tax (4.60), antitrust and competition (4.40), labor and employment (4.33), and data privacy (4.50). SHIN & KIM, which received the next-most responses, earned marks such as M&A (4.20) and tax (4.50).
Lee & Ko, BAE, KIM & LEE, YOON & YANG, and JIPYONG did not receive many responses in the practice-area assessment, but their ratings were strong. Lee & Ko received two responses in M&A, with a perfect 5.00. In antitrust and competition, JIPYONG received two responses and a perfect 5.00, while YOON & YANG received three responses and scored 4.67. In data privacy, JIPYONG received two responses and scored a perfect 5.00.
'Best Lawyer' Hyeong-joo Lim
The 'Best Lawyer' chosen by foreign-company in-house counsel was Hyeong-joo Lim of YULCHON (46, Judicial Research and Training Institute, 35th Class). Mr. Lim topped the vote with four votes. Seong Mun of YULCHON (46, 38th Class) and Yoon-joh Lee of KIM & CHANG (50, 33rd Class) followed with three votes each. Mr. Lim and Mr. Mun were also named 'Best Lawyers' by the full pool of in-house counsel: Mr. Mun received 32 votes to be named 'Best of the Best,' and Mr. Lim ranked fourth overall with 27 votes.
Next came Yong-woo Shin of JIPYONG (50, National Bar Examination, 1st), Young-su Nam of SHIN & KIM (41, 1st), Joo-yup Chae of YULCHON (54, 33rd Class), and Irene Y. Kim, a foreign attorney at YOON & YANG, each with two votes. In addition, 55 lawyers received one vote each.
The firm that produced the most 'Best Lawyers' chosen by foreign-company in-house counsel was KIM & CHANG (24). It was followed by YULCHON (12); BAE, KIM & LEE and SHIN & KIM (6 each); Lee & Ko (5); YOON & YANG (3); JIPYONG (2); and Peter & Kim, Sunyul, Jung Jin, and KL Partners (1 each).
For 'Best Law Firm,' KIM & CHANG took the most votes with 25, followed by YULCHON (15), BAE, KIM & LEE (7), Lee & Ko (6), SHIN & KIM (4), and YOON & YANG (2)-underscoring the standing of the six major firms.
Among the 'Disappointing Law Firms' chosen by foreign-company in-house counsel, KIM & CHANG, YULCHON, and SHIN & KIM each received two votes; no firm received more than two. BAE, KIM & LEE, YOON & YANG, and Lee & Ko each received one. As for 'Disappointing Lawyers,' two were from SHIN & KIM and one each from Lee & Ko and YOON & YANG; no firm had three or more.
Park Soo-Yeon, Reporter
Han Soo-hyun, Reporter