SHIN & KIM LLC ("SHIN & KIM"; Managing Partner Jong-han Oh) is strengthening its International Dispute Resolution Group (“IDR Group”) by newly hiring Robert Wachter, a US-licensed lawyer, and Sean (Sung-woo) Lim, a member of the Korean bar (Judicial Research and Training Institute, Class 18) from the international arbitration team at Lee & Ko.

With the increasing number of cross-border legal disputes in various sectors, such as cross-border M&A, finance, construction, oil & gas, and energy due to globally high interest rates and geopolitical risks, SHIN & KIM is expanding its international arbitration practice.

Robert Wachter, who is to serve as the Co-head of the IDR Group, jointly with Young Suk Park (Judicial Research and Training Institute, Class 34), is well known as an international arbitration practitioner.  He served as the co-head of the international arbitration team at Lee & Ko for about 10 years, and has served as counsel and arbitrator, in more than 100 international arbitration proceedings administered by institutions such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB), and the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC).  He has also been selected as a leading individual by well-known ranking and research firms of domestic and international law firms, such as Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal.

Sean (Sung-woo) Lim, who also served as the co-head with Robert at Lee & Ko, is also highly praised as an international dispute resolution practitioner who successfully resolves various international arbitration and international litigation cases on behalf of leading organizations around the world.  Sean has carried out hundreds of large-scale international disputes in various industry sectors and has been selected as the first standing member of the SIAC Court as the only domestic international arbitration expert, engaging in various international activities.  Sean is expected to greatly contribute to the training of upcoming generations of arbitration practitioners by joining the IDR Group of SHIN & KIM.

Meanwhile, Young Suk Park, who joined SHIN & KIM last September is playing a pivotal role as the Head of the IDR Group.  Young, who has been dedicated to international disputes and international litigation in various jurisdictions for over 19 years at law firms, such as Kim & Chang and KL Partners, has gained an unrivaled reputation.  He not only provides the highest level of advice in the field of international arbitration, but also serves as an arbitrator of the KCAB and is one of the Vice Chairs of the Korean Council for International Arbitration (KOCIA).

SHIN & KIM also recruited Brandon (Hyung-sik) Bang from BAE, KIM & LEE LLC in March to reinforce its practice.  Brandon, who has been engaged in international arbitration since in Singapore for about 10 years, has accumulated expertise in the fields of international construction projects, shipbuilding, and post M&A, and is one of the Korean representatives of Young SIAC (YSIAC Council), working on the development of arbitration practices and training of staff.

Jong-han Oh, Managing Partner of SHIN & KIM, comments that “the fact that international arbitration experts, who are well-known domestically and internationally, are gathering at SHIN & KIM is evidence of our IDR Group’s stellar capabilities” and “we will proactively provide clients with even further discerning services in the increasingly complex area of international arbitration disputes.”

SHIN & KIM was selected as one of the world's top 100 international arbitration firms from 2008 to 2023 by GAR100, a prominent international arbitration ranking institute.  It has also won the arbitration award at the 6th Korean Legal Award in 2023 by successfully defending a KRW 1.8 trillion claim in an arbitration administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, representing domestic financial institutions with respect to violations of investment trust arrangements.