Kwon & Co

Law Offices Kwon & Co. (“Kwon & Co.”) was established by attorney Tae Il Kwon who had been practicing maritime law for almost 20 years and was the joint partner of Law Offices Kwon & Moon from 2006 to 2016 after the dissolvement of Kwon & Moon. With his main focus on maintaining the level of professionalism his previous law firm provided, Tae Il Kwon has organized a team with five associates who are playing a pivotal role at Kwon & Co. by assisting him with various maritime cases.

His five associates are not only well-experienced with exceptional work-ethics but also fluent in English from their foreign academic backgrounds: his senior associate, Suyeon Jung, who started her career at Kwon & Moon and later joined Kwon & Co., has been working as a maritime lawyer for several years and is handling most of the major cases with Tae Il Kwon at Kwon & Co.

His other associates, Jaeho Cho, is a former chief officer of LNG Carrier who graduated from Korea Maritime University and worked at Hyundai Merchant Marine, Evangeline(Ji Young) Bang who joined Kwon & Co. in March 2019, has vast experience with Korean civil law procedures from her previous firm, Juhyun Kim, who joined Kwon & Co. in October 2019, worked as the editor-in-chief of Ewha Law School Law Review and Jeremy(Do Gyun) Kim had interned at three maritime law firms including the marine trade team of Stephenson Harwood LLP London  and Stephenson Harwood LLP's Seoul.

Referring to general cargo claims, Kwon & Co. covers every sort of issue, including, but not limited to, cargo misdelivery, fire and wet damage to the cargoes, shortage claim, improper temperature of reefer containers, improper packaging or lashing of flat rack containers, acting for domestic shipping companies such as Hyundai Merchant Marine, SK Shipping, EUKOR Car Carriers, Pan Ocean and Sinokor Merchant Marine, and P&I clubs such as North of England P&I, Steamship Mutual P&I, Britannia P&I, Standard Club, Swedish Club, Gard P&I and London P&I.

Concerning wet maritime issues of collision and grounding of the vessel, members of Kwon & Co. have shown that they are more than capable of collision cases, not only handling damage claims arising from ship collision but also criminal and maritime tribunal cases occurring simultaneously, involving P&I clubs such as Gard P&I, Swedish Club and Steamship Mutual P&I, and H&M underwriters like Hyundai Marine & Fire. Kwon & Co. is also acting for EUKOR Car Carriers in relation to the fire which occurred on board a time-chartered car carrier M.V. “Platinum Ray” on 22 May 2019 where the shipper was Hyundai Motors.

For Kwon & Co., 2021 was highlighted by three major cases: (i) representing Sinokor Petrochemical Co., Ltd. in a lawsuit against Chugoku Marine Paints Ltd(“CMP”) regarding CMP’s supply of defective paint coating work which damaged the hold tanks of Sinokor Petrochemical vessels, (ii) representing Owners of M.V. “YN Busan” in a crew claim case in which the injured crew demanded US$4,357,984.93. Kwon & Co. successfully defended the case and reached settlement at US$197,132.62 which is less than 5% of the original claim amount, (iii) and lastly,  representing Sinokor Merchant Marine in a lawsuit against the shipper to claim the demurrage and storage costs. The shippers filed a counter-claim and the case is pending at Seoul Central District Court.

Kwon & Co. also has vast experience in crew death and injury issues, providing legal advice for crew injuries under the Korean Seafarers Act, seeking amicable resolution of the case but ultimately protecting the interests of the clients which include Hyudai Glovis, HMM, Sinokor Merchant Marine, SK Shipping, Shinsung Shipping and Korea Shipping Association, and P&I clubs such as Standard Club, Steamship Mutual P&I and North of England P&I.

Kwon & Co. is also actively engaging in rehabilitation/bankruptcy cases of shipping companies such as Hanjin Shipping, Pan Ocean, Korea Line and Daebo International Shipping to protect the interest of the creditors who are mainly foreign ship owners. The cases deal with mostly time charter or voyage charter disputes where Kwon & Co. achieved very good outcomes through its extensive knowledge and experience in both Korean rehabilitation procedure as well as English law, which usually is the governing law of the charterparty.

Kwon & Co. had also become an adviser to SK Shipping, which is one of the largest shipping companies in Korea, and was also an adviser  to T.S. Lines, one of the largest shipping companies in Taiwan, from 2018 to 2021.