Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Bolsters Arbitration Team with David Kim Hire

Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Bolsters Arbitration Team with David Kim Hire

Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm announced the appointment of renowned arbitration expert David Kim as a partner, further consolidating the JV's position as Korea's largest international law firm by partner count. Kim joins the JV from Lee & Ko, where he spearheaded the firm's International Construction Dispute Resolution Practice Group.

Kim is a highly esteemed figure within the international arbitration community, having served as counsel in numerous arbitration cases at leading arbitral institutions such as the International Court of Arbitration, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, London Court of International Arbitration, and ad-hoc arbitrations conducted under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law rules.

Kim has extensive experience representing multinational corporations, government entities, defence contractors, and high-profile individuals in a wide spectrum of commercial disputes, including construction, shipping, military contracts, energy and natural resources, telecommunications, intellectual property, and investor-state matters. His expertise is recognised by prestigious legal directories like Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific Guide and Legal 500 Asia Pacific, where he is listed as a 'Litigation Star' (International Arbitration Area) and a 'Next Generation Partner', respectively.

Kim's academic contributions include serving as an adjunct professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea. Currently, he holds a faculty position at Delos Dispute Resolution ROAP Asia and is admitted to the bar in Alberta, Canada.

Won Lee, head of Korea Practice of Baker McKenzie, said: "We are very excited to welcome David to our team. With the economic cycle expected to drive up the volume of corporate disputes, David's arrival not only bolsters our ability to better support our Korean clients with their growing legal needs in cross-border disputes but also attests to our commitment to growing our Korea service offering."

Nandakumar Ponniya, Asia Pacific chair of the Dispute Resolution Practice, said: "The much-valued international arbitration expertise that David brings complements our regional and global practices well; his experience in working on some of the most complex international arbitration cases will no doubt be of significant utility to our clients and will further bolster our market-leading position."

For his part, David said: "I am very excited to be joining Baker McKenzie KLP JV. I look forward to building on the strength and successes of our JV platform, and collaborating with my colleagues across Baker McKenzie's global network to bring the top-tier service offerings that clients have come to us for."