Daeryun, which is a Korean law firm established in 2018, has chosen New York as its first overseas office outside South Korea.
“New York is the centre of the international legal market, where global law firms converge and compete fiercely. In order to demonstrate that the capabilities of Korean law firms are effective on the world stage, we have chosen New York as our strategic first entry point,” Kukil Kim, the managing partner at Daeryun, told Asia Business Law Journal on why his firm chose the US city.
Kim said existing Korean law firms tended to prioritise achieving short-term profitability and reducing operating costs, which led them to favour the Southeast Asian region when expanding overseas for the first time. None of the traditional Big Six firms in Korea – Kim & Chang, Lee & Ko, Bae Kim & Lee, Yulchon, Shin & Kim and Yoon & Yang – maintain offices in North America.
“We will primarily focus on providing corporate clients with advisory services on international transactions and overseas expansion and entry,” said Kim. Conversely, the firm will also provide a range of solutions for US and other foreign companies entering the Korean market, including domestic market analysis, entry strategy development, permit procedures, and legal advice on labour and taxation.
Kim added that instead of limiting itself to the existing Korean client base, the firm would target companies and individuals of all nationalities within the US as prospective clients. Accordingly, it plans to hire local attorneys directly.
The New York office is scheduled to begin operations between June and August with a team of two to three attorneys holding US bar qualifications.
When asked on the opening of additional overseas offices, Kim said: “Market research and partnership discussions concerning major cities in Europe and Asia are currently underway internally including those in the UK, Germany, Singapore and Japan, as well as the Southeast Asian market.”
In 2024, Daeryun recorded revenue of KRW112.7 billion (USD81 million), ranking it among the top 10 law firms in Korea by revenue for the first time.
