South Korean firm Lee & Ko has bolstered its criminal practice group with the addition of former senior prosecutor Ho Dong Cha as a partner.
The firm’s decision to bring him on board reflects growing demand from companies for specialised legal advice to better manage risk and navigate increasingly complex regulatory frameworks.
“Clients’ needs for the prevention of crime risks in advance and for responses to various investigations and trials are also steadily increasing,” Lee & Ko senior managing partner Sanggon Kim, told Asia Business Law Journal.
Cha will be a key member of the firm’s Digital Assets Centre, which comprises more than 50 professionals from the digital assets and virtual asset regulatory investigations teams.
“He will be responsible for legislative and regulatory matters and for the prevention of litigation risks in the digital assets sector,” Kim said, while adding that Cha will also “handle responses to investigations involving virtual asset-related crimes, as well as cases concerning technology leakage and other advanced or emerging forms of crime”.
Cha started his career as a prosecutor in 2012. He has since held several roles within the prosecution, including positions at the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and the Seosan branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, where he served as a senior prosecutor.
