The law firm Jiphyeon announced on the 4th that it has expanded and reorganized its existing "management rights dispute response center" into the "management rights disputes and shareholder engagement response center."
According to Jiphyeon, the key content of the revised commercial law includes strengthening minority shareholder rights and expanding director responsibilities. Therefore, corporations need to address the possibility of proposals and increased engagement from activist shareholders and minority shareholders by revising articles of incorporation and board of directors regulations, securing and documenting sufficient records and rationales for board decisions, reassessing directors' and auditors' liability insurance, and reorganizing internal control systems and risk management processes.
In response, Jiphyeon has expanded and reorganized its existing "management rights dispute response center" into the "management rights disputes and shareholder engagement response center" (hereinafter referred to as the "center"). Through this, it plans to provide comprehensive legal and consulting services across various fields, including advisory for activist and shareholder engagement responses, management rights dispute responses, revisions of articles of incorporation and board regulations in accordance with the commercial law amendment, internal control system reorganization, board consulting preparation, electronic shareholder meeting operation advisory, responses to the Korea Exchange and Financial Supervisory Service, and relevant criminal dispute responses.
Attorneys Lee Tae-hyun (36th class) and Bae Gi-wan (37th class) have been appointed as co-directors of the center. Attorney Lee serves as the group leader for mergers and acquisitions and corporations. Based on extensive consulting experience in board and shareholder meeting operational strategies, governance restructuring, holding company transitions, and corporate combination tasks, he possesses expertise in corporate legal affairs.
Attorney Bae serves as the deputy group leader of the corporate finance litigation group and has successfully handled numerous major cases, including disputes related to management rights, responses to minority shareholder engagements, private equity investment litigation, delisting, and corporate rehabilitation advisory. Notably, he led the victory in the management rights dispute for Hanmi Science in 2024 representing the Lim Jong-yoon and Lim Jong-hoon brothers of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group.
The center is supervised by representative attorney Lee Haeng-kyu and is composed of detailed teams for governance, board of directors and shareholder meeting responses, management rights disputes, shareholder engagement, private equity, capital markets, responses to the Korea Exchange, response to the Financial Supervisory Service, and criminal law.
Director attorney Bae Gi-wan said, "Our center will respond to the diverse risks corporations may face in the changing capital market environment, including the increased exercise of shareholder rights by minority shareholders and activist funds."