Law firm Daeryook & AJU and law firm Lin are moving to formalize merger procedures. The two firms formed a merger promotion committee under the principle of an equal integration and agreed to discuss key matters such as the merger method and the integrated firm's name. If the merger goes through, it will be the largest merger case in the history of Korea's law firms.
Law firm Daeryook & AJU (Managing Partner Lee Gyu-cheol) and law firm Lin (Managing Partner Im Jin-seok) on the 29th held a business agreement ceremony for the merger at Daeryook & AJU's headquarters in Gangnam District, Seoul, and agreed to form a merger promotion committee. About 50 people, including partner attorneys from both sides and journalists, attended the ceremony.
The merger promotion committee is a consultative body that discusses the overall merger process. The committee will operate from today until the merger registration is completed, setting key matters such as the merger method, decision-making body, and the integrated firm's name. Under the principle of an equal integration, the two sides agreed to have one overall representative from each firm and to compose the committee with the same number of Commissioners. Decisions will be made by unanimous consent.
When the merger is completed, a large law firm will launch, ranking sixth by number of attorneys and eighth by revenue in Korea. The two firms have a total of 393 attorneys, with Daeryook & AJU at 260 and Lin at 133. Revenue in 2025 is 102.7 billion won for Daeryook & AJU and 41.0 billion won for Lin, totaling 143.7 billion won.
Daeryook & AJU has strengths in litigation, advisory work, and new industries. Lin has grown by leveraging its capabilities in advisory work for corporations. Through the merger, the two firms plan to strengthen both litigation and advisory capabilities and combine industry-specific expertise to boost competitiveness in legal services.
Daeryook & AJU Managing Partner Lee Gyu-cheol said, "With the number of attorneys surging, the work environment changing with artificial intelligence (AI), and the rise of large network law firms, it has become difficult to predict the future of the legal profession," adding, "We had no choice but to find solutions." Lee continued, "At that point, Managing Partner Im Jin-seok made a bold decision and proposed this, and Daeryook & AJU agreed, which led to today's event," and said, "Today's agreement is only a starting point."
Lin Managing Partner Im Jin-seok said, "I have considered a merger for a long time," adding, "Lin has grown into a mid-sized law firm but faced limits, and I believed we needed to become bigger to leap forward." Im continued, "We had proposals and discussions with several places, but we chose Daeryook & AJU because we wanted to keep Lin's dynamic and proactive DNA," adding, "Even though Daeryook & AJU is a large law firm, it had that DNA."
The integrated firm's name has not been decided. In a Q&A, Managing Partner Lee said, "The name is a matter to be discussed by the merger promotion committee after this agreement," adding, "For now, all possibilities are open." Lee added, "The options include discarding both Daeryook & AJU and Lin and choosing a third name," and explained, "The English name will also be decided then."
The target for registering the merger is October. Managing Partner Lee said, "We are aiming to register the merger in October," adding, "If we combine both sides' strengths well and generate synergy starting next year, we can expect about 500 million won in revenue per person, and personally, I believe we must surpass 200 billion won in revenue."