Lee & Ko said on the 2nd that it will overhaul its labor group to proactively respond to changes in the labor law environment, prompted by the hire of attorney Lee Jeong-woo (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 37).
The Lee & Ko labor group will be divided into the "labor compliance team" and the "labor litigation team." Under the existing labor group (headed by attorney Jin Chang-su, class 21), the two teams will operate in parallel. The plan is to establish a "one-stop response system" in which the two teams work organically together when an issue arises.
A Lee & Ko official said, "This is a strategy in response to the trend of labor risks facing corporations becoming more complex across administrative, civil, and criminal spheres, including implementation of the amended Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act ("the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers"), expansion of the criminal punishment scope under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, Supreme Court rulings on ordinary and average wages, and an increase in illegal dispatch lawsuits and disputes over employee status."
The "labor compliance team" will oversee proactive services such as pre-diagnosis of risks and establishment of compliance systems, strategic advice on collective labor-management relations, risk response including internal investigations, government affairs, and management of criminal issues. Attorney Song Hyun-seok (class 34) and newly joined attorney Lee Jeong-woo will serve as co-Heads of Team.
The "labor litigation team" will focus on traditional labor lawsuits and administrative cases. Attorney Kim Young-jin (class 35) will serve as Head of Team.
Lee worked for 9 years at BAE, KIM & LEE LLC and for 6 years at YulChon. Lee is also serving as a Commissioner on the Ministry of Justice's legal advisory panel for small and medium-sized enterprises expanding overseas and as a legislative support Commissioner at the National Assembly Secretariat.
A Lee & Ko official said, "Lee has broad capabilities covering the full cycle of human resources and labor at corporations, including responses to labor unions, improvements to wage and working hour systems, large-scale workforce restructuring, labor and HR due diligence during mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and post-merger integration (PMI) strategy development."
The Lee & Ko labor compliance team strengthened its ability to handle criminal cases by recruiting former prosecutors. They include attorney Lee Sang-hyun (class 33), who served as head of the Public Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; attorney Heo Hoon (class 35), a certified specialist prosecutor in the labor field; attorney Hong Jeong-yeon (class 37), who served as head of the Labor Crime Investigation Support Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office; attorney Cha Ho-dong (class 38), who held key posts including the Special Investigations Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; and attorney Kim Jeong-hwa (bar exam 4th), who oversaw final review of the prosecution's Serious Accidents casework manual.
Kim Sang-gon, managing partner at Lee & Ko (class 23), said, "With the revamped labor group, we will remove complex legal uncertainties and become the most trusted partner so that corporations can focus solely on growth."