Law firm Bae, Kim & Lee LLC said it will establish a "corporate law research center" within its corporations advisory group and begin full-fledged operations.
The corporate law research center will study statutes, case law, and overseas examples in corporate law and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to support Bae, Kim & Lee attorneys' corporations advisory work. It will produce materials analyzing major legal revisions and regulatory trends and plans to hold client seminars.
Bae, Kim & Lee made permanent within the research center the functions of the Commercial Act task force (TF) it had operated. The aim is to conduct research—previously done by individual attorneys or practice teams—in an organized manner and share the results firmwide to improve advisory quality and work efficiency.
The research center will also make a key research subject of operating plans for special committees related to the "guidelines on directors' codes of conduct in corporations reorganizations," distributed this year by the Ministry of Justice. The guidelines propose measures to strengthen fairness, such as independent special committees and reviews by outside experts, in corporations reorganizations where conflicts of interest may arise.
Attorney Kim Jong-uk (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 35) will serve as head of the center, and attorney Kim Tae-jung (Class 37) as deputy head. Attorney Moon Ho-jun, head of the corporations advisory and M&A group (Class 27), and attorney Yoon Yong-jun (Class 31), secretary of the corporations advisory group, will support the center's operations.
Once a research topic is set, partners and associates in the field and attorneys from the existing Commercial Act TF will conduct joint research. Depending on the matter, research personnel inside and outside the firm, including research fellow Kim Su-yeon, will also participate.
The research results will be compiled as internal materials used for corporations advisory work and will also be provided as newsletters and client briefing materials. Bae, Kim & Lee plans not to stop at conveying news of legal amendments but to provide analysis that can be used immediately in corporations' decision-making and transaction structure design.
Moon said, "The corporate law research center is a think tank that brings together the capabilities of Bae, Kim & Lee's corporations advisory group," adding, "It will be the foundation for providing clients with optimal legal services."
Kim said, "We will proactively identify key issues in the corporate law environment and share our analyses to lay the groundwork for Bae, Kim & Lee attorneys to provide accurate, high-quality advice."