Korea Practice
Korea Practice
About O’Melveny & Myers
For over a century, O’Melveny has been helping clients navigate the complex and competitive business landscape. What began as a two-man office in Los Angeles is now a leading international firm with significant resources in major financial and political centers around the world. Our clients include many of the world’s best- known brands in electronics, energy, manufacturing, software,finance and banking, and telecommunications.
As businesses, governments, and individuals face ever changing circumstances, O’Melveny is dedicated to providing innovative counseling that delivers practical results. Our pledge to our clients’ success reflects the Firm’s guiding principles of uncompromising excellence, distinctive leadership, and superior citizenship.
Heading into 2015, we will continue to enhance O’Melveny’s internal resources to help overcome clients’ challenges: sophisticated legal technology, greater lawyer diversity, and professional development. We are optimistic about the future-for our clients, our communities and our world.
What makes O’Melveny & Myers different?
• Our Values. Our Firm’s core values are excellence, leadership, and citizenship—and these values are the guiding light for all that we do.
• Our Approach. We strive to be trusted advisors for our clients, and recognize that the adept handling of creative transactions and high- stakes litigation is but one facet of the value we can offer to clients in pursuing their highest strategic objectives.
• Our Relationships. We seek to build lasting bonds with our clients, and take a long-term approach in the ways we can assist our clients in advancing their business objectives.
• Our Commitment to Asia. Our Firm has been a leader in the Asia market for nearly three decades—our more than 80 lawyers resident in Asia offer clients the competitive advantage of significant on-the- ground resources, deep business and government contacts, and an institutional knowledge of how business is done on a local level.
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A Leader in Asia
O’Melveny & Myers LLP was one of the first US-based law firms to establish its presence in Asia, has been strengthening that commitment over the years. We were among the very first US law firms to open offices in China, Japan and Korea. Our China practice today is a market-leading and multiple award-winning practice with offices spanning Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. The firm’s network extends to Southeast Asia, where our Singapore office acts as a hub for the region and our India practice. In Tokyo, where we opened in the 1980s, the firm possesses US and local law capabilities. We are delighted that we are now able to offer our Korean clients our services through our new Seoul office.
Our lawyers in Asia represent clients from around the world, including nearly every country in Asia, spanning the full spectrum of commercial matters, including cross-border disputes, complex mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures, financings, investment and capital markets transactions, investment fund formations, international trade and regulatory matters, and restructurings and insolvencies. Our experience in Asia has allowed us to build extensive government, business and legal relationships that can be leveraged to fulfill the needs of our clients.
We are immersed in the culture and practices of Asia. Many of our lawyers are native speakers of Asian languages, including Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese. Our lawyers also have strong knowledge of local laws and collectively have legal practicing qualifications in Korea, China, Hong Kong, India and Japan. In addition, many have practicing qualifications and experience in the United States, England and other Western jurisdictions.
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O’Melveny in Korea
The Seoul* office opened in November 2012 as a natural extension of the existing work the O’Melveny was handling for our Korean clients. As O’Melveny’s 15th office worldwide, the local presence and team enables O’Melveny to respond to the day-to-day needs of our clients and to connect our Korean clients even more closely with our attorneys and resources around the globe.
O’Melveny’s Korea Practice team consists of nearly two dozen lawyers with many decades of experience advising on some of the most complex and high-profile legal and business matters for Korean clients. Led by Los Angeles-based partner Joseph Kim, serving as the Head of the Korea Practice, the team includes renowned Korea practitioners Jinwon Park and Sungyong Kang, both based in the Seoul office, and counsel Youngwook Shin, who splits his time between Los Angeles and Seoul and counsel YongSang Kim, who resides in Washington, D.C. office but will soon join the Seoul office upon receipt of approval from the Korean Ministry of Justice. The team includes US, Hong Kong, and UK-qualified lawyers experienced with Korea work as well as native Korean lawyers with language and cultural fluency. The Korea team is part of an integrated, far-reaching global platform—our clients have access to the full resources of an elite international law firm built to support clients in their most ambitious cross-border undertakings.
Few firms can match O’Melveny’s commitment to serving the Korea market. Our seasoned practitioners have a proven track record of helping clients succeed: we have worked with many of Korea’s largest and best-known companies to achieve landmark victories in multi-billion dollar international disputes and close strategically important cross-border acquisition and financing transactions. Those include defending Korean clients in high-stakes US-based “make or break” intellectual property or class action litigation to navigating global antitrust and competition issues involving Korean parties to sophisticated restructurings, financings, and other corporate transactions in the Korea market.
Our clients run the gamut of corporate and financial entities, from startups to investment banks and private equity houses to Fortune 500 companies, in diverse industries including technology, electronics, energy and energy equipment, manufacturing, airlines and transportation, entertainment and sports, and pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
Our Korea team maintains strong relationships and deep knowledge built on over more than two decades of activity in the Korea market—we are part of the Korean business and legal community; we have developed strong relations with local Korean law firms; and members of our team have experience serving on boards of Korean companies and as members of Korean governmental and non-profit organizations. In addition to our client work, O’Melveny strives to give back to the local community through our pro bono work and social responsibility. For example, O’Melveny has sponsored a US educational trip for North Korean refugee students.
* Our office in Seoul is a foreign legal consultant office approved by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea pursuant to the Foreign Legal Consultant Act of Korea. The attorneys acting as consultants in our Seoul office are licensed to practice law in one or more of jurisdictions of the United States and are registered as foreign legal consultants in Korea. These attorneys are authorized exclusively to provide legal advice with respect to the laws of the United States and the jurisdiction(s) in the United States in which they are admitted, with respect to treaties of which the United States is a party, and with respect to universally recognized customary international law. They are allowed to represent clients in international arbitration cases except for when the United States law is not applicable and such determination of such inapplicability is not appealable.
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Key Korea Practice Capabilities
Antitrust O’Melveny has a track record for successfully handling—and winning—some of the largest and most high-profile antitrust matters involving Korean companies—including the seminal AMD v. Intel case, the US$12 billion Hynix case (a victory named one of the Top Defense Verdicts of 2011 by the Daily Journal), the defense of Asiana Airlines in antitrust class actions alleging price-fixing, and the voluntary dismissal of Samsung Electronics from In re Cathode Ray Tube Antitrust Litigation.
O’Melveny’s global antitrust practice ranks among the very best in the world—in awarding us its “Competition Team of the Year” recognition in 2010 for our work on the seminal AMD v. Intel case, The Lawyer Awards wrote, “Working on one of the biggest competition cases of the year was always going to be a feather in the cap for O’Melveny & Myers, but winning it against the odds and securing a record-breaking fine in the process shows what a remarkable job the team pulled off.”
Law firm rankings guideChambers Global states that O’Melveny “is the global quarterback—it is prominent around the world, from Beijing to Brussels,” and ranks us in its top-tier for antitrust work in its Chambers Asia publication.
Competition Law360 named our practice “Competition Group of the Year” in 2014, 2013, 2011, and 2009. The team also recently won Global Competition Review’s 2014 “Antitrust Matter of the Year” Award for our work on the US Airways/American Airlines merger litigation against DOJ.
Our value proposition is our ability to field a truly global team of experienced practitioners in the US, in Asia, and in Europe—including former senior government antitrust and competition officials—with a long track record of producing strong results for clients seeking to defend their international business practices, their proposed blockbuster transactions, and their complex licensing and distribution agreements. Our close working relationships with relevant enforcement agencies around the world provide unparalleled access, and invaluable insights into critical governmental decision-making processes.
Patent and Technology Litigation O’Melveny features a very highly regarded intellectual property litigation team, particularly relating to international disputes over high technology patent and trade secrets. We feature a team of patent and technology litigators with the forensic and technical skills, and the industry and professional experience needed to tackle the most demanding intellectual property disputes. We have produced extraordinary results for clients, regularly prevailing in must-win cases centered around core technology critical to the survival of our clients. Chambers & Partners has repeatedly recognized our intellectual property team, noting that our “illustrious name attracts a range of clients for IP work,” and that our clients “appreciate the business-minded advice they receive from the team, its strategic approach, its accessibility, and its cost-effectiveness.”
Through education and experience, many of our lawyers have broad technical and business knowledge in a wide range of fields, including hardware and software, electronics and electromechanical systems, scientific instruments, medical devices, biotechnology, and the chemical arts, among others. This wealth of knowledge is the hallmark of our practice. The Legal 500 comments that, “[O’Melveny] manages to successfully blend a team of lawyers with advanced technical degrees and extensive experience.”
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Our team is unique in its ability to field teams on a geographically diverse basis. We litigate patent and technology matters in forums around the United States, both at the trial and appellate levels, as well as Section 337 proceedings before the International Trade Commission. We also regularly coordinate and supervise parallel proceedings outside of the United States in order to protect our clients’ interests in intellectual property controversies that span across countries and continents.
Our recent victories include the successful defense of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. in a patent infringement claim brought by Murata Manufacturing Co. Murata asserted that Samsung’s capacitors—used in a variety of electronics products ranging from mobile phones to flat-screen televisions—infringed upon patents held by Murata. In December 2010, as a result of O’Melveny’s advocacy for Samsung, US International Trade Commission administrative law judge rejected Murata’s claims; in April 2011, a further review of part of the decision resulted in a second decision in Samsung’s favor, and in the termination of the investigation after finding no violation of Section 337. We also defended Kumho Petrochemical in a complex patent litigation matter brought by Flexsys before the International Trade Commission. The investigation, a 337 Action, involved a patent alleged to cover the process used by Kumho Petrochemical and its supplier, Sinorgchem, for making an antidegradent used in tires and other polymer products. While our firm was conflicted from the matter as a result of a new defense raised by the respondents shortly before the close of discovery, one of the defenses that we developed for Kumho Petrochemical was ultimately successful before the ITC.
FCPA O’Melveny is a “Band 1” practice with dedicated competition specialists on the ground in Asia focused on anti-corruption compliance and investigations. The Firm is credited with pioneering the anti-corruption field in Asia, and was among the first international law firms to “forward deploy” FCPA expertise in the region. With a deep bench of FCPA specialists both Want to get the latest in the U.S. and in Asia, O’Melveny can efficiently and effectively guide developments in FCPA? clients through compliance challenges in Asia. Download the O’Melveny FCPA App O’Melveny features one of the market’s strongest and most comprehensive from the Apple® App Store practices focused on helping multinational clients navigate the US Foreign (Keyword Search: “OMM FCPA”) Corrupt Practices Act and similar international criminal and regulatory laws (including the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions).
Our team draws upon the extensive experience of lawyers whose work on FCPA and related legal issues extends from serving on boards of Get your copy of the directors to holding key positions at various governmental agencies— O’Melveny FCPA Handbook practical experience that enables us to advise clients effectively in (7th Ed.), a comprehensive resource for in-house counsel and enforcement proceedings before various regulatory bodies, including the compliance officers. US Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and enforcement agencies in other foreign jurisdictions.
We actively provide anti-corruption counseling that includes conducting internal investigations and transactional due diligence around the world; responding to criminal and regulatory enforcement inquiries and proceedings,
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as well as related administrative and civil actions; advising on the development and updating of compliance programs; providing anti-bribery training to corporate officers and employees; conducting due diligence on third-party business partners; and making voluntary disclosures to the US Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory authorities.
International Arbitration O’Melveny’s International Arbitration practice focuses on the resolution of a broad range of complex, high-stakes international disputes and is staffed with lawyers from our offices in Beijing, Brussels, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. We have successfully represented clients in major arbitrations in a wide variety of industries, and have appeared before tribunals throughout the world under a range of international arbitration regimes. Our lawyers have extensive experience handling matters governed by foreign law, and many of our cases involve multi-jurisdictional disputes in which the firm works to resolve international arbitrations, as well as related criminal, civil, and regulatory proceedings.
Our robust practice has handled some of the world’s most notable arbitrations, including four of the cases noted in The American Lawyer’s most recent rankings for the largest arbitration cases worldwide. And we are regularly ranked among the world’s leading arbitration practices in the Global Arbitration Review’s annual survey of specialist arbitration firms. Chambers Asia says the team is “diligent and knowledgeable” and “building a solid and well-respected practice in this area.”
Economic Sanction and International Trade O’Melveny’s sophisticated international trade practice is focused on helping clients exploit cross-border opportunities while managing regulatory risks. We counsel multinational clients on the application of US export controls, economic sanctions, anti-boycott, and customs laws to their international activities, and aid clients in developing and auditing compliance programs relating to these regulatory regimes. We also regularly advise clients engaged in cross-border investments on regulatory approvals associated with direct foreign investments, including national security reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Among our lawyers are former US government officials whose responsibilities included oversight of inward investment reviews, FCPA, and export control matters. After decades of private practice and government service, our collective experience informs our judgment as we assist clients in obtaining advisory opinions, licenses, and other approvals—and when necessary, in resolving civil or criminal enforcement matters.
Chambers Global praises the quality of our team, saying that we “are business people, not just lawyers. [O’Melveny] can get questions answered and doors opened.” We are further described as having “a leading reputation for work in the heavily scrutinized areas of export controls, economic sanctions, CFIUS, and FCPA.”
Cross-border regulatory issues confront industrial, financial, and service companies alike, and arise in many transactional and litigation contexts. O’Melveny’s international trade lawyers offer profound and broad-based experience necessary to help clients overcome these diverse challenges.
Energy and Natural Resources Trusted as energy advisors for more than a century, O’Melveny counsels industry clients in some of their most
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challenging cases and innovative transactions. For example, we won the key regulatory approval that cleared the way for the completion of a US$22 billion leveraged buyout of pipeline operator Kinder Morgan. We also negotiated the largest wind energy power purchase contract ever signed in the United States. Our pioneering energy work dates as far back as 1891, when we advised on the construction of one of the earliest hydroelectric plants. To this day, O’Melveny continues to provide energy utilities, developers, operators, and investors with deep sector-specific knowledge and practical business approach in order to resolve disputes and close deals by drawing on the strength of the firm’s Energy, Natural Resources and Environment Practice.
We are particularly strong in Asia, where our negotiation of US$20 billion long-term sales contracts for liquefied natural gas garnered us the inaugural “China Deal of the Year Award” in the Energy, Mining, and Resources category from Asian Legal Business.
Mergers and Acquisitions The Global Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) team closed more than 300 transactions in 2012 with an aggregate deal value of US$70 billion—and currently ranks among the most active firms globally, in the United States, and in Asia in Mergermarket’s league tables. Comprised of experienced deal lawyers resident in key commercial centers in the United States, Asia, and Europe, our Global M&A team is adept at delivering world-class legal services across cultural, language, and geographic boundaries. From the preliminary structuring of a transaction through to its closing, O’Melveny clients enjoy a partnership focused on achieving their strategic objectives.
O’Melveny has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s Top Corporate Law Firms by Corporate Board Member for five of the last six years. Chambers Global awards high marks for our ability to help multinational clients execute international growth strategies, and describes us as “excellent business partners, who help [clients] make the right decisions to achieve their objectives.” We are also very highly regarded in the Asia market, where our ability to devise, negotiate, and structure creative transactions has earned us strong rankings in Chambers Asia and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific.
We have a very strong practice advising US and global multinationals—including Yahoo!, Ford Motor Company, and Teleflex—on their investments in the Korea market, as well as counseling large Korean companies and investment firms on their outbound investments. Success Stories
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. O’Melveny represented Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in its acquisition of NeuroLogica Corp., a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of computed tomography (CT) machines, including its world class portable CT scanners.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Co. Ltd. In re the Matter of Certain Ceramic Capacitors and Products Containing Same (U.S. International Trade Commission Investigation No. 337-TA-692) we recently prevailed for client Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Co. Ltd. (Samsung) in an important patent infringement trial. In a resounding victory, the International Trade Commission (ITC) issued an Initial Determination on December 22, 2010, finding that Samsung’s importation and sale in the US of multi-layer ceramic capacitors do not violate Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 USC§ 1337). Multi-layer ceramic capacitors—or MLCC’s—are complex,
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yet tiny components widely used in electronic devices. Smaller than the tip of a pencil, MLCC’s regulate the flow of current and store energy in everything from cell phones to automotive electronics, flat-screen televisions, and computers. On October 1, 2009, Samsung’s competitor, Japanese company Murata Manufacturing Co., filed a complaint in the ITC accusing Samsung of violating Section 337 based on the alleged infringement of four US patents relating to MLCC’s. A team of O’Melveny intellectual property lawyers defended Samsung at trial in July of 2010—just nine months after the case was filed. Murata dropped its claims on one of the patents-in-suit just before trial. After a 10- day trial, the case was submitted to ITC Administrative Law Judge Gildea on the remaining three patents. The Initial Determination was issued on December 22, soundly rejecting Murata’s claims. Administrative Law Judge Gildea found no violation on all three remaining patents and, on one of the three patents, even found that there was no domestic industry—a highly unusual finding in a Section 337 case. In April 2011, a further review of part of the decision resulted in a second decision in Samsung’s favor, and in the termination of the investigation after finding no violation of Section 337.
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. O’Melveny obtained a significant victory for Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC in a patent litigation case filed by non-practicing entity E-Contact Technologies, LLC. The O’Melveny team, along with a number of co-defendants, succeeded in convincing the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas that the asserted patent claims were invalid due to indefiniteness. The asserted claims allegedly covered the autocomplete functionality in Samsung’s e-mail program included on its mobile phone and tablet products. Specifically, in a rare order from the Eastern District of Texas finding a patent invalid, Magistrate Judge Keith Giblin issued his claim construction ruling finding that the patent specification did not disclose the requisite structure or algorithm to perform the claimed functions for several of the means-plus- function elements of the asserted claims. Thus, the court found the asserted claims indefinite and invalid. Shortly after the court issued its claim construction ruling, E-Contact agreed to dismiss its cases with prejudice. We also represented Samsung Electronics in its acquisition of SnapScores and in the sale of its 4- and 8-bit microcontrollers business to IXYS Corporation, an international power semiconductor and IC company.
SK Hynix. O’Melveny team brought home a critical victory for SK Hynix in November 2011 when a San Francisco jury hearing Rambus Inc. v. Micron Technology Inc., the antitrust conspiracy case filed against Micron and SK Hynix by Rambus in connection with Rambus’ RDRAM proprietary memory technology, delivered a verdict in SK Hynix’s favor. Rambus claimed that SK Hynix and Micron conspired to prevent RDRAM from becoming the standard computer memory technology in most all computers worldwide. Rambus claimed US$3.95 billion in antitrust damages, which under California law Rambus argued would have been automatically trebled. The trial lasted over five months. The jury heard from 68 witnesses, and 651 exhibits were admitted into evidence. The jury returned its defense verdict after 24 days of deliberation over nearly two months. Separately, in June 2013, O’Melveny helped Hynix obtain a favorable settlement in the long-running litigation. Along the way, the O’Melveny team also obtained a US$250 million sanction award against Rambus for improperly destroying documents, one of the largest sanctions awards of its kind in US legal history. We also led SK Hynix’s defense of over 100 antitrust class actions brought by purchasers of computer memory chips. The plaintiffs alleged that SK Hynix and its competitors conspired to fix prices of various computer chips sold to large OEM PC manufacturers and to resellers and end-use consumers. Among the key legal issues litigated were challenges to the plaintiffs’ standing to bring claims as indirect purchasers under California state antitrust law and the laws of 13 other states. O’Melveny team led the briefing and argued for the joint
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defense group, and twice won dismissal of the plaintiffs’ state law antitrust claims arising from their purchases of computers containing DRAM computer chips, the first federal court dismissal of plaintiffs’ indirect purchaser antitrust claims under California law for lack of standing. The victory led to a settlement with the entire class of DRAM indirect purchasers on favorable terms.
Asiana Airlines. O’Melveny has been representing Asiana Airlines for over five years as lead counsel in two multi-district litigations (MDLs) involving allegations of price fixing from direct and indirect purchaser classes of air passenger and air cargo services. In October 2012, O’Melveny obtained a highly significant victory for Asiana in the Air Cargo case when the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of all state law claims on the grounds those claims are preempted by federal antitrust law. This ruling ended the indirect purchaser case, barring an appeal to the Supreme Court, extinguishing of hundreds of millions of dollars of potential exposure. Setting the stage for the October victory, O’Melveny had argued the case for Asiana (and on behalf of 30 airlines) in front of the Second Circuit in April 2012. Seeking to revive state antitrust claims against Asiana and other airlines accused of conspiring to fix air cargo rates, the indirect purchasers had appealed to the Second Circuit against an April 2011 decision by the Ninth Circuit. In that matter, in a case of first impression, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion dismissing a putative class action accusing Asiana and other airlines of price-fixing, ruling that the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 preempted state law claims against foreign and domestic carriers.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. O’Melveny has been representing AMD for over a decade in its global fight against Intel Corporation for monopolizing the x86-microprocessor industry. Litigation and investigations have spanned the US, EU and Asia, including Korea, where we worked with local counsel in an investigation of Intel’s practices by the Korea Fair Trade Commission. In 2008, the KFTC announced its decision, finding that Intel had violated Korea’s Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. More specifically, the KFTC found that Intel had coerced exclusive dealing arrangements with two Korean computer manufacturers. The KFTC issued a cease and desist order and imposed a fine on Intel. In 2009, the European Commission fined Intel a record US$1.44 billion for its anticompetitive practice, the largest fine ever levied by an antitrust regulator. The US litigation concluded a few months later with an historic US$1.25 billion settlement—one of the largest ever in litigation by a single plaintiff.
Hyundai Mobis. O’Melveny represented Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd. and related entities in defending a patent infringement matter filed by Magna Electronics, Inc. in the Eastern District of Michigan involving rearview visions systems. In lieu of a stay pending reexamination of the patents-in-suit, the case was dismissed without prejudice in January 2013.
Capita Trust Company. O’Melveny advised Capita Trust Company as Note Trustee and Security Trustee in a US$518 million residential mortgage-backed securities issuance by two Cayman special purpose vehicles; the mortgages were originated by Citibank Korea Inc.
Daiwa Securities Capital Markets and The Korea Development Bank. O’Melveny represented Daiwa Securities and Korea Development Bank as joint arrangers and BNY Mellon as note trustee in the ¥20 billion securitization of Korean Air’s receivables arising from cargo transportation on routes between Japan and Korea. The Korea Development Bank further provided a ¥20.75 billion credit facility as well as an interest rate swap.
Darby Asia Investors. O’Melveny advised Darby Asia Investors in its US$85 million investment in Meiya Power,
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an independent power producer specializing in developing and operating power projects located primarily in South Korea and China.
Deutsche Bank. O’Melveny represented Deutsche Bank in the ¥4 billion privately placed securitization of future passenger ticket receivables of Asiana Airlines. The transaction, which closed in March of 2009, represents the first fully sold-down securitization in the Asia market since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.
Industrial Bank of Korea. O’Melveny represented the Industrial Bank of Korea as guarantor of a US$200 million structured note issued by FAF Securitization Specialty Co., Ltd., a Korean-incorporated special purpose company.
Kumho Petrochemical. O’Melveny defended Kumho Petrochemical in a complex patent litigation matter brought by Flexsys before the International Trade Commission. The investigation, a 337 Action, involved a patent alleged to cover the process used by Kumho Petrochemical and its supplier, Sinorgchem, for making an antidegradent used in tires and other polymer products. While our firm was conflicted from the matter as a result of a new defense raised by the respondents shortly before the close of discovery, one of the defenses that we developed for Kumho Petrochemical was ultimately successful before the ITC.
Korea Development Bank and Nikko Citigroup. O’Melveny represented the KDB and Nikko Citigroup in the US$182.5 million securitization by Korean Airlines of its future Japanese yen cargo receivables.
Korean Power Corporation. O’Melveny represented a multinational consortium in its proposed acquisition of Korean cogeneration plants. Our work for the consortium consisted of conducting due diligence on the Korea- situated assets, advising on project documents, and preparing and submitting the formal bid.
KTB Ventures. O’Melveny advised KTB, Korea’s largest private equity firm with approximately US$5 billion under management, in its investments throughout Asia and the United States. These instructions include the formation of private equity sub-advisor legal entities and a securities representative office in China, the formation of a renminbi-denominated venture capital fund, and the formation of a Chinese securities joint venture.
Mitsui & Co. O’Melveny represented Westport Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., in obtaining a favorable decision in arbitration involving the cancellation of a long-term contract supplying oil to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, an international consortium created to supply North Korea with energy in exchange for that state’s dismantling of its nuclear program.
Teleflex. O’Melveny represented Teleflex, a US-based manufacturer of specialty engineered products for commercial and aerospace customers, in connection with its manufacturing and servicing joint venture with a Korean party.
Yahoo! O’Melveny represented online search giant Yahoo! in its US$60 million investment in Korean e-commerce provider Gmarket, Inc., made in advance of Gmarket’s filing for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq market. Yahoo!, making its investment in the Korean market following a similar investment in China’s Alibaba.com, purchased its stake in Gmarket from Oak Investment Partners.
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Rankings and Recognitions
Ranked #2 on The American Lawyer’s prestigious “A-List” of the top law firms in the US (2014)
Named among the top 20 law firms “with the greatest global reach and expertise.” Law360’s Global 20 (2012)
Named for five consecutive years to Corporate Board Member’s list of top corporate law firms
Recipient of the Main Justice’s Best FCPA Lawyers Client Service Award presented to law firms with exceptional service in FCPA and global anti-corruption matters. Main Justice is an independent news organization that covers the US Department of Justice (2013)
Finalist for The American Lawyer’s “Litigation Department of the Year” Award— O’Melveny is one of only two law firms to have been named a winner, finalist, or honorable mention recipient each year the competition has been held (2014)
O’Melveny is stocked with lawyers who are “veterans at trying to keep big companies out of trouble.” Politico (2013)
Named “Private Equity Team of the Year” at the Legal Business Awards (2013)
Three-time winner of the “Fund Formation Law Firm of the Year in Asia” Award by the Private Equity International
A “go-to law firm” for IP in the “Intellectual Property,” a supplement to both The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel magazines (2013)
Chambers Global’s The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business recognizes 36 O’Melveny lawyers, six of whom are ranked in the top tier of their respective practice areas. The Firm also received 27 rankings for practices, including a top tier recommendation for Corporate/M&A: Highly Regarded (International Firms) (2014)
The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific recommends 15 O’Melveny lawyers, five of whom are “Leading Individuals” in their practice areas and ranks the firm in 24 practice categories across Asia (2014)
Mergermarket’s H1 M&A league tables rank us in the top 5 in Asia, and top 10 in the United States and globally (2014)
Global Arbitration Review (2013) ranked us as one of the world’s leading arbitration practices. We were also listed in the GAR 30, an elite sub-set of the publication’s larger listing, the GAR 100, in both 2007 and 2008
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We are Counsel to some of Korea’s Leading Companies
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Korea Practice Contacts Many O’Melveny lawyers across various practice areas and offices represent Korean companies in complex and high-profile matters—below are select lawyers who regularly work with our Korean clients.
Korea Practice: Antitrust: Joseph Kim (조셉김) Riccardo Celli, Partner, Brussels +32-2-642-4134, [email protected] Partner, Head of Korea Practice Los Angeles Ken O’Rourke, Partner, Los Angeles +1-213-430-6511 +1-213-430-7281, [email protected] [email protected] Rich Parker, Partner, Washington, D.C. +1-202-383-5380, [email protected] Jinwon Park* (박진원) Ian Simmons, Partner, Washington, D.C. +1-202-383-5106, [email protected] Of Counsel Seoul Transactions: +82-2-6281-1711 Sung Pak, Partner, New York [email protected] +1-212-408-2456, [email protected] Steven Tonsfeldt, Partner, Silicon Valley Sungyong Kang* (강성룡) +1-650-473-2603, [email protected] Of Counsel Paul Scrivano, Partner, New York Seoul +1-212-728-5856, [email protected] +82-2-6281-1712 Sunna Choi (최선아), Counsel, Los Angeles [email protected] +1-213-430-6350, [email protected]
Intellectual Property: Youngwook Shin (신영욱) George Riley, Partner, San Francisco Counsel +1-415-984-8741, [email protected] Los Angeles Brian Berliner, Partner, Los Angeles +1-213-430-7440 +1-213-430-7424, [email protected] [email protected] Susan van Keulen, Partner, Silicon Valley +1-650-473-2680, [email protected] YongSang Kim (김용상) Ryan Yagura, Partner, Los Angeles Counsel +1-213-430-6189, [email protected] Washington, D.C. Bo Moon, Associate, Newport Beach +1-202-383-5337 +1-949-823-7183, [email protected] [email protected] FCPA: Daniel Bookin, Partner, San Francisco *미국변호사 (미국법자문사, Foreign Legal Consultant) +1-415-984-8786, [email protected] Nathan Bush, Partner, Singapore Project Development and Real Estate Practice: +65-6593-1870, [email protected] Junaid Chida, Partner, New York Bingna Guo, Partner, Beijing +1-212-326-2031, [email protected] +86-10-6563-4224, [email protected] Greg Thorpe, Partner, Los Angeles +1-213-430-6593, [email protected] Economic Sanction/International Trade: China Practice: Greta Lichtenbaum, Partner, Washington, D.C. +1-202-383-5249, [email protected] Larry Sussman, Partner, Beijing +86-10-6563-4205, [email protected] Ted Kassinger, Partner, Washington, D.C. +1-202-383-5170, [email protected] Qiang Li, Partner, Shanghai +86-21-2307-7018, [email protected]
O’Melveny & Myers LLP 15 Offices
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