Bae, Kim & Lee named to Global 200 law firms list for 9th consecutive year

Bae, Kim & Lee (BKL) has been named to The American Lawyer's Global 200 list of the world's largest law firms for the ninth consecutive year, ranking 193rd — up five places from 198th last year, the firm announced Wednesday.

ALM, which publishes The American Lawyer, compiles the Global 200 ranking annually by surveying law firms worldwide on key performance indicators including revenue and profit per equity partner. BKL has appeared on the list every year since first being included in 2017.

The firm posted revenue of 470.2 billion won ($346 million) last year, a roughly 12 percent increase from the previous year, despite a shifting global environment and domestic economic uncertainty. It particularly distinguished itself in large, complex cases involving overlapping issues across litigation, regulation, transactions and criminal law, with specialists from multiple practice areas working in tandem.

A standout example was the firm's representation of the South Korean government in the annulment proceedings of the Lone Star investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case, which ended in a victory after 13 years. The American private equity fund acquired Korea Exchange Bank for 1.3 trillion won in 2003 and sold it to Hana Financial Group in 2012. Lone Star then filed an ISDS claim against the South Korean government in November 2012, seeking $4.78 billion in damages — about 6.9 trillion won — alleging that government interference had caused it losses during the process.

An arbitral tribunal ruled in August 2022 that the South Korean government must pay $216.5 million — about 280 billion won — partially accepting Lone Star's claims. Both sides challenged the ruling in 2023, filing applications with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to annul the award. BKL represented the government in those proceedings and succeeded in protecting the public treasury.

On the corporate advisory side, the firm advised on a series of major cross-border transactions, including global private equity firm KKR's acquisition of SK Group's environmental subsidiary under SK Eco Plant and a renewable energy joint venture project, POSCO International's acquisition of a palm oil business in Indonesia, LG Display's sale of its factory in Guangzhou, China, and Korean Air's investment in a Canadian airline.

The firm has continued to build on that record this year. BKL secured a full victory for the South Korean government in an ISDS case brought by Schindler worth about 320 billion won. Schindler filed the claim in 2018, alleging that South Korean government agencies had neglected their investigative and supervisory duties during Hyundai Elevator's rights offerings between 2013 and 2015, causing it losses. BKL brought the eight-year dispute to a successful close.

BKL has also been steadily expanding its global and emerging-business capabilities. The firm has continued to grow its international network and specialist headcount to meet cross-border legal demand in areas such as overseas investment and international disputes. It has also launched an AI Infrastructure Strategy Center to handle large-scale digital infrastructure projects, including AI data centers.

The center brings together expertise in mergers and acquisitions, investment, finance and project financing, power and energy, construction and operations, and data security under a single project-based advisory structure. The firm has also rolled out the global legal AI platform Harvey and ChatGPT Enterprise across the organization to improve the quality and efficiency of its legal services.

"Being named to the Global 200 for nine consecutive years is the result of consistently building the expertise and collaborative capabilities needed to solve difficult, complex problems — always one step ahead of what the market and our clients require," said Lee Joon-ki, managing partner of BKL. "Going forward, we will continue to grow as a firm that connects the right expertise across practice areas and geographies to deliver real solutions to clients facing the most challenging problems — where transactional, regulatory and dispute issues all intersect."