William Y. Kim
Senior Counsel

William Kim is senior counsel in the corporate department of Ropes & Gray, chairs the firm’s Korea practice, and is a member of the firm’s office managing partners committee. He also co-chairs the firm’s international practice group.
Bill is the first foreign lawyer to be registered in Korea to practice as “foreign legal consultant” and heads our firm’s Seoul office (known under Korean rules as “Foreign Legal Consultant Office”).
Bill represents and advises Korean multi-national companies and their U.S. subsidiaries in matters related to corporations, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, cross-border transactions, project development and project finance. More recently, Bill has been counseling clients on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses. Bill also represents and advises many technology-oriented Korean companies in technology transfers, complex licensing arrangements and intellectual property litigations. Bill is a frequent guest lecturer at universities, corporations and trade associations on subjects related to international negotiations and cross-border transactions. He is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
In 2017, Bill was honored with an Appreciation Award by the Korean Bar Association (KBA) in recognition of his significant contributions to the Korean legal profession. He is the first and only Foreign Legal Consultant to receive an award from the KBA.