Ropes & Gray Bolsters Services to Clients in Korea with Addition of Partner Jaewoo Lee

Ropes & Gray LLP announced today that Jaewoo Lee has joined its corporate department as a partner. Mr. Lee focuses on corporate and financial transactions, particularly cross-border mergers & acquisitions. He will initially be based out of New York and Hong Kong and will relocate to the firm’s Seoul office when his license to practice in Korea is approved.

Ropes & Gray was the first international law firm to open an office in Seoul in July 2012, and Mr. Lee’s arrival enhances the services that the firm can provide to clients on their transactions involving Korea. 

Mr. Lee has a broad range of experience representing a diverse group of clients, including leading Korean companies and financial institutions, in cross-border corporate transactions, particularly private and public M&A transactions as well as global offerings of equity and debt securities.

“As we continue to grow our presence in Seoul to better serve clients, accomplished lawyers like Jaewoo Lee are critical to our goal,” said Brad Malt, chairman of Ropes & Gray. “Jaewoo's experience and talents will add another layer of service and understanding for Korean and multinational companies doing business in Korea.”

Ropes & Gray has been consistently recognized for its performance and client service by The American Lawyer and U.S. News and others and was recently highly ranked among the leading firms in the Asia-Pacific region for mergers & acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, investment funds and intellectual property by Chambers Asia 2013: Asia’s Leading Lawyers for Business, one of the region’s most prestigious directories of premier law firms. Ropes & Gray was the only international firm recognized for its IP work in Korea. The International Financial Law Review also named Ropes & Gray “Private Equity Team of the Year” for Asia in 2013.

“The addition of Jaewoo Lee, a sophisticated and highly skilled lawyer, will be a tremendous asset to our clients,” said William Kim, head of Ropes & Gray’s Korea office. “His experience with complex transactions and his knowledge of the Korean marketplace provide a powerful combination.”

Mr. Lee is currently a solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong and a member of the bar in New York and California.  He has native fluency in both Korean and English. Mr. Lee holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A., with honors, from Seoul National University. He joins Ropes & Gray from Cleary Gottlieb, where he was based in Hong Kong.