Kim & Chang, Apple`s legal counsel in Korea

In the patent lawsuit between Samsung Electronics and Apple in Korea, the law firm Lee & Ko represents Samsung and Kim & Chang represents Apple. Kim & Chang is a leading Korean law firm in every aspect ranging from size to expertise, with up to 150 patent lawyers. The Global Arbitration Review, an international law journal, selected Kim & Chang as Asia’s best law firm in April. Many wonder why it chose to represent Apple.

Apple understandably needs Korean legal counsel for a lawsuit filed in Korea. A non-Korean lawyer cannot represent a client in a Korean court. Even if the Korean legal market is opened to foreign companies in 2017, a non-Korean lawyer who does not know the Korean legal system and cannot speak Korean fluently can only assist Korean lawyers. For the same reason, Samsung hired Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, the top law firm in the U.S., as its legal representative for the patent trial in the U.S.

Korea can gain more confidence from the world when Korean law firms provide legal service to foreign companies. They need more of such experience. Of course, the Korean public would not like it. If lawyers avoid legal representation because of the public, foreign companies will think that they will lose anyway in a lawsuit in Korea. This is allegedly a way to kick out foreign companies from Korea. So are judges. They might think that siding with the people is better, but an objective ruling helps the country in the end.

Though Silicon Valley residents comprised the jury in the lawsuit, the judge in the Korean trial received a Ph.D and his dissertation was on lawsuits involving international intellectual rights infringement. A logical debate was held over the case in court just like a lecture on intellectual property rights. The ruling was more professional and objective. Claude-Frederic Bastiat, a French economist who advocates free trade, said, “If you say we`ll retaliate with protectionism just because the other party chose protectionism in trade, this would mean that we`ll destroy a harbor because the other party is a rock-bound coast.” Though proving this is easy for an economist, Hong Kong and Singapore have succeeded because they advocated free trade regardless of the other party’s attitude.

Editorial Writer Heo Seung-ho (tigera@donga.com)