Covington to Open Seoul Office

Washington, DC, March 12, 2012 — Covington & Burling LLP has applied to open a new office in Seoul to better serve its Korea-based clients and has tapped William H.Y. Park, a veteran corporate lawyer based in Korea, to help oversee the expansion.

Mr. Park will work closely with former Ambassador to the United Nations Daniel Spiegel, senior of counsel at Covington, who will be the Foreign Legal Consultant of the new office when Korean authorities approve the firm’s application. Covington, which has an office in Beijing, announced last month plans to open an office in Shanghai.
 
“William has deep experience helping Korean and other Asian clients do business in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and in other regions around the world,” said Timothy Hester, chair of the firm's management committee. “We expect William and Dan will be at the core of our team in Korea that, in close cooperation with practices across our other offices, will advise global clients on a broad range of cross border issues in the dynamic Korean market.”
 
While based in the U.S., Mr. Park spent over a decade handling a broad range of legal issues affecting Korean companies investing and doing business in the United States, including civil litigation, general corporate and banking matters, project finance deals and real property transactions. For the past 12 years, William has worked in Korea, representing Korean companies and banks with respect to corporate reorganizations, procurement and construction contracts, and financing transactions. He has handled general corporate matters and served as the Korea-based team leader on antitrust investigations in the U.S. and the EU, and on IP and general litigation involving the United States.
 
“I am honored to join Covington,” Mr. Park said. “The firm is already well-known for helping Korean firms successfully do business in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia. I am excited to be part of Covington's new Korea office and I expect that we will substantially expand Covington's base of Korean clients over the next few years. I believe Covington has unique capabilities which will tremendously benefit Korean clients in the future and expect it to be a leader among international firms based here.”
 
Mr. Park is a native of Korea. He graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School in 1988 after earning his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from MIT in 1985. Mr. Park will initially operate from the firm’s San Francisco office and will be resident in Seoul, along with Ambassador Spiegel, when the office is approved later this year.
 
“The initial focus of Covington’s Korean foreign legal consultant office will include advising Korean companies on U.S. and European laws in the areas of intellectual property, antitrust and competition law matters, international trade controls and policy, and the regulation of food products, pharmaceutical and medical devices,” Ambassador Spiegel said. In addition, Covington lawyers and policy professionals will advise Korean companies on CFIUS matters in connection with Korean companies’ investments and acquisitions in the United States and handle general corporate transactional and financing work, he said.
 
Covington’s practices and its lawyers are widely recognized for their excellence, including rankings in Chambers, Legal 500, Super Lawyers, and Best Lawyers. In 2011, Covington had 196 lawyers and 82 practice mentions in Chambers Asia Pacific, Europe, Global, Latin America, UK and USA, while Legal 500 recognized 60 of the firm’s practices in their Asia Pacific, EMEA, UK and U.S. editions. U.S. News-Best Lawyers awarded the firm 82 first-tier rankings and named Covington as “Law Firm of the Year” in FDA law. And Super Lawyers recognized 87 Covington lawyers in its Washington, New York and California offices.

In 2011, Chambers presented Covington with the “Chambers USA Award for Excellence in International Trade,” noting the firm’s “comprehensive team covers the complete spectrum of international trade matters and clients benefit from the close-knit and interdisciplinary approach of the department's various subgroups.” Covington’s international trade practice took top honors in the Chambers USA 2011 guidebook, which gave Covington a top-tier ranking nationwide. Additionally, nine of the firm’s international lawyers were ranked nationwide individually for their work in international trade areas.

Covington & Burling LLP, an international law firm, provides corporate, litigation, and regulatory expertise to enable clients to achieve their goals.  Founded in 1919, the firm has more than 800 lawyers and offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC.