A new wave of next-generation law firms is rapidly transforming the legal landscape in Seoul’s Teheran-ro district. Breaking free from the limitations of traditional legal systems, these emerging firms are setting new standards for innovative legal services. Among them, Suhn Law Group stands out. Founded by a group of highly experienced attorneys, Suhn Law Group champions a “Full Service Law Firm” model, bringing structured legal services—once reserved for corporations—into the broader B2C market. We sat down with the firm’s co-founders, May H. Kim, Sung Uk BAK, and Hyelin LEE, in their sunlit Teheran-ro office, where they greeted us with confident smiles and a clear mission: to solve clients’ problems at the root with the same high-level expertise they honed at top-tier firms and corporations.

Bringing Big Law Quality to Everyone

Suhn Law Group is composed of attorneys with over a decade of experience at major law firms and global corporations. The firm offers highly differentiated legal services across a broad client base, from individuals to large corporations, startups to conglomerates. Their practice areas are equally wide-ranging, covering civil and criminal litigation, administrative law, corporate legal affairs, and more.

“Our attorneys have been tested and proven at Korea’s top law firms—Yulchon, Sejong, and Kim & Chang—as well as global corporations such as LG Group, Coupang, and Johnson & Johnson,” said one of the partners.

“We’ve brought big firm DNA into an agile, boutique environment, embodying what we call ‘Big Firm Quality, Small Firm Care.’”

Indeed, Suhn Law Group’s capabilities span corporate law, M&A, labor, fair trade, criminal & disciplinary matters, real estate & construction, privacy & data protection, IP, immigration, securities & virtual assets, and administrative litigation, among others.

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Experience-Driven Legal Leadership

Each of Suhn Law Group’s co-founders brings deep expertise in their respective fields.

Sung Uk BAK, a former military judge at the Navy Headquarters Court, later served at Sejong and Kim & Chang where he led major cases involving corporate advisory, white-collar crime, labor disputes, and media strategy. He also served as in-house counsel at Coupang, where he spearheaded corporate restructuring and subsidiary formation projects as project manager.

Hyelin LEE, an electrical and electronic engineering graduate from KAIST, previously worked as in-house counsel at LG Display, specializing in intellectual property (IP), commercial law, and corporate advisory. She managed IP-related contracts and negotiations—including patent analysis, joint development agreements, licensing, and sales. At her next firm, she broadened her litigation portfolio to include IP disputes in manufacturing, shareholder disputes, corporate succession, regulatory compliance, and labor matters.

May H. Kim, a former conference interpreter, began her legal career at Yulchon and gained experience in high-profile privacy and cybersecurity matters, including the 2014 credit card data breach affecting three major card companies. She has also handled corporate crime, labor advisory, real estate litigation, and fair trade issues. Transitioning to in-house roles, she served as General Counsel at both domestic and global companies, overseeing comprehensive legal risk management.

“Today, many of our clients rely on Suhn Law Group as their Outside General Counsel (OGC)—just like in-house attorneys, but outsourced,” May H. Kim noted.

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Client-Centered, Full-Spectrum Legal Services

Unlike niche law firms that focus on specific fields, Suhn Law Group is committed to providing comprehensive legal solutions.

“In the real world, legal issues are rarely isolated,” explains Sung Uk BAK. “That’s why lawyers who only know one field are at a disadvantage.”

“For example, in a case involving rental deposit fraud, people might instinctively turn to a real estate lawyer, but sometimes a criminal law strategy is far more effective. Similarly, when public officials face legal trouble, we need to anticipate not only the criminal process but also disciplinary risks like dismissal or termination. That’s what true full-service means.”

Hyelin LEE emphasized that the firm’s top priority is solving client problems:

“We aim to offer premium legal services—once available only to large corporations—to individuals, SMEs, and startups as well.”

This approach recently led to a win for a startup client in a technology misappropriation case, where R&D results were commercialized under another party’s name. The case involved not only civil issues like patent, design, and trade secret infringement, but also criminal charges including fraud, violation of the Patent and Design Acts, and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Suhn Law Group’s cross-disciplinary team worked in unison to dissect vast case records and evidence, achieving a successful resolution.

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Putting Integrity Before Profit

In today’s litigation-heavy market—especially in B2C sectors—attorney fees are often tied to individual lawsuits. As a result, some lawyers steer clients toward unnecessary litigation for profit.

“We’ve seen cases where clients lose lawsuits or end up escalating disputes simply because of misguided legal advice,” warns Sung Uk BAK.

May H. Kim adds, “Some lawyers even pressure clients to plead guilty when they could claim innocence, or push aggressive litigation without considering the client’s public image or regulatory exposure.”

 

At Suhn Law Group, ethical lawyering takes precedence—even if it doesn’t maximize revenue.

“We believe a lawyer’s conscience is more important than profit,” she said. That fresh perspective is what truly sets this new-generation law firm apart.

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Future-Ready, Yet Grounded in Legal Excellence

When asked how Suhn Law Group is preparing for the “30,000-lawyer era” and the rise of AI and legal tech, the co-founders reaffirmed their vision: to deliver premium law firm services to a broader public. Their goal is to maintain enduring client trust and legal excellence, even amid industry disruptions.

Suhn Law Group plans to expand its team with experts from diverse fields, diversify its service portfolio, and fine-tune internal processes to offer seamless one-stop legal services.

“Consistency in service quality will be key to making Suhn Law Group synonymous with trust,” said Hyelin LEE, expressing the firm’s ambition to build a strong and lasting brand.

As a firm determined to lead the standardization of high-quality legal services and close the market gap between large and small players, Suhn Law Group is poised to shape the future of Korea’s legal service landscape.