Summarized in English from HanKyung Business magazine: http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=050&aid=0000044619

HMP Law: Providing the Best Solutions for Companies

 “Law Firms that do not evolve can no longer survive.” HMP Law, established in 1993, has specialty knowhow in providing legal services, ranging from M&A, restructuring, finance, and Product Financing to international trade, litigation and so on. Nowadays, HMP Law is moving forward to strengthen its specialties under its motto, ‘professionalism and dynamism.’ HMP Law recently carried out a survey together with HanKyung Business magazine of the Korean legal market, in order to provide specific guidelines not only to satisfy clients’ prospective needs but to track the changing circumstances in the domestic and international legal market. Based on that survey, law firms have opportunities to provide more professional legal services that will meet in-house counsels’ expectations and thoughts about legal firms’ services.

Upgraded Legal Services in Fair Trade·and IP

Fair-trade and antitrust is one of the Moon Jae-in Administration’s main focuses. According to HMP Law, companies frequently ask for legal advice in relation to the increase of government restraints on major companies’ unfair transactions and abuse of power by franchise companies (known as ‘Gap-jil’ in Korean slang). Now, the Antitrust & Competition team of HMP Law, led by Mr. Kim Si-joo, along with Mr. Suh Suk-hee, a former alternate commissioner of the Fair Trade Commission, and approximately 30 other professionals, has conducted many important projects, such as advisory matters for SPC Group and other bakery industry companies, as well as many convenience store franchises in the past several years.

In accordance with the policy line of the incumbent administration, HMP Law aims to strengthen its fair trade and antitrust team by not only training talented young professionals, but also by offering free legal services to members of the Fair Competition Federation every two months.

Moreover, HMP Law has recently concentrated on intellectual property rights as one of its main tasks. In 2014, HMP Law established a business partnership with Bird & Bird LLP., one of the most renowned global law firms in the field of IP, in order to further strengthen its specialties in technology, media, communication, and particularly IP.

             HMP Law has formed a variety of practice groups including general corporate, medical & pharmaceutical, information and communications technology, automobile, new industries, etc., and each team now provides professional legal services in their exclusive and competent specialties. HMP Law has built a reputation for its faithful legal services, fully accommodating clients’ perspectives on various industries. It is also well-renowned for its wide connections with foreign companies through its comprehensive approach to providing proper guidelines in investment structures, writing contracts, licensing procedures, and so on. This overall success could not have been possible without the establishment of various teams with outstanding professionals. For instance, the automotive team led by Mr. Chung Jin-hyuk, who has immeasurable experience in corporate advisory matters for major multi-national companies, consists of highly talented personnel, proficient in English, Chinese, German, and Italian. As a result, HMP Law’s client base is over 50% foreign companies, including the world’s top auto parts companies.

             Furthermore, in accordance with the changing circumstances in the new era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, HMP Law is implementing innovative changes both internally and externally. Young and talented individuals not only set forth their opinions actively but voluntarily participate in these innovative movements. Chairman of HMP Law, Mr. Hwang Ju-myung, recently stated that, “innovations beginning from the bottom can confused people for a time, but in the end their outcome will surely be clever and bright.” In the same sense, Mr. Hwang put young and talented professionals into the foreground, in order to establish a new motto of the firm, “Young HMP.”

“Young HMP” & Professionalism

             The Management Committee of HMP Law is composed of relatively young professional lawyers in preparing its future direction. Not only have these young lawyers directly participated in internal matters such as the renewal of the company logo and official website, but they are also putting their best efforts into widening their influence in the domestic legal market by using their global networks and rich international experience. Lee Sei-yeon, a fifth-year attorney at HMP Law, said, “Our firm is working hard to develop its niche specialties in the legal market, which is becoming more and more diversified these days. Also, we are planning to consolidate the position in the global legal market through our ample experiences in providing advisory services to both major multi-national companies and big domestic companies.”