Los Angeles-based Paul Hastings and New York player Cohen & Gresser are the fourth and fifth firms to gain official approval, following London magic circle firm Clifford Chance, Boston’s Ropes & Gray and Los Angeles-headquartered Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton.

Queuing up

According to a report in Asian Legal Business, Paul Hastings will deploy Jong Han Kim to head the firm’s office, while Cohen & Gresser will field partner SC Sohn as its local head.
In addition, the publication says 17 other law firms have applied to open South Korean offices – or are rumoured to have done so: Clifford Chance, Cohen & Grasser, Paul Hastings, Ropes & Gray, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Covington & Burling, DLA Piper, H. Park & Associates, K&L Gates, McDermott Will & Emery, McKenna Long & Aldridge, O’Melveny & Myers, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Squire Sanders, Herbert Smith and Linklaters.