Bae, Kim & Lee has strengthened its Seoul office with the addition of three partners, Taeck Soo Kwon, Joo Hyae Jun and Il Yeon Kim, all of whom are former judges.

A former presiding judge of the Seoul High Court, Kwon joins as a partner in Bae, Kim & Lee’s intellectual property department. He was a founding member of the Patent Court in 1998 and has held several key judicial positions as an IP specialist, including research judge and head of the IP law division of the Supreme Court, head presiding judge of the Patent Court, and presiding judge of the Seoul High Court’s IP division.

Jun was formerly a presiding judge of the Seoul Central District Court’s criminal division. She began her career as a judge of the eastern branch of the Seoul District Court, and has also served as a judge at the Seoul Criminal District Court, Daejeon District Court, Seoul High Court and Seoul Family Court.

Kim was a former research judge of the Supreme Court, and has also served as a judge at the Seoul District Court, Daegu District Court, Suwon District Court and Seoul High Court.

Both Jun and Kim join as partners in Bae, Kim & Lee’s litigation department.

The new hires indicate a positive start to the year for Bae, Kim & Lee, which bolstered its practice with the hire of partner Jong Baek Park, the former managing partner of Apex LLC, in November last year.

Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.