About

Kyung Jik "KJ" Kwak
Founder and lead partner of Kwak & Company.

KJ received master in international dispute settlement degree from the MIDS program jointly offered by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and the University of Geneva. He studied at Seoul National University (LLB, LLM), Columbia Law School (LLM), and Yale Law School (Fulbright Visiting Scholar) as well.

He was a judge for over 14 years at various courts in Korea including Seoul Civil District Court (now Seoul Central District Court) and Seoul High Court. He also served as a constitutional research officer at the Constitutional Court.

After leaving the bench in 2001, he began to practice law at Bae, Kim & Lee as a senior partner, and later founded Kwak & Company in 2009.

KJ is a litigator engaged in domestic and international dispute settlement. He was a lead counsel for multiple financial institutions against Samsung group companies in Samsung Motor case, the biggest ever civil case in Korea. He also represented Samsung Heavy Industries in civil, marine, criminal and administrative litigations in the biggest oil spill case in Korea; KPMG Korean member firm against KPMG International in an international arbitration under the UNCITRAL Rules in Zurich; Jeju Province Development Co. against Nongshim Co., Ltd. in a highly publicized dispute related to the exclusive distribution agreement on mineral water; and Hemes Pension Fund in the investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service and the Prosecution Office. KJ's practice covers foreign investment and M&A as well.

He is a member of Korean Bar and New York Bar; a recipient of Judicial Paper Award from Korean Society of Law (1999); and a board member of the Korean-American Education and Culture Foundation (since 2015).