Dentons has launched a previously announced combination with Lee International in South Korea uniquely positioning Dentons and Lee International to meet client needs in South Korea and around the globe.

Dentons is the first global law firm in South Korea to combine with a Korean law firm, and the combination enhances the Firm’s ability to provide legal services to Korean companies as they do business around the world. The new name of the firm in South Korea is Dentons Lee.

Dentons’ polycentric strategy and “in and of the community” philosophy creates a competitive advantage in connecting talent to opportunity in South Korea. Dentons is the first global firm to have South Korean operations that are owned and controlled by Koreans.

“Lee International is a leading firm with strong economic ties to Korea’s conglomerates and our combination will enhance Dentons’ brand value in the region,” said Elliott Portnoy, Global CEO of Dentons. “We are excited to be enhancing our client offering in this critical region.”

“Dentons’ strategy is to scale the firm through whole firm combinations with philosophically aligned firms in dynamic and growing regions,” said Joe Andrew, Global Chairman of Dentons. “In my many visits to Korea and dealings with Korean law firms, it was clear that Lee International shared our vision to always be the law firm of the future and Dentons is now the first global law firm to combine with a Korean law firm.”

The combination in South Korea builds on the strength of the brand Dentons has already established in Seoul, together with Dentons’ combinations in China, Australia, New Zealand and the ASEAN region, all of which have helped establish a reputation for excellence.

Lee International has a full range of practice areas. It is consistently strong in key practice areas such as Intellectual Property, Mergers & Acquisitions, Finance, Real Estate, Corporate, Litigation/International Arbitrations, Entertainment, Labor and Employment, TMT and Biotech. The combination leads to significant synergies in light of Dentons’ strengths in each of these areas.

“We are delighted to launch our combination with Dentons,” said Sung-Duck Park, Representative Attorney of Dentons Lee. “As part of Dentons, we can now connect our clients to 10,500+ lawyers around the world.”

So far in 2020, Dentons has launched Dentons Bingham Greenebaum and Dentons Cohen & Grigsby in the United States as part of “Project Golden Spike” and Dentons Kensington Swan in New Zealand.