Robert Wachter

Practice Areas

International arbitration.

Career

Robert Wachter FCIArb is the co-head of the international arbitration practice at Lee & Ko. He has acted in cases brought under all of the major arbitration rules, including the ICC, KCAB, SIAC, HKIAC, VIAC, Swiss Chambers, LCIA, SCC, JCAA, IATA and UNCITRAL rules. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He has been named to the KCAB panel of international arbitrators, the SIAC panel of arbitrators, the HKIAC list of arbitrators, and the VIAC panel of arbitrators.

Mr. Wachter is the only senior arbitration practitioner in Korea with significant work experience in each of the Asian, European and North American regions. He has represented corporations, trusts, and governmental entities in a wide range of contract disputes arising under shareholders agreements, joint venture agreements, M&A contracts, construction contracts, public private partnership (PPP) contracts, and long term energy and industrial supply agreements. He has worked extensively in a broad range of industries including the life sciences, software, nuclear, construction, automotive, shipping, energy and telecommunications sectors. He has experience as counsel in commercial, construction and investment treaty arbitration proceedings.

Mr. Wachter graduated first in his law school class at the University of Hawaii. He began his career as a law clerk to the Hon. Samuel P. King, Senior United States District Judge for the District of Hawaii. He worked at the San Francisco office of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where he was promoted to Counsel in the Real Estate and Project Finance Group before moving to Korea in 2004. He has lived and worked abroad as an expatriate since 2004, and has extensive experience in both common law and civil law jurisdictions.

From 2011 to 2014 Mr. Wachter worked at Graf & Pitkowitz in Vienna, Austria before returning to Korea in 2014. He worked in the international arbitration practice group at Kim & Chang before he joined Lee & Ko in 2015 to take over as the co-head of the international arbitration practice.

Mr. Wachter has lectured as an adjunct professor at Seoul National University School of Law, the Supreme Court of Korea (Judicial Research and Training Institute), and Ewha Womans University. He also regularly participates in conferences and seminars on international arbitration. He has published numerous academic articles about international arbitration and Korean law. He is also a co-founder of KCAB Next, a new networking and professional development group organized in 2018 under the auspices of KCAB International.

Mr. Wachter has been recognized as a leading international arbitration practitioner by Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, AsiaLaw, Benchmark Litigation, Who’s Who (Arbitration), and Who’s Who (Thought Leaders - Arbitration). He won a Lexology Client Choice Award in 2020, and received a commendation from the Ministry of Justice in 2022 for his contributions to the development of the Korean arbitration community.

Professional Memberships

California Bar. Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Personal

University of Hawaii (J.D., Class Rank #1: 1996); University of California at San Diego (B.A., summa cum laude: 1993)