Saemee Kim

Practice Areas

International arbitration, Cross-border litigation

Career

Saemee Kim is a Partner at Lee & Ko, specialising in international arbitration and cross-border litigation. Ms. Kim has handled a variety of high-value, complex commercial disputes administered under ICC, SIAC, LCIA, KCAB, AAA (ICDR), HKIAC and UNCITRAL Rules as well as ad hoc arbitrations and cross-border litigation before foreign courts. She covers a wide range of industry sectors, such as energy, life-science, M&A, international trade, and IP. As a Korean attorney, she also has numerous experiences acting as counsel in arbitration related litigations and domestic court hearings for foreign clients.

In addition to her client-focused work, Ms. Kim actively contributes to the arbitration community. She has been frequently invited to speak at overseas seminars even when she was an associate. She has also been active in the global arbitration community by acting as Young ICCA Events Coordinator (2018-2022) and Young ICCA Events Co-Directors overseeing all of the events and workshops globally held by Young ICCA (2022-2024). She currently serves as the ICC YAAF Representative for South Korea and a Delegate of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. She also serves as the Chair of CIArb YMG Korea Chapter, one of the founders of the South Korea Chapter of Energy Related Arbitration Practitioners (ENERAP) and an Arbitration Lunch Match Ambassador for South Korea.

Her commitment and contributions have earned her consistent recognition, being selected as a Future Leaders by Who’s Who Legal since 2018. Moreover, she has consistently maintained the "Rising Stars" ranking by Legal 500 since 2021 and holds a noteworthy "Band 4" ranking in Chambers Asia-Pacific and Chambers Global.

She holds the LLM degree from Stanford Law School and is qualified in Korea and California.

Professional Memberships

Korean Bar Association, California Bar Association

Publications

-'The Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2018, Korea Chapter', Juris Publishing (co-author) (2018)

-'The Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2017, Korea Chapter', Juris Publishing (co-author) (2017)

-'International Encyclopedia of Agency & Distribution Agreements, South Korea' (Augustín Jausas ed., supp. 32, Kluwer Law International) (co-author) (2016)

-'The Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2016, Korea Chapter', Juris Publishing (co-author) (2016)

-'Arbitration World International Series 5th Ed., South Korea Chapter', Thomson Reuters (co-author) (2015)

-'The Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2015, Korea Chapter', Juris Publishing (co-author) (2015)

-'The Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2014, Korea Chapter', Juris Publishing (co-author) (2014)

-'Default on Costs: A Review Under the ICC Rules' The Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, Korean Arbitration Review 3rd Ed. (co-author)Presentation on the Investor Protection under the FSCMA (2009. Korea In-house Counsel Forum)

Personal

Korea University (LLB, 2011); Stanford Law School (LLM, 2020)