Speaker details

Biography

Woojae Kim is a partner at Bae Kim & Lee LLC (“BKL”), an internationally operating top-tier law firm based in South Korea, with a strong focus on complex, large-scale, and multi-jurisdictional disputes, including international arbitration and cross-border litigation. Woojae is the co-head of BKL’s international arbitration and cross-border litigation practice group. Woojae focuses his practice on complex international arbitration and cross-border litigation in various sectors, including general corporate matters, post-M&A, and energy, with a particular emphasis on large-scale construction arbitration cases. He also has experience in dealing with a wide set of institutional rules, including ICC, ICSID, KCAB, LCIA, SIAC, and VIAC, as well as ad hoc arbitrations. Woojae has extensive experience handling investor-state disputes (ISD). In particular, he has been recognized for his key role in the multi-billion dollar cases that BKL has represented in recent years, including the ISD filed by Lone Star Funds against the Korean government. Woojae is also an experienced litigator representing clients in complex cross-border and enforcement cases in Korean courts. Woojae also advises clients in overseeing energy projects, acting as project counsel for Korean contractors in their renewable and hydrogen development projects worldwide. Woojae is consistently recognized by legal directories for his outstanding work, having been listed as a “next generation lawyer” in Legal 500 (2018), featured as a “rising star” in Expert Guides – Commercial Arbitration (2018), and ranked in Chambers and Partners (2023) and Who’s Who Legal (2023). Furthermore, in 2024, Woojae was praised by his clients in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific as an advocate who “stands out for his depth of knowledge and strategic vision. His experience and insights have been instrumental in navigating complex legal scenarios, consistently driving successful outcomes.” Woojae completed his studies at Yonsei University (LL.B.) and Stanford University of Law School (LL.M.) and his training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (2009). He worked as a judge advocate for three years and as an attorney at another major Korean law firm before joining BKL in 2013. Woojae is admitted to practice in Korea (2009) and the State of New York (2021). Woojae is a native Korean speaker and works in both English and Korean.