JIPYONG LLC

Mr. Seong Jin Bae heads the Litigation Practice at JIPYONG.  Mr. Bae is a leading practitioner in the areas of securities, bank, insurance, bankruptcy and restructuring. Mr. Bae is one of the highest-ranked litigators in Korea and an authoritative commentator on bankruptcy and corporate restructuring laws.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, Mr. Bae has distinguished himself through in-depth advocacy in large-scale disputes related to investment losses from financial investment products. His representative cases include litigation involving private equity funds such as ship funds, overseas real estate funds, and overseas trade funds; litigation concerning specific money trusts into which derivative-linked securities such as ELS and DLS were incorporated as trust assets; litigation over investment losses related to ABCPs backed by overseas guaranteed bonds as underlying assets; and disputes concerning supplemental funding for overseas solar power project financing. In addition, he has demonstrated outstanding capabilities in areas such as disputes over the mis-selling of financial investment products and inter-financial institution disputes related to corporate workouts.

Since successfully representing Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company in 2003 in a complex litigation involving an automobile loan insurance claim that fiercely contested key issues in insurance law, Mr. Bae has maintained a high success rate in insurance disputes. He also provides legal advisory services to major domestic insurance companies and foreign reinsurance companies.

Mr. Bae has an unparalleled reputation for successfully resolving highly complex legal challenges. He has successfully litigated numerous landmark cases. Mr. Bae represented Hanyang Co., Ltd. during its bankruptcy proceedings and successfully obtained the first-ever court decision in Korea approving the abolishment of bankruptcy proceedings by agreement. Mr. Bae has argued and advanced unprecedented legal theories regarding the right of denial, cancellation of executory contracts, and limitations on creditor’s setoff rights, and, as a result he is considered to have materially contributed to Korean bankruptcy jurisprudence. In the field of insolvency and corporate restructuring, he is widely recognized as a leading legal scholar and authority.

Mr. Bae’s expertise also includes securities and insurance disputes. He successfully overturned the lower Court’s ruling in a high-profile appellate case involving investment trusts, and distinguished himself in large-scale lawsuits, including those involving investment trusts related to the duty of care of asset management companies, disputes over the incomplete sale of financial investment products, and disputes between financial institutions in connection with work-outs.

Mr. Bae is an adjunct professor at Korea University School of Law. He received the Anam Lecture Award from the law school in 2017. He also serves on the Dispute Mediation & Deliberation Committee of Korea Exchange and is a member of Korea Securities Law Association.

Mr. Bae holds an LL.M. from the University of Minnesota School of Law.