"Is There Any Reason to Join Only Korean Law Firms?" Joint and Foreign Law Firms Expanding Internships

Published 27 Jul.2026 15:06(KST)

Acquire Experience in International Arbitration and U.S. Law
Opportunities for Recruitment as a New Associate

Is a lawyer's only career path employment at a domestic law firm? Language skills and an interest in international work provide a competitive edge for expanding into a wide variety of fields, such as overseas law firms and in-house legal teams at companies. Joint law firms authorized to handle Korean legal work operate internship programs for law school students every year, and there are multiple cases where interns have later joined as new attorneys.

Opportunities for Cross-Border Work Experience

Baker McKenzie & KL Partners, a Korea-U.S. joint law firm, has been operating a summer internship program for Korean law school students since 2024. Focusing on second-year law students, they select two to four participants per department, with around ten interns chosen each year. To date, a total of 28 students—20 from Korean law schools and eight from overseas law schools—have completed the program.

As a joint law firm where Korean attorneys and foreign legal consultants work together in one organization, Baker McKenzie & KL Partners offers exposure to international arbitration and cross-border transactions, which require expertise in both Korean and foreign law. Interns are assigned to their chosen departments and spend two weeks working on assignments involving international arbitration, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and tax matters, receiving direct feedback from supervising attorneys. They also participate in lunches and networking events with lawyers.

Attorney Shin Bomi (15th Bar Exam), a member of the first group of 2024 interns, joined the firm's dispute resolution group as a Korean attorney in 2026. Numerous previous interns have also applied for ongoing new attorney recruitment. Performance during the internship, organizational fit, and evaluations from supervising attorneys are all considered valuable reference data during future hiring decisions.

Baker McKenzie & KL Partners also publicly recruits new associates separately from the internship program. The recruitment process involves document screening, assessment by specialized departments and partners, interviews, and internal approval procedures. Recognized as a legal training institution, the firm allows new attorneys to fulfill their six-month practical training requirement after passing the bar exam.

Kwak Jangwoon, Managing Partner of Baker McKenzie & KL Partners, stated, "We are operating the internship on a scale that is significant relative to our firm's total attorney headcount," adding, "We fully recognize the importance of internship programs that cultivate future legal professionals, enabling Korean lawyers to be active in the global legal market." From the second half of this year, the firm plans to newly introduce a winter internship program for first- and second-year law students. Expanded internship briefings and recruitment activities for domestic law schools are also planned.

Foreign Legal Consultant Offices Offer Internships for U.S. Law Students

Offices of foreign legal consultants run internship programs aimed at U.S. law students to provide practical experience in U.S. and international law. Because they cannot conduct Korean legal work, these offices differ from joint law firms in both target interns and program structure.

The Arnold & Porter Seoul office, since opening in 2019, has selected two to three interns throughout the year for programs lasting approximately two to three months. Current JD candidates and graduates of U.S. law schools mainly participate, although there has also been a case of a student from Handong International Law School's JD program joining.

Interns train in a manner similar to the U.S. summer associate system. They perform tasks such as U.S. state and federal law research, international law research, drafting legal memos, and reviewing contracts and evidentiary materials. Some Seoul office interns have gone on to join Arnold & Porter’s U.S. offices, while others have moved on to corporate legal teams at major Korean companies.

James Lee, Managing Partner of the Arnold & Porter Seoul office, said, "We provide students with real-world law firm experience and practical training opportunities so that they can prepare for a range of career paths, whether at overseas firms or in-house legal teams. We support them in gaining a competitive edge in the legal market."

The Paul Hastings Seoul office individually selects interns based on the applicant's background and the office's needs, rather than through a regular program. Cleary Gottlieb’s Seoul office allows Korean-speaking applicants from their New York or Washington D.C. summer associate programs who wish to work in Seoul to do so for about a month.