법무법인바른 사이트는 IE11이상 혹은 타 브라우저에서
정상적으로 구동되도록 구현되었습니다.

익스플로러 10 이하버전에서는 브라우저 버전 업데이트 혹은
엣지, 크롬, 사파리등의 다른 브라우저로 접속을 부탁드립니다. 감사합니다.

KOR ENG CHN

Choi, Jin Sook Attorney (Partner)

Professionals Introduction

Attorney Choi Jin-sook is a specialist in financial law. Ms. Choi completed the 28th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute and began her career as a finance lawyer at HMP Law. She joined Barun Law LLC in 2018 as a finance specialist and has since advised on a broad range of financial matters, including project finance, real estate finance, structured finance, asset securitization, overseas investments, real estate funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and non-performing loans (NPLs), covering both specialized and general finance. Building on her advisory expertise, she also actively handles financial disputes, including litigation and arbitration.

Since 2019, when a series of distressed private equity funds such as the Lime Fund and Optimus Fund faced mass redemption suspensions, Ms. Choi recognized the gravity of the situation based on her experience during the 2007 Lehman Brothers crisis. She promptly organized a task force and established a distinctive competitive edge in the fund market. As head of the firm's Distressed Private Equity Fund Response TF, she worked closely with accounting firms and overseas law firms to conduct due diligence on numerous overseas distressed funds and to advise on recovery of offshore claims. More recently, in response to the evolving financial environment, she has expanded and reorganized the team into the Alternative Investment Recovery Advisory TF. The team now provides advisory services in areas including recovery of overseas real estate-related claims, restructuring of distressed project finance (PF) sites, recovery strategies for creditor financial institutions in insolvency proceedings, and transactions involving financial institutions' special assets such as NPLs.

As head of the firm's Financial Regulatory Response Team, Ms. Choi leads a multidisciplinary group comprising former judges and prosecutors, financial regulatory specialists, attorneys with extensive experience at institutions such as the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Exchange, and certified public accountants. Through this collaborative structure, she has expanded the firm's capabilities in areas such as licensing and registration of financial institutions, regulatory inspections and sanctions, listing maintenance, accounting supervision, interpretation of financial laws and compliance, and financial investigations, litigation, and disputes.

Ms. Choi is also actively engaged in external activities, serving as a member of the Asset Management Committee of the National Housing Fund, the Investment Review Committee of Korea Post Finance, the Alternative Investment Committee of the Korea Federation of SMEs Mutual Aid ("nolan-usan"), the Sanctions Review Committee of the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Central Land Tribunal. She was recognized as a "Leading Lawyer" in Securities and Finance by Legal Times in 2022 and 2023.

Education

  • 1999Judicial Research and Training Institute of Supreme Court of Korea (28th)
  • 1996Passed the Bar Exam (38th)
  • 1991College of Law, Seoul National University
  • 1986Geochang Girls' High School

Experience

  • 2018 ~ PresentPartner, Barun Law LLC
  • 2022 ~ PresentMember, Central Land Appropriation Committee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
  • 2022 ~ PresentMember, Alternative Investment Committee of Yellow Umbrella Mutuals, Korea Federation of SMEs
  • 2021 ~ PresentMember, Finance and Investment Deliberations Committee of Korea Post
  • 2021 ~ PresentMember, Deposit Money Funds Operations Sub-Division of Korea Post
  • 2021 ~ PresentMember, Construction Industry Guarantee Operations Committee
  • 2021 ~ PresentLegal Counsel, Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation
  • 2021 ~ PresentMember, Legal Risk Management Committee, Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation
  • 2020 ~ PresentMember, Global Project Advisory Committee, Korea Securities Depository
  • 2020 ~ PresentMember, Sanctions Exemption Deliberation Committee of the Financial Supervisory Service
  • 2017 ~ PresentMember, Special Association for Adult Guardianship Legal Assistance of the Korean Bar Association
  • 2017 ~ PresentMember, Asset Management Committee of Housing Urban Fund, Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation
  • 2017 ~ 2020Member, Gyeonggi Provincial Land Appropriation Committee
  • 2012 ~ PresentArbitrator (construction field), Korean Commercial Arbitration Board
  • 2006 ~ 2018Partner, Jipyoung Law Firm
  • 2005 ~ 2006Partner, Jahayeon Law Firm
  • 1999 ~ 2005Associate, HMP Law (Hwang Mok Park)

Practice Areas and Representative Matters

Finance

M&A

Securities

StructuredFinancing

Due Diligence, Post-Management, and Dispute Response for Distressed Private Equity Funds

RealEstate

Construction

Cross-Border Investment

Publication(s)

- Measures to Facilitate Publicly Traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) (REITs Journal, Vol. 15, pp. 10-16), Korea Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, 2015

- Asset-Backed Securitization and True Sale: Based on Matters concerning the Corporate Reorganization Act (co-authorship with Yong Yeon CHO) (BFL, Vol. 6), Seoul National University Center for Financial Law, 2004


Press Release   

- [Maeil Business Newspaper, etc.] Barun Law and KEWIC signs business partnership agreement - 2023. 1. 6. 

- [The Bell] [Law Firms with Teams Specializing in Real Estate Matters] Barun Law operates teams specializing in certain matters and seeks to focus on debt collection and non-performing loans (NPLs) - 2023. 2. 13. 

- [E-Today] [Innovative Law Firm Series] (1) Vanguard in Recovering Overseas Distressed Funds… Barun Law's Alternative Investment Recovery Advisory Team - 2023. 8. 18.

- [E-Today] [Innovative Law Firm Series] (2) Classifying Investor Demand in Distressed Funds… Providing Tailored Advisory Services - 2023. 8. 18.

Qualifications/License

2016    Completed 2016 Adult Guardian Education and Training for Professionals provided by the Korean Bar Association

2001    Completed 2nd Real Estate Asset Management Export Program of the Korea Productivity Center and MK-Land Co., Ltd.

Profile

02-2010-4973

jinsook.choi@barunlaw.com

Recent Cases

[Finance] Barun completed due diligence of an Italian healthcare service in relation to a private equity fund

[Administration·Environment] Barun obtained a decision from an appeal court that the district court’s decision and the administrative agency’s disposition would be cancelled in favor of a waste treatment service provider on the ground that the court could not find any grounds for the administrative agency to have rejected the service provider’s application for designation as developer and the approval of the project plan and that the administrative agency had abused and deviated from discretionary power granted to it

[Finance · Administration] Barun Law advises asset management company H on obtaining MLIT’s concurrent business permit for asset management companies under Real Estate Investment Company Act (Attorneys: Choi Jin-Sook, Ahn Ju-Hyun, Jang Bo-Yun)

[Finance·Civil] Barun Law overturns a district court’s decision and wins the case at appeal court for the client in the lawsuit between local financial institutions over the sharing of the down payment worth about KRW10 billion that was forfeited during the purchase of overseas real estate.

[Finance·Civil] In the case where an asset manager and a securities company forfeited the down payment of about KRW10 billion in the course of purchasing a hotel in the U.S., Barun Law obtains the decision from the Supreme Court that the underwriter (i.e., the securities company) is responsible for the payment of the additional deposit.

[Intellectual Property] Barun Law helps a famous franchisor conclusively eliminate the risk of being under dispute with regard to its trademark, "Woori Halmae Tteokbokki"

[Financial/Civil] A case in which we obtain a favorable ruling by overturning the first trial court's ruling that recognized the termination of the agreement due to a change in circumstances because the target company was delisted after the signing of the stock purchase agreement

[Financial Advisory] Completion of Woori Bank’s Q2 Special Bond Sale Advisory (Approximately KRW 522.6 Billion)

[Financial Advisory] Completion of Advisory Services for Woori Bank Regarding the Sale of Special Bonds (Approx. USD140 million) in Q3

[Intellectual Property] Barun Law Wins a Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Involving a Well-Known Franchise

[Patent and Trademark Infringement Response] Barun Law Successfully Resolved the Issue of Project Duplication in a Nationally Funded Technology Development Program Before the Imposition of Sanctions

Major Practice Areas

Corporate Finance

Financial Transaction

Energy & Infrastructure

Project Financing

Construction & Real Estate

Finance

Anti-Corruption and Financial Economic Crimes

M&A/Corporate Governance

Financial and Economic Crime Response and Financial Regulations

Alternative Investments and Recovery Advisory Service