International arbitration veteran David MacArthur is moving from Tokyo to Seoul, joining the partnership at South Korean Big Six firm Yulchon as co-leader of the disputes practice. His move comes at a time when Yulchon has been aggressively bulking up its disputes offering.
A prominent litigator, MacArthur joined Anderson Mori & Tomotsune in 2021 to help them set up a dedicated international arbitration group. As co-head of the practice, he was the first non-Japanese lawyer to hold such a post in a top Japanese firm.
He has previously spent fifteen years in South Korea as a senior foreign attorney at Bae, Kim & Lee.
MacArthur brings a significant body of arbitration experience to Yulchon. He has represented clients from various countries in dozens of major cross-border arbitrations in automotive, shipbuilding, telecommunications, online gaming and medical devices industries.
In his new role, he will oversee the growth of the disputes practice with his fellow co-heads Jeonghye Sophie Ahn and Eun Nyung Lee. Lee moved from KL Partners last year.
Yulchon has recently been investing heavily in its disputes practice, adding new partners such as former Korean prosecutors Wook Jin Rha, Woo Young Choe and Sang Mook Kang, Lee, and former SK Biopharma GC Jooyup Chae.
