Member

​ J. H. Choi is a founding partner of Choi & Kim, the largest maritime law firm in Korea. He was formerly a partner at the maritime section of Kim & Chang in Korea and was a foreign legal consultant at Holman Fenwick & Willan in London. 

He has been actively involved in all aspects of maritime, marine insurance, and international litigation and arbitration practice over 30 years since 1984 and has personally handled most of the major marine casualties in Korea. He has represented most of the major P&I Clubs, foreign and domestic shipping companies and insurance companies, and International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund.

J. H. Choi is a member of the Korea Maritime Law Association as an advisor, and the Korea Insurance Law Association as a director. He was a professor at Yonsei University, College of Law specialized in Maritime Law and Commercial Law and a lecturer at the Judicial Training Institute of Korean Supreme Court on maritime and insurance law. 

Career 

Admitted to bar: 1981, Korea; 1991, New York. Seoul National University (LL.B., 1978; Ph.D., 2001); University of Michigan, Law School (LL.M., 1990); Arbitrator, Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, 1996-; Mediator, Korean Financial Supervisory Service (Insurance Disputes, 2009-2013); Legal Counsel for Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (1999). Member: Korean Bar Association; Seoul Bar Association; New York Bar Association; 

Writings and treatise  

Articles: "A Study on the Civil Liability and Compensation for Pollution Damage Caused by Ships" (Doctoral Dissertation); "Arrest of Vessels in Korea"; "Validity of Identity of Carrier Clause"; "Auction Sale of Cargo", "Limitation of Liability of Shipowners", "Validity of Unknown Clause", "Abandonment in Marine Insurance", "General Principles of Marine Insurance", and others.​

C. J. Kim is a founding partner of Choi & Kim, He has been actively involved in a full range of maritime, insurance and aviation practice over 30 years. In particular, he has handled various cross-border commercial litigations and arbitrations. 

Career

Admitted to bar: 1981, Korea. Seoul National University (LL.B., 1978); Graduate School of Law, Kyung Hee University (LL.M., 1999; Ph.D., 2004); 

Chairman, Korea Insurance Law Association (2015-2017)

Vice Chairman, Korean Maritime Law Association (2001-2010)

Arbitrator, Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (1993-Present)

Mediation Commissioner of Seoul High Court (2007-2022)

Chairman, Sewol Ferry Disaster Investigation Commission (2017-2018)

Writings and treatise

Articles: "A Study on Legal Status of a Freight Forwarder and a Multimodal Transport Operator" (Doctoral Dissertation); "The Demise of the Time Charter? A Korean Law Perspective"; "Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims in Korea"; "Market Manipulation and BBB Policy"; "Product Liability in Korea"; " Principle of Good Faith in a Letter of Credit Transaction"; " Liquidation of Hanjin Shipping and Its Insolvency Law Implication "; and others.  

He joined CHOI & KIM in 2013. He mainly handles marine casualties, bill of lading and charterparty disputes and international trade. 

Career
 

Admitted to bar: 2005, Korea. Seoul National University (B.A. 1998)

Judicial Research and Training Institute, Korean Supreme Court (2005-2008).

Member: Korean Bar Association; Seoul Bar Association.​

2018 Swansea University, LLM, International Maritime Law​

Career

Korea University, College of Law(LL.B. 2006)

Pusan National University, School of Law(J.D. 2014)

Korea University, Graduate School(LL.M., Commercial Law, 2014)

Korea University, Graduate School(Ph.D course, Commercial Law, 2020)

Swansea University, LLM, International Maritime Law(2022) 

Member: Korean Bar Association; Seoul Bar Association

Choi & Kim(2014 – Present)

Writings and Treatise

“A study on Guaranty Insurance”

Regular contributor to the maritime column of Korea Shipping Gazette (2023 – Present) 

Practice Areas and Cases

Shipping – Dry Matter

▪ Advised on and represented in matters of bill of lading, charterparty, joint operation agreement, terminal agreement, ship management agreement, and other variations of contracts as well as standard terms and conditions

Oil Pollution 

▪ Represented the shipowners of oil tanker “W” and her P&I Club upon her allision with the oil berth in Yeosu and the resulting oil spill

▪ Represented the shipowners of oil tanker “S” and her P&I Club upon her collision with a vessel in the exclusive economic zone and the resulting fire and oil spillage

▪ Advised the shipowners of vessel “S” and her P&I Club upon her grounding in the Solomon Islands and the resulting oil spillage

Fire/Explosion

▪ Represented the shipowners of chemical tanker “H” and her P&I Club in relation to her explosion

▪ Represented the shipowners of car carrier “A” and her P&I Club in relation to a fire that occurred in the Pacific Ocean

▪ Represented the shipowners of container carrier “K” and her P&I Club in relation to a fire

▪ Represented the shipowners of container carrier “K” and her P&I Club in relation to a fire that occurred in Thailand

Collision/Allision

▪ Represented the shipowners and P&I Club in relation to a number of collision cases

▪ Represented the shipowners of vessel “S” and her P&I Club in relation to the allision with a berth in Port Gwangyang

▪ Represented the shipowners of vessel “G” and her P&I Club in relation to the allision with a berth of Port Busan

▪ Represented the shipowners of vessel “C” and her P&I Club in relation to the collision with another vessel and the resulting allision with a berth of Port Ulsan

Sinking/Grounding/Wreck

▪ Represented the shipowners of vessel “E” and her P&I Club in relation to her sinking, oil removal, and wreck removal order

▪ Represented the shipowners of vessel “O” and her P&I Club in relation to her grounding and her removal

▪ Represented the shipowners of car carrier “G” and her P&I Club in relation to her sinking in the Pacific Ocean

▪ Represented the shipowners of vessel “S” and her P&I Club in relation to her grounding in Brazil 

Cargo Claims & Mis-delivery Claims

▪ Represented the shipowners of car carrier “G” and her P&I Club in relation to a cargo shift incident in Germany

▪ Represented company “H” as a major party to the “Mis-delivery Incident” in relation to merchant trade of Japanese scrap iron

▪ Advised on and represent in various cargo claim matters such as off-spec incidents of tanker carriers 

▪ Advised on and represent in various demurrages/detentions claims 

Shipping – Miscellaneous

▪ Represented the shipowners of vessel “G” and her P&I Club in relation to cocaine smuggling in vessel “G”

▪ Advise on and represent in various ship arrests and/or auction of vessel cases

▪ Advise on and represent in various crew claims

▪ Represented the bankruptcy/rehabilitation creditors and bankruptcy/rehabilitation mortgagees in cases of bankruptcy/rehabilitation proceedings of a domestic shipping company/shipyard

▪ Advise in relation to Marine Transportation Act and P&I Club Act

▪ Advised and represented a domestic shipping company in business succession matters

Shipbuilding 

▪ Advise on and represent in matters of shipbuilding contracts and Refund Guarantees

▪ Advise on and represent in a number of matters of defects in vessels

▪ Represented company “K”, which owns patents in cargo holds for LNG vessels

Insurance 

▪ Advised and represented (re)insurance company in various matters that range from D&O insurance, fire insurance, reinsurance, etc.

International Commercial Disputes

▪ Represent in international commercial arbitrations

▪ Represent in enforcement procedures of foreign arbitral awards and/or foreign court judgments