D&A LLC and Lin sign merger deal; 397-lawyer D&L to launch at year-end (Breaking)

[Financial News] D&A LLC and Lin Law Firm have signed a merger agreement and will officially launch the combined firm, D&L, at the end of December. The merger is expected to create a major law firm ranked sixth in Korea by number of lawyers, potentially reshaping competition in the country’s major law firm market.
D&A LLC and Lin Law Firm held a merger agreement signing ceremony at Donghun Tower in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 9th and signed the agreement. The ceremony was attended by Lee Gyu-cheol, managing partner of D&A LLC, and Im Jin-seok, managing partner of Lin Law Firm, as well as partners and employees of both firms.
The agreement comes about six months after the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 29th of last April to pursue a merger. Since then, they have formed a merger committee and discussed matters necessary for integration, including organizational structure, personnel and finances.
The merger is being pursued on the basis of an equal integration that combines the management and professional capabilities of both firms. Lee Gyu-cheol, managing representative of D&A LLC, and Im Jin-seok, managing representative of Lin Law Firm, will both take part in the combined firm. Three registered representatives from Lin will join the five existing registered representatives from D&A LLC, forming an eight-member registered representative leadership team.
In particular, all three registered representatives joining from Lin Law Firm have backgrounds at Kim & Chang. Im, a graduate of the 20th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, specializes in finance; registered representative Kim Yong-gap, of the 28th class, specializes in intellectual property (IP); and registered representative Kim Jong-sik, of the 37th class, specializes in fair trade and government relations (GR).
The two firms aim to maintain the participation of their existing management while combining expertise across key practice areas to ensure stable operations after integration and strengthen their competitiveness in corporate advisory services.
The combined firm’s name has been finalized as D&L. It combines the English initial “D” from D&A LLC with the “L” from Lin. About 1,500 people took part in a naming contest held in September, submitting roughly 2,000 entries; the final name was selected through an employee vote.
As of October 31, D&L had 397 lawyers in Korea, making it the country’s sixth-largest major law firm by lawyer count. The two firms’ combined revenue for 2025 was 143.7 billion won, ranking eighth by revenue. South Korea’s legal market has maintained a competitive landscape centered on the so-called “Big Six,” including Kim & Chang, for more than 20 years. The merger is drawing attention for its potential impact on competition among top-tier law firms.
The merger is also significant for combining the firms’ litigation and corporate advisory capabilities. D&A LLC has strengths in litigation and regulatory response in areas including fair trade, serious accidents, labor and employment, and tax and customs. Lin Law Firm has built expertise in corporate advisory work covering mergers and acquisitions (M&A), finance, artificial intelligence (AI) and platforms, and intellectual property (IP).
After the integration, the firms plan to provide connected legal services ranging from designing and advising on corporate transaction structures to regulatory response, disputes and litigation. For overseas matters, they also plan to combine D&A LLC’s experience in U.S. investment and regulatory response and international arbitration with Lin Law Firm’s global legal network, expanding advisory services for companies seeking to expand overseas and foreign-invested companies in Korea.
The firms will also strengthen their client management system. The partner lawyer who takes on a case will oversee the work as a whole and regularly share updates on its progress, while the firms plan to make fee calculations more transparent. They will also pursue plans to extend their legal services beyond large corporations to midsize and small businesses, startups and individual clients.
Lee Gyu-cheol, managing partner of D&A LLC, said, “Because trust is at the heart of legal services, D&L will bring together expertise in areas such as litigation and advisory work in an integrated way, becoming a business partner that clients turn to first in their most difficult moments and that helps them find a way forward.”
Im Jin-seok, managing partner of Lin Law Firm, said, “D&L will carry forward the five ideas Lin Law Firm brings to its work—speed, accuracy, communication, getting things done and being at the cutting edge—and become a law firm that is first to answer the new questions clients face in the age of AI.”
The two firms plan to complete the merger registration by the end of next month and officially launch D&L. In January next year, they plan to hold a launch event and invite outside guests, including members and clients.
[email protected] Yu Seon-jun Reporter