Lawyer Park Min-cheol leaves Kim & Chang after 18 years to launch his own firm

After 18 years at Kim & Chang, lawyer Park Min-cheol is leaving the major law firm to start an independent practice. He announced the move in the first video on his new YouTube channel, titled “I Left Kim & Chang.”

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I wanted to stand beside people, not beside companies.

Park said it was his 22nd year commuting to Gwanghwamun and his 18th year commuting to Kim & Chang, but he would no longer make that morning journey. He described the departure as more than a separation from a company, calling it a farewell to a large part of his life.

Park said working on Kim & Chang’s TMT team was one of the best choices he had made. On his final day, he said goodbye not only to colleagues and junior lawyers, but also to building cleaners and restaurant kitchen staff. Junior colleagues praised him as someone who was both unlike a typical lawyer and deeply lawyer-like, and he cried at his farewell gathering.

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It became difficult to keep working according to other people’s instructions and guidelines.

He said his new practice would probably handle fewer TMT matters after 22 years in the field. Instead, he expects to take on more divorce, entertainment and general cases. Explaining why he chose to open his own firm despite receiving other offers, Park said, “I wanted to stand beside people, not beside companies.” He added that he had reached a point when he found it difficult to keep working according to other people’s instructions and guidelines.

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When a result has to be delivered, there are areas I cannot control. I think it is important to help clients understand, within our relationship, how to deal with an outcome that cannot be guaranteed. Doing our best must, of course, be the premise.

Park also said lawyers cannot control every factor in cases where an outcome must be delivered. The challenge, he said, is helping clients understand what cannot be guaranteed while still doing everything possible. He plans to continue his broadcasting work and joked that his new YouTube channel would “rise dramatically and become king.” Park became known for advising couples facing divorce crises on entertainment programs, including tvN’s You Quiz on the Block, SBS’s Same Bed, Different Dreams 2 and My Little Old Boy.

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The YouTube channel will also rise dramatically and become king.