Biography • Arbitration

Kap-You (Kevin) Kim is head and founder of Bae Kim & Lee LLC's international arbitration and litigation practice group, which was the first dedicated practice group in the field in Korea and was recently named in Global Arbitration Review's GAR 30, a list of the top practices worldwide.

He has acted as counsel, presiding arbitrator, co-arbitrator or sole arbitrator in many dozens of international arbitrations under various rules including ICC, LCIA, AAA (ICDR), SIAC, HKIAC, LMAA, JCAA, UNCITRAL and KCAB. He served as lead counsel in a case that was named 'Arbitration Win of the Year 2010' by Global Arbitration Review.

Kevin is the secretary general of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). He also serves in a number of other prominent positions, including as a court member of the ICC, a board member of the AAA, a member of the panel of arbitrators of ICSID, and an editorial board member of Global Arbitration Review. He was also a court member of the LCIA from 2007 to 2012 and vice chair of the IBA arbitration committee from 2008 to 2010. Kevin also served as a member of the drafting subcommittee on the revision of the ICC Rules of Arbitration (2009-2011) and member of the subcommittee on the IBA Rules for the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration (2008-2010).

Domestically, he is president of the Korean Council for International Arbitration (KOCIA), a senior adviser and arbitrator of the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB), a vice president of the Korea Arbitrators Association, and a vice chair of the international arbitration committee of ICC Korea. He also served as chair of the international committee of the Korean Bar Association from 2000 to 2002.

Chambers Asia reports that Kevin is 'one of the most respected figures in the Asian arbitration space' and 'the best Korean lawyer in the field of arbitration in Asia', according to clients. He is the only individual in Korea to be recognised by Chambers as a 'Star Individual' in dispute resolution (2010-2011) and has also been repeatedly recognised in Who's Who Legal (2006-2012) and Asia-Pacific Legal 500 (2005-2012).

Kevin holds degrees from the Seoul National University College of Law (LLB, LLM) and Harvard Law School (LLM). He teaches part-time at the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea, the Yonsei Law School and the Korea University Law School.

He has authored a number of publications on international arbitration and litigation practice, and was general editor of Arbitration Law of Korea: Practice & Procedure (Juris Publishing, 2012), the first hornbook on arbitration in Korea written in English. He also authored Arbitration Law & Practice (Bakyoungsa, 2012), a hornbook on arbitration written in Korean.

Kevin is licensed to practise in Korea and New York, and speaks Korean (native), English (fluent), and Japanese (conversational).

Other Practice Areas

Kap-You (Kevin) Kim also features in the following practice areas:

• Commercial Litigation
• Construction