Jee Ha Kim

I am a Corporate Partner in the London office of our International Corporate Group, focusing on the following horizontals of M&A, private equity, venture capital, joint ventures, restructurings, business integrations and carve-outs. My speciality is in the DeepTech vertical which includes AI, Semiconductors, Internet of Things, Data Infrastructure and Quantum Computing, among others. I bring together a wealth of insight and industry experience from my previous roles as Director of Legal at Arm, a Nasdaq-100 listed global semiconductor powerhouse, and as Head of the General Counsel’s Office at the SoftBank Vision Fund, the world’s largest tech venture capital fund.

I persevere in delivering solutions to clients which are focused, fit-for-purpose, and commercially practical. My extensive experience and knowledge from major tech and venture capital environments, especially from working for many years alongside C-suite executives, top investors and sophisticated legal teams at the cutting-edge of their industry, enables me to provide insightful and relevant advice that show a deep understanding of the client's key concerns and priorities.

Above all, I am a big believer of horizon scanning and thrive in spotting market trends and people connections in order to create business opportunities for my clients and colleagues alike – at the right moment in the spatial time continuum of the global tech movement.

I am admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales and I read Law at the University of Oxford. I was born in South Korea and I am fully bilingual in Korean and English. Naturally, I am spear-heading the firm’s Korea Practice from London with a special focus on Korean Culture (Hallyu) businesses and enterprise scaling across UK and Europe.

I adopt two key principles in all lines of my work:

Triple AAA (Assertive, Affirmative and Agile)

Having been myself a client for dozens of top US and international law firms over many years, I know clients look for lawyers who can solutionise and make clear-cut recommendations backed by risk mitigation measures. I am highly Assertive during my negotiations and Affirmative in my advice, while constantly reading the room to ensure that I stay Agile and pivot accordingly when circumstances change.

Triple HHH (Hard-work, Humility and Humour)

Nothing beats Hard-work and the best teams work hard, together. Teamwork is silky-smooth when we adopt and exhibit Humility in all our interactions, upholding mutual respect regardless of role, position and background. And what is the point of anything when you can’t find Humour to pick each other up when the going gets tough? The tough gets laughing.

Prior to my senior in-house roles, I was a senior associate at a reputable US law firm in their Private Equity and Corporate M&A practice with a focus on Tech and Infrastructure sectors, advising global clients on a wide range of multi-jurisdictional, cross-border and leveraged mergers & acquisitions, investments, financings, restructurings, joint ventures and consortium-led transactions. During this time I worked in London and also completed international secondments in Luxembourg and Hong Kong.