Attorney Sang-min Kim (Photo by Seong-hyun Baek) Sang-min Kim (46, Judicial Research and Training Institute, 37th Class), a lawyer at BAE, KIM & LEE who was named a 'Best Lawyer' in the 'Law Firm Consumer Report' for the second year running, likened himself to a 'ninth-inning closer.' In a reality where client expectations keep rising and lawyers are scrutinized ever more rigorously, he says he provides his services with the resolve 'not to allow even a single moment's mistake.' Having built expertise in labor and employment law over many years, Mr. Kim aims to go beyond after-the-fact problem-solving to a service that proactively points clients in the right direction. We heard his work philosophy and his stance as a 'Best Lawyer' in a meeting room at BAE, KIM & LEE in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Attorney Sang-min Kim (Photo by Seong-hyun Baek) - How do you feel about being named a Best Lawyer two years in a row? "It's truly an honor. 다빈치릴게임 I saw the phrase in an article that '2024 was no fluke,' and receiving that kind of assessment makes it all the more meaningful. Above all, I'm deeply grateful to the clients who trusted me with their work." - What do you think is the secret? "I try to look at a case at the same eye level and from the same position as the client. As I work, I naturally get emotionally invested - sometimes I end up more fired up than the client. I try to be the client's legal 'bodyguard,' and I think clients appreciate that." - How would you define law-firm work? "I think legal service is, in the end, a service industry. Just as a restaurant serves delicious food, or a salon delivers the style you want, we have to meet the client's expectations. But that service has to have sincerity, and it has to be backed by substance. Otherwise, it becomes a house of cards and won't last." - Was there a principle you especially kept as a junior? "What I valued most was, in the end, 'doing a lot of work.' To come in on Monday at 9 a.m. 릴게임신천지불새 with no work left for that week, I'd keep working over the weekend and try to finish things so I could start Monday clean. That way I could take on more new work that week. "On weekends I made a habit of reviewing the week's work. I personally created folders by issue and organized the results. To save something in a folder, you naturally look at the issue once more, and I'd review the parts my seniors had corrected. As this accumulated, I could respond much faster and more accurately when I later took on similar cases. "Above all, my senior lawyers at BAE, KIM & LEE taught me generously and gave me plenty of room to run free. Thanks to that atmosphere, I could work with confidence, without being intimidated. I'm truly grateful to the firm." - What led you to choose labor and employment law? "When I first encountered labor law, I felt there were so many unresolved problems. It struck me that this field had plenty of room to grow. When I first joined BAE, KIM & LEE's labor team, it had five members; now it's nearly 40. 황금성사이트 That number alone shows how much the field has grown, and it makes me feel I chose well back then." - What are your thoughts on the Consumer Report? "These days clients truly have eagle eyes. The slightest mistake can instantly break trust. So, to use a baseball analogy, I approach my work like a ninth-inning closer, determined to make no mistakes and give up not a single run. When I see feedback like 'tries to lecture,' 'is different before and after being retained,' or 'lacks expertise,' it makes me look back and ask whether I've ever done the same." - What are your plans going forward? "I want to go beyond simply solving problems after the fact and take on a role of proactively pointing clients in the right direction. I want to move toward preventing disputes - proposing, for instance, 'There's an issue like this; let's check how it's being managed within the company.' I'll keep the existing work as a baseline while striving to provide more forward-looking legal services." Ahn Jae-Myung, Reporter ized ever