Tai Heon Ha

Practice Areas

Mr. Tai Heon Ha is a partner at Shin & Kim, and his principal areas include financial/securities disputes, company disputes, bankruptcy/corporate rehabilitation, civil/provisional disposition, criminal cases, administrative litigation, medical disputes, and so on.

Mr. Ha amassed extensive experience serving as a Supreme Court judicial researcher and as a high court judge in the main courts including the Seoul High Court, Seoul Central District Court, Seoul Administrative Court, Seoul Western District Court, Suwon District Court, Cheongju Branch Court, etc., not only in general civil and criminal departments, but also in the international transaction and commercial departments, the bankruptcy department, the senior judge department, the civil appeal department, the voluntary settlement department, and the medical department, etc. While serving as a judge, he earned a master's degree in law at Harvard Law School in the United States, and published a number of articles on company law, administrative law, provisional dispositions, and criminal justice.

As the first judge with a dentist license in Korea, Mr. Ha is the first lawyer with a medical background to have served as a chief judge. He joined Shin & Kim in March 2021.

Since joining Shin & Kim, Mr. Ha successfully led the historic dispute involving network usage fees with an OTT company and handled other high-profile cases, such as representing a virtual asset exchange in a dispute over the delisting of a virtual currency, a pharmaceutical company in a dispute over revocation of a drug price notification, a president of a major hospital in a dispute over his stake in the hospital, and a Korean internet company in a management control dispute, winning in all cases. Mr. Ha has also played a key role in major criminal trials, such as obtaining an acquittal in a criminal case involving the use of undisclosed material information (insider trading) under the Capital Markets Act, overturning the first instance court decision in multiple criminal cases involving the revocation of medical license, obtaining decisions in favor of his clients on appeal, and obtaining dismissals in warrant examinations during major criminal trials.

Based on these achievements, Mr. Ha has been recognized as a Leading Lawyer in the litigation field by Legal Times every year since 2022. In 2025, Ha was also recognized as a Leading Lawyer in the litigation field by Chambers Asia, a globally renowned law firm ranking institution.

Career

Shin & Kim LLC (2021.3-Present)

Judge, Seoul High Court (2021.2)

Research Judge (Chief Judge), Supreme Court of Korea (2019)

Research Judge (Civil/Criminal), Supreme Court of Korea (2017-2018)

Judge (Administrative), Seoul Administrative Court (2015-2016)

Judge (Senior, Bankruptcy, Planning/PR), Suwon District Court (2011-2014)

Judge (Senior, Bankruptcy, Administrative, Criminal, Planning/PR), Cheongju Branch Court (2008-2010)

Judge (Settlement, Medical), Seoul Central District Court (2006-2007)

Judge (International Transaction/Commercial), Seoul High Court (2005)

Judge (Civil, Settlement), Seoul Western District Court (2004)

Judicial Research & Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea (2002-2004)

Head of Seoul Gwanghye Dentist (2001)

Public Medical Officer, Pyeongtaek Health Clinic (1998-2001)

Intern and Residence, Orthopedic Department, Seoul National University Hospital (1998)

Dentist License in Korea (1995)

[Professional Affiliations]

Arbitrator, Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency (2015-Present)

Tsinghua University Policy CEO 32nd Year (2020)

Yonsei University Business MBA (AMP) 71st (2011)

Konkuk University Medical MBA (GMAMP) 1st (2008)

Professional Memberships

Korean Bar

Licensed Dentist, Korea

Publications

Chambers In-Depth Overview – Dispute Resolution: Litigation 2026: South Korea (Co-authored)

A Study On The Contempt Sanction for Violation of a Court Order in U.S Law - Focused on the Contempt Sanction to Secure the Effectiveness of Indirect Enforcement), Korea Civil Enforcement Academic Association, 2013

A Statistical Analysis of Deviations in Sentencing, Gyeonggi Central Lawyers Association Journal, 2013

A Study on the Practical Problems of Execution in Preliminary Injunction Korea Civil Enforcement Academic Association, 2009

Several Considerations of Sentencing Guideline about DUI and Unlicensed Driving, Cheongju Branch Court Criminal Case Research Study, 2009

A Study on the Theoretical and Practical Problems in Determining Fair Value of Shares, Law Journal, 2008

Various Problems of Civil Complaints in Administrative Litigations, Chungbuk Lawyers Association Journal, 2008

Pathologic Findings in Cephalogram, Journal of Dental Focus, 1997

The Evaluation of Sella Turcica on the Shape and Volume in Class III Patients: The Possibility of Sella Turcica as Class III Growth Prediction Indicator, Korea Orthopedic Academic Association, 1997

Education

Work Highlights

Represented a client and won in a dispute between telecommunications carrier and an OTT company over internet network usage fees

Represented a virtual asset exchange and won in multiple cases involving the delisting of a virtual currency

Represented a pharmaceutical company and won a claim for cancellation of a drug price notification

Represented and won in a dispute between co-presidents of a major hospital over their stakes in the hospital

Represented a Korean internet company and won in a management control dispute

Represented a client and obtained acquittal in a criminal case involving insider trading using undisclosed material information under the Capital Markets Act

Represented a client and won a claim for revocation of cancellation of medical license

Represented clients and obtained dismissals in major arrest warrant examinations

Advised on multiple real estate development projects

Published a series of medical columns in a dental magazine