Mr. Han-Sik Hwang is a Managing Partner of S&L Partners. He started his legal career with an appointment on September 1, 1986 as a Suwon District Court judge. He served as a Presiding Judge of district courts, Presiding Judge of appellate courts, including the Seoul High Court, Deputy Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, and Chief Judge of the Gwangju District Court, the Seoul Eastern District Court, and the Busan High Court. After serving as a judge for 37 years and 5 months, he retired on January 31, 2024.

While serving as a research examiner for the Court Library, he was involved in the development of the legal search system for Supreme Court cases, reference literature, and statutes. Such legal search system has become today's Law and Information System.

Furthermore, as the first presiding judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul District Court, he contributed to the establishment of the warrant investigation system.

He studied intellectual property at Georgetown University Law School in the United States and earned an LL.M. degree.

Through his interest in intellectual property matters at various levels of courts, he has been recognized as an expert in the field of intellectual property law and has been appointed as a presiding judge of the Patent Court and the Intellectual Property Division of the Seoul High Court.

"He handled the Hello Kitty case, which recognized for the first time that "intellectual property infringement can be subject to general civil tort liability." He also heard a copyright infringement case brought by the Korean Music Copyright Association against Starbucks Coffee Korea. In the case, he overruled the decision of the court of first instance and decided that Starbucks Coffee Korea could not play music registered by the Association.

He also built his expertise in criminal matters, while serving two terms as a Presiding Judge of a criminal division of the Seoul High Court.

He submitted an unconstitutional law review to the Constitutional Court regarding Article 216(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which resulted in a unanimous ruling of unconstitutionality by all judges, and handled a case of sexual harassment of a medical student of Korea University and recognized the driver as a co-conspirator in a case of sexual assault by a backseat passenger. He also acquitted a Korean Japanese student in a retrial of the espionage case.

Civil, Criminal, Administrative, Intellectual Property

2011
1992
1981 Hanyang University School of Law, completed JSD Program
Georgetown University Law School (LL.M.)
Hanyang University School of Law (B.L.)

1981
1983
1983–1986
1986-1988
1988- 1990
1990- 1991
1991-1992
1992- 1994
1994-1995
1995
1995- 1997
1997-1999
1999- 2000
2000- 2002
2002- 2005
2005- 2006
2006- 2007
2007-2009
2009- 2012
2012- 2013
2013- 2014
2014- 2015
2015- 2017
2017- 2019
2019- 2024
2024 - Present

Passed the 23rd National Bar Examination
Completed 13th Judicial Research and Training Institute
Army Judge Advocate
Judge, Suwon District Court
Judge, Seoul Southern District Court
Judge, Chuncheon District Court, Wonju Branch
Law School (LL.M.), Georgetown University
Judge, Chuncheon District Court, Wonju Branch
Judge, Seoul Civil Court
Judge, Seoul High Court
Court Library Research Examiner
Judge, Seoul High Court
Presiding Judge, Jeju District Court
Presiding Judge, Incheon District Court
Presiding Judge, Seoul Central District Court
Presiding Judge, Seoul Northern District Court
Presiding Judge, Patent Court
Presiding Judge, Daegu High Court
Presiding Judge, Seoul High Court
Deputy Chief Judge, Seoul High Court
Chief Judge of Gwangju District Court
Chief Judge of Seoul Eastern District Court
Presiding Judge, Seoul High Court
Chief Judge of the Busan High Court
Senior Judge, Seoul Central District Court
Managing Partner, S&L Partners

“Jurisdiction of civilians by courts-martial” Journal of Military Law Vol. 3, 256, 1985.
"The Legal Nature of Finance Lease," Justice Data, Vol. 63 (Part 1), p. 55, 1994.
"The Law Clerk System of the United States Supreme Court," Justice Data, Vol. 65, p. 615, 1994.
"The Scope of Adjudication in Patent Revocation Lawsuits," Law Journal, Vol. 46, No. 6, p. 37, 1997.
"Administrative Litigation Practice Research: Right to Demand Seniority Scale Adjustment and Scope of Application of Note 3 of the Civil Servants' Remuneration Regulations [Appendix 22]," Administrative Litigation Practice Research, p. 311, 1998.
"Distribution and Gift Tax of Property Jointly Owned by Jongjung (familes of the same clan)," Administrative Litigation Practice Research, p. 299, 1998.
"Preservation Measures under the Corporate Reorganization Act," Justice Data, Vol. 86, p. 25, 2000.
"Utilization of Written Precedence Method and Early First Hearing Method," Justice Data, Vol. 96 (Part 1), p. 365, 2002.
"Direction of Systematizing Grounds and Standards for Detention from the Perspective of a Warrant Judge," Court Seminar Materials, p. 49, 2003.
"Magna Carta," Law Journal, Issue 733, p. 7, 2019.

Seoul Bar Association (admitted in 2024)

Korean, English, Japanese, German