"D&L" has been selected as the grand prize winner in a public naming contest for the law firm that will result from the merger of Daeryook & Aju and Lin. The two firms are giving priority consideration to adopting it as the official name of the combined entity.
The merger committee for Daeryook & Aju and Lin said on the 14th that "D&L" received the most votes in the contest judging and was chosen for the grand prize.
The name combines the "D" from Daeryook & Aju's English initials with the "L" from Lin. Judges and employees praised it for symbolizing the connection and harmony between the two firms while carrying on their existing identities and intuitively expressing their aim of becoming a global law firm. It also drew favorable reviews for conveying a concise yet refined impression to overseas corporate clients.
Daeryook & Aju and Lin are giving priority consideration to adopting "D&L" as the official name of the combined firm. The two sides plan to hold a merger signing ceremony this month and complete the merger registration afterward.
The contest was organized to publicize the merger and to find a new name reflecting the identity and forward-looking values of the combined firm. About 1,500 people took part in the four-day contest, submitting some 2,000 entries, including duplicate submissions. Because more entries were received than expected, the judging took longer and the announcement of the winner came about a month later than originally planned.
The merger committee narrowed the candidates to 10 through screening, then decided the final winners through a vote open to all employees of both firms.
A total of 11 entrants submitted "D&L." Under contest rules giving precedence to the earliest submission when multiple similar entries are received, the committee named Son Jung-hyun, who submitted the name first, as the grand prize winner. The remaining entrants who proposed the same name will receive gift certificates under a special prize created outside the original awards plan.
The first runner-up prize went to Park Sun-yong, who proposed "ON," meaning the firm is always awake for clients 24 hours a day. The second runner-up prize went to Baek Hye-min, who submitted "IEUM," meaning connecting trust with clients.
Prize money is 5 million won for the grand prize, 3 million won for the first runner-up and 2 million won for the second runner-up.
"We congratulate the launch of the new combined firm and will take to heart the expectations and affection contained in each of the names the public sent us," Daeryook & Aju and Lin said. "On that basis, we will make a strong leap forward as a new law firm."
The legal community is watching closely because the combination pairs Daeryook & Aju, among the top 10 firms by revenue, with Lin, a mid-sized firm posting explosive growth. Once the merger is completed, it will immediately reshuffle industry rankings. A simple sum of the two firms' revenue based on last year's value-added tax filings comes to 143.7 billion won, which would move them up to eighth place.
The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding for the merger in April this year. "This merger is a strategic decision to build a new type of full-service law firm model capable of responding to rapidly changing industry structures and the global environment," said Lee Kyu-chul, managing partner at Daeryook & Aju, adding that the goal is for the merged firm to surpass 200 billion won in revenue next year. Lim Jin-seok, managing partner at Lin, said, "Based on the innovation DNA inherent in Lin and Daeryook & Aju, we will combine expertise and organizational capabilities to leap forward as a law firm that leads the market."