Greater Philadelphia
General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer with over two decades of experience navigating high-stakes legal, regulatory, and intellectual property challenges in the global life sciences sector. Currently leading an exceptional 35+ member global legal team for a publicly listed FTSE 100 pharmaceutical company with $3B+ in net sales and a presence spanning North America, Europe, and the MENA region. Serves as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Board, overseeing global legal strategy, cross-border manufacturing supply agreements, compliance, and corporate governance. Dual-qualified as an attorney in the United States (admitted in NY, NJ, IL, and the USPTO) and as a Solicitor in England and Wales. Broad expertise rooted in a 17-year tenure at an international law firm, including a decade as a litigation partner defending global biotech and pharmaceutical companies in high-stakes commercial, antitrust, and patent trials. Focused on aligning legal strategy with business priorities, managing risk in highly regulated environments, and supporting innovation at scale. Serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) and supports initiatives to expand access and advance diversity in the legal profession.
Serve as Group General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer for a publicly listed FTSE 100 pharmaceutical corporation, reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer and serving as a member of the Executive Committee. Advise the Board of Directors and executive leadership on global legal strategy, corporate governance, risk mitigation, and compliance across North America, Europe, and the MENA region. Manage a global legal function of 35+ professionals supporting an enterprise with $3B+ in net sales, 10,000 employees, and an international network of 35+ manufacturing and R&D facilities. Role encompasses the strategic direction of global corporate governance and compliance, including the oversight of corporate integrity initiatives and cross-border compliance frameworks across highly regulated international markets. Additionally, provides executive legal leadership for commercial strategy, managing international manufacturing supply agreements, alliance management, and global intellectual property strategies for more than 750 pharmaceutical and biological products. This oversight extends to steering cross-border M&A transactions, licenses, and strategic asset integrations.
Served as a litigation partner and senior advisor to global pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporations, specializing in high-stakes intellectual property, antitrust, and complex commercial disputes within the life sciences sector. Throughout my ten-year partnership, I led multi-disciplinary trial teams and served as primary litigator in high-exposure, multi-jurisdictional matters. Notable courtroom outcomes include securing multiple successful patent trial verdicts and a defense jury verdict in a landmark $1.7-billion antitrust trial. Beyond trial advocacy, my practice included regularly briefing and arguing complex statutory and constitutional issues before both federal and state appellate courts. In addition to active litigation, I provided strategic counsel to executive teams on lifecycle management, patent clearance, and regulatory compliance strategies for portfolios encompassing hundreds of small-molecule drugs and biopharmaceuticals. My representative roster of clients included global market leaders such as Pfizer, AbbVie, Teva, Sun Pharma, Hikma, and Abbott Laboratories. My work in these complex matters earned consistent industry recognition, including being named among the IAM Patent 1000 World’s Leading Patent Professionals, selection as one of the MCCA Rainmakers Who Always Shine, and milestone honors including the Illinois Law Journal’s 40 Under 40 and NAPABA’s Best Lawyers Under 40. Institutionally, I was selected for internal firm governance roles on the Diversity, Associate Evaluation, and Mentorship Committees. My commitment to the broader legal community includes public appointments such as the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Magistrate Judge Selection Committee, serving as President of the Korean American Bar Association (KABA), and holding leadership roles with the Asian American Bar Association (ABA) and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).