Holland & Knight Strengthens Public Company, M&A and Korea Practices with Addition of Jean Lee in Newport Beach
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (August 11, 2026) – Holland & Knight continues to expand its Corporate, M&A and Securities practice in California with the addition of Jean Lee as a partner in the Firm's Newport Beach office. A highly regarded cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) attorney, Ms. Lee will also play a key role in the Firm's Korea Practice, further strengthening its ability to advise Korean and multinational clients on sophisticated domestic and international transactions. Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Lee was a partner at Goodwin Procter.
Ms. Lee represents public and private companies, as well as private equity funds, in a broad range of corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, take-private transactions, divestitures and corporate governance. She has developed long-standing relationships with clients across the technology, life sciences and automotive-semiconductor sectors, as well as a number of the top financial advisors who are active in these industries.
In addition, Ms. Lee's arrival bolsters Holland & Knight's market-leading Korea Practice, expanding the Firm's capabilities in advising Korean and international clients on high-value, cross-border M&A, strategic investments and other transformative corporate transactions. Combined with Holland & Knight's deep bench of lawyers serving clients across Korea, the U.S. and key global markets, her arrival reinforces the Firm's commitment to delivering seamless, cross-border counsel for clients pursuing opportunities in one of the world's most dynamic economies.
Ms. Lee's addition to the platform comes on the heels of a flurry of hires in California and across the country. In the last two months, the Firm has added Partner David Jargiello in San Francisco, as well as Partners Jessica Berkowitz in Dallas, Monica Kwok and David Powers in Boston, and Aaron Russ in Richmond.
"Jean is a highly trained M&A attorney whose experience at leading corporate practices has exposed her to sophisticated private equity, strategic and public company transactions, including complex take-private matters and other high-value M&A engagements," said Stephen Dietrich, practice group leader of Holland & Knight's Corporate, M&A and Securities Section in the Central/West Region. "She is exceptionally well-suited to support our sponsor-backed clients and manage complex deal execution, and we are excited about the role she will play in expanding our private equity M&A capabilities on the West Coast."
"Jean will further enhance our capability to execute M&A and capital markets transactions for Korean public and private companies, private equity and hedge funds, asset managers and government-sponsored entities across the technology, energy, automotive and other industries," said David Cole, Holland & Knight's Korea Practice chair. "Korean investor appetite for high-quality U.S. assets continues to grow rapidly notwithstanding recent tariff stability, and Jean will provide Korean investors with years of insight, experience and judgment exercising market-recognized transactions throughout the U.S."
"Holland & Knight's standing as one of the most active firms in the M&A and private equity space gives me an exceptional platform to continue advising public and private companies and private equity funds," Ms. Lee said. "I'm excited to bring my experience to Holland & Knight and to collaborate with colleagues across the Firm's practices to deliver seamless service on our clients' transactions, while contributing to the continued growth of the Firm's Korea Practice Team."
Ms. Lee earned a J.D. degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, an MBA degree from the University of Southern California and a B.S. degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Recently recognized as the Private Equity Law Firm of the Year by the Global M&A Network and M&A Law Firm of the Year by M&A Advisor, Holland & Knight regularly ranks among the leading M&A and private equity law firms in reputable, benchmarking league tables published by Bloomberg, LSEG, Mergermarket, PitchBook and The Deal. Through the HK Deal Flow℠ program, Holland & Knight facilitates deal leads for clients and prospective clients by matching acquisition or capital raising opportunities with buyers and investors.