Hanjoon leverages his multidisciplinary environmental background to counsel clients on environmental issues.
He maintains an active practice focused on transactions in recycling and product stewardship, as well as waste management businesses and relevant environmental litigations. His work involves transactional matters of regulatory compliance, permitting, and providing regulatory representation and strategic advice to comply with chemical and materials restrictions and reporting obligations.
Hanjoon has experience advising clients on matters concerning the Waste Control Act, Clean Air Conservation Act, Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Control Act, Persistent Pollutants Control Act and Soil Environment Conservation Act. He advised corporate and private equity firms on strategic acquirers and entrepreneurs on merger and acquisition transactions in the field of used oil, food, and chemical recycling. He likewise has assisted acquirers and entrepreneurs with advising and navigating the acts to identify potential risks in groundwater and soil pollutions in business sites, to perform environmental due diligence, and to satisfy regulations in domestic and international laws, including regulations on pollutions and controlled toxic chemicals, such as asbestos, polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and persistent.
In addition, Hanjoon focuses on consulting corporations that are developing environmental technology and collaborating with the ELPS consulting firm to identify and adequately address regulatory issues. This work capitalizes on Hanjoon’s role as a joint appointment as a liaison of the ELPS law firm and the ELPS consulting firm and previous work at the World Bank as a Junior Professional Officer in Environment, Natural Resources & Blue Economy Global Practice. In that role, he screened, evaluated, and monitored proposals, particularly in plastic waste, circular economy, and pollution remediation, submitted to the PROBLUE Trust Fund, seated at the World Bank to promote marine diversity and tackle marine plastic issues.
Hanjoon also previously worked as a Research Assistant at the National Assembly Research Service, a legislative and policy research institute that drafts internal policy research reports and legislation review reports for Korean National Assembly representatives. Before becoming an attorney, Hanjoon worked as a field staff member in Nepal, Tunisia, and Fiji on solid waste management, land pollution, the blue economy, and international environmental regulatory frameworks regarding climate change.
EDUCATION
University Of Virginia (December 2023); Master of Arts in Economics
Boston University (May 2022); Master of Arts in Economic Policy
Sungkyunkwan University Law School (February 2018); Juris Doctor
KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) (August 2013); Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Experience
Associate, ELPS Law Offices (2023-Present)
Junior Professional Officer, the World Bank (2018-2020)
Research Assistant, the National Assembly Research Service, the Republic of Korea (2018)
Intern, Sub-regional Office for the Pacific, UN ESCAP (2015-2016)
International cooperation agent, Korea International Cooperation Agency (2010-2012)
Qualifications
Admitted to bar, Korea (2018)
Language
Korean, English
Activities, Honors, and Awards
Runner-up, in the 40th Anniversary Research Paper Competition of the Export Import Bank of Korea (2016)
Honorary Environment Correspondent at the Korea Environment Corporation (2015)
Holder of Best Overall Submission Award of WTO/FTA Moot Court (2015)
Holder of the Grand Prix awarded by the Undergraduate Research Participation Program (2009) at KAIST; project title: “Developing a Continuously Measurable BOD Sensor Based on Microbial Fuel Cell.”
