Third-year University of Houston Law Center student Seungho Kang
Sept. 18, 2019 — University of Houston Law Center third-year student Seungho Kang recently began a three-month internship with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre where he is drawing upon his prior work experience while honing his arbitration skills.
“An internship with the SIAC is a great opportunity to experience international law and arbitration,” Kang said. “I will participate in various arbitration procedures, including receiving and processing arbitration cases, facilitating arbitrator selection by the parties, hearings, and facilitating the scrutiny of draft awards.
After taking Research Assistant Professor Julian Cardenas Garcia’s course in Transnational Investment Law and Arbitration, Kang decided to explore the subject further.
Kang had a robust career before law school, working as a construction manager for ExxonMobil projects, business development manager in Saudi Arabia, and corporate strategy manager of Samsung C&T.
“I was involved in many mega projects solving problems between multinational clients and many stakeholders who have varying interests,” he said. “In Samsung, I restructured market strategy for the entire North American regions to improve efficiency, including addressing various legal issues.”
His decision to pursue a legal education came from his time with Samsung, where he often encountered professionals in the international energy and infrastructure industries.
“I recognized that there will be more legal issues in international energy and infrastructure projects,” Kang said. “I could contribute in many ways, such as financing, contracts, alternative dispute resolutions and arbitrations by leveraging my experience.”
During his stay in Singapore, Kang will explore the intersection of his work expertise and legal knowledge in a research and writing project supervised by Cardenas.
“I would address differences between Asian and American arbitration in energy and infrastructure sectors to leverage my experience in SIAC” he said. “It may cover the current trends, rules, procedures, awards, enforcements, and case studies. These will be huge advantages to be specialized in international energy and infrastructure.
“I am so excited and thank the UH Law Center to have these great opportunities.”
