Australian Law Awards: Immigrant Kang Ji Seok Is The First Korean To Win ‘Young Gun Of The Year’

For professionals in the Australian legal practice, winning in the Australian Law Awards is among the prestigious accomplishments they could have under their belts, and immigrant Kang Ji Seok has achieved just that for being awarded the "Young Gun of the Year."

The 27-year-old is the first Korean to win the honorary award, among the 25 top lawyers from the junior and senior ranks in Australia, noted Korea Times on Wednesday.

According to the Australian Law Awards on their website, the "Young Gun of the Year" award is given to deserving professionals with outstanding accomplishments in the first few years of their legal practice as the demonstration of great potential early on can shoot up a lawyer's success.

"I guess the side of me working hard on whatever I take on was recognized," noted Kang who has practiced law for four years.

Kang is currently working at Gilbert and Tobin, a premier corporate law firm in Australia that specializes in banking and finance, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. He was recognized for his performance in enterprise content management and private equity investment.

Lawyers Weekly reported on Aug. 17 that the Australian Law Awards received 300 submissions from law students to law partners and firms across 24 categories. Of the submissions, a final list was created by the prestigious event from 100 different law firms big and small.

The winners of Australia Law Awards' 24 categories were announced on Sept. 17 during a black tie event at The Westin Sydney.

Kang Ji Seok, also known as Samuel Kang, moved to Australia with his parents when he was still a teenager. His developed his fascination for the legal studies in his high school years, which led him to major in law in college at the Flinders University in South Australia.

Kang is currently taking up a master's degree at the Australian National University, while he teaches corporate law in University of Sydney's law department.

The "Young Gun of the Year" recipient is fluent in both English and Korean and says he often visits Korea for business purposes.

"Whenever I visit, it feels great," said Kang. "For me, it's definitely one of the countries I want to live in."

he added. "I hope that I could play a bridging role in corporate management between the two countries."