Michael Hay

Michael Hay was a British-French lawyer who was best known for his legal work within North Korea, where he opened the first, and to date only, foreign law firm in North Korea. Hay was voted one of Asia's Leading Lawyers three years consecutively by the readers of Asialaw Magazine, in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Hay was multilingual, speaking English, French and Korean.

Career Hay first worked as a member of the New York Bar in private legal practice in New York City. He came to South Korea in 1990, joining leading Seoul firm Bae, Kim and Lee with a specialization in arbitration. specifically foreign businesses (predominantly from Europe and Southeast Asia) that attempted commerce with North Korea, as well as embassies and aid organisations based in Pyongyang.

During his time in North Korea, Hay specialised in arbitration, handling some 50 cases in Pyongyang while working alongside 12 North Korean colleagues. Hay was well known among businesses and NGOs as one of the few lawyers to have ever successfully won commercial disputes in North Korea's opaque legal system. Hay noted that North Korea had an advanced arbitration system even compared to developed countries, and foreign companies faced an even playing field in dispute resolution. Arbitration cases could be concluded in as little as six months. According to Hay, North Korea maintains an advanced dispute resolution system in order to facilitate foreign investment.

Hay, Kalb & Associates suspended operations in August 2016 due to the effects of foreign sanctions against North Korea affecting the firm's business and clients; the majority of the firm's clients were foreign investors who had struggled with sanctions placed on North Korea, with the sanctions rendering the firm and its business unviable to continue. At the time of its suspension of operations, the firm had accrued thousands of hours experience negotiating between DPRK entities and foreign clients.

After spending 12 years working in North Korea, and after a short break, Hay returned to working in South Korea in late 2018, joining Hwang Mok Pak, a law firm in Seoul, as their in-house North Korea expert. He left the firm in November 2019.

Death Hay died in Seoul in February 2020 at the age of 58. Unmarried and without children, he is survived by six siblings.