Attorney Matt Hu

Photo: Art Sidner

New Ulm: Attorney Matt Hu

When Sung Woo “Matt” Hu was growing up in South Korea, he would watch American crime dramas and dream of working in a U.S. law office himself one day. Now, three decades later, he’s made that dream come true.

Hu grew up in the Korean city of Masan. When he finished fifth grade, he and his mother moved to Paris, where he spent the next two-and-a-half years studying at an international school and learning both English and French.

“It was a really interesting and exciting time of my life,” he said. “It opened my eyes to the outside world and showed me that there were so many things to learn.”

Once he returned to South Korea, he resumed his studies and did well enough at school to qualify for the Seoul National University College of Law, the country’s top university.

“In Korea, if you’re smart, you either become a doctor or go to law school,” he explained. “But I didn’t really enjoy the study of law until I came to the U.S. and studied at an American law school.”

After finishing his studies in Seoul in 2011, Hu applied to study in America. He was accepted into the Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he studied before transferring to the University of Minnesota. While he was still in school, he took a summer internship at Kim & Chang, the largest law firm in Korea. But he knew that he wanted to stay in America to practice. Luckily, right after graduation, he was offered a job at the New Ulm law firm of Gislason & Hunter, which he started in August 2014.

Hu practices several types of law, with tax law being his favorite. He said the plan is to continue working at the law firm for the foreseeable future, as long as he’s able to obtain the necessary work visa.

“I came here because of the potential opportunities, and that’s exactly what I’m experiencing now,” he said.

Gislason & Hunter, LLP
Address: 2700 South Broadway
Telephone: 507-354-3111
Website: www.gislason.com