By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Becoming a lawyer in Korea has been considered a sure-fire ticket to wealth and honor. But the age-old legacy is no longer true, especially for ``unaffiliated'' lawyers.
The number of active lawyers is expected to double in seven years following the opening of the legal market in keeping with the Korea-US free trade agreement signed last year. Under the new law school system, 2,000 new lawyers will start practicing each year starting 2012.
Last March, the Seoul Bar Association initiated a fundraising campaign after hearing the heart-wrenching stories of the wives of two late attorneys who had to peddle on the street to make a living.
``It was the first time funds were collected to help family members of deceased lawyers. It would have been unimaginable in the past. But it's true now,'' an association official said.
The number of ``bankrupt'' lawyers has been on the increase. The first case was reported in 2006 and one or two lawyers file such a petition with the court each year, according to the Seoul Central District Court.
``In most cases, they went insolvent after failing to repay debt of less than 50 million won ($50,000),'' a court officer said.
A total of 10,176 lawyers were registered with the Korean Bar Association in August, compared with 5,595 in 2002. The Korean Bar Exam that produces 1,000 new would-be lawyers every year contributes to the rise. The two to three hundred who score the highest are often designated as either prosecutors or judges, while those remaining have no choice but to serve as an independent or in-house lawyers.
The number of lawsuits an independent lawyer handles has been falling
In 1997, an independent lawyer processed 57.2 lawsuits on average a year. The number plunged to 36 in 2004 and 31.5 in 2007, according to the latest data available. It means each lawyer deals with only 2.6 lawsuits per month on average.
They earn roughly seven million won for each case, but often spend at least 15 million won or more to hire two or three secretaries and a researcher, maintain an office and promote business, the association said.
``It's not that difficult to see a lawyer shutting down his or her office after failing to take any lawsuit for months, leaving huge liability,'' said an independent attorney whose office is situated in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul, a district in which the nation's major law firms and hundreds of independent lawyers' offices are located.
In contrast, those belonging to law firms are in their heyday.
The six top law firms here ㅡ Kim & Chang, Kwangjang, Bae, Kim & Lee, Hwawoo, Shin & Kim and Yulchon ㅡ account for more than half of the 1.3 trillion won law market. The six law firms retain only about 10 percent of Korean lawyers.
``A law firm is much more reliable than an independent lawyer. So I have commissioned my lawsuit to a law firm although it costs more,'' a petitioner said.
Civic groups and legal experts see all of these phenomena as part of inevitable steps to widen public access to lawyers at a reasonable cost. But it also creates side effects.
``The number of trial lawyers taking on frivolous lawsuits only for money has increased profoundly. After the U.S. introduced its law school system, `ambulance chasers,' which refers to attorneys who try to take advantage of others' misfortune to solicit business appeared. A similar phenomenon is expected in the near future,'' a senior judge said on condition of anonymity.
Despite the rise in the number of lawyers, customers still complain that legal services are still too expensive in Korea.