Legislation ministry explores ideas on AI legal info with tech firms

Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu, center, poses with the heads of nine legal tech firms and other participants after a meeting at EL Tower in southern Seoul's Seocho District, Friday. Courtesy of Ministry of Government Legislation

The Ministry of Government Legislation held a meeting with the heads of nine legal tech firms, Friday, to explore ideas for utilizing the ministry’s vast law database for legal services based on generative artificial intelligence (AI).

During the meeting, the ministry said it will open 600,000 cases on the government’s statutory interpretations of laws and special administrative appeals from various ministries via its Korean Law Information Center’s open application programming interface (open API). An open API is publicly available programming code or software that allows software applications to communicate with each other.

The ministry plans to finish this by December to help legal tech firms to use the Korean Law Information Center’s data for developing their services.

“Generative AI is integrating into the legal field worldwide rapidly, boosting lawyers’ work efficiency on tasks such as legal research, summarizing, reviewing and drafting legal documents,” Law&Company CEO Kim Bon-hwan said during the meeting. “To develop a competitive legal AI, we need access to precise and extensive public data more than in any other field.”

Law&Company is the developer of LawTalk, a mobile platform providing legal counseling services which has staged legal battles for more than eight years with domestic lawyers.

BHSN CEO Lim Jeong-geun also emphasized the need for a high-quality, large-scale public database in the development of legal AI services. He expressed hope for further expansion of access to legal information and court decision data. BHSN develops an AI-based management tool for corporate contracts and legal affairs.

“We should double our efforts to establish a foundation for the advancement of the domestic legal tech industry, as we live in a world where AI is becoming a part of everyday life,” Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu said. “The ministry will continue our support for legal tech firms through law amendments and holding regular consultations.”

After holding the first meeting with four legal tech-related companies in December 2021, the ministry has been visiting legal tech firms regularly to listen to their voices. A ministry official said discussions are underway regarding the direction of amending relevant laws to support the development of the domestic legal tech industry.

The ministry will continue focusing on promoting AI-based legal tech. It plans to host its annual Asian Legislative Experts Symposium (ALES) in November, and this year’s theme will be cooperation opportunities for the development of legal tech in the Asian region. Minster Lee requested legal tech firms’ interest and participation in the ALES.