The FTA and the Market for Lawyers in Korea

The market for lawyers in Korea appears to have tightened up, as Korean law firms anticipate increased competition under the trade agreement: Law Firms Strive For Survival, Lawyers Welcome Open Legal Market (Dong-a, January 8, 2008):

...the number of new lawyers hired by the six major law firms is likely to amount to 130 this year, posting a higher employment figure than last year, 93.

Such trend also appears in the status of the overall law firm industry. According to the Judicial Research and Training Institute (JRTI), the number of lawyers who found jobs immediately after graduation was 180 in 2005, 181 in 2006 and 273 in 2007....

The story says the increased demand is due to the trade agreement with the U.S.:

Sources from the labor market analyze that the cause of such trend is "the effect of opening the legal market."

Detailed schedules of opening the legal market have been revealed following the conclusion of KORUS Free Trade Agreement, causing the domestic law firms to increase the employment to strengthen competitiveness and influencing the labor market in the legal circle as encouraging factor.

"Law firms had the jitters due to the opening of legal circle after the conclusion of the KORUS FTA," said an official from Kim & Chang. "The only way for the domestic law firms to survive now is to seek enlargement and specialization.”

When the KORUS FTA comes into effect, American law firms will be permitted to open a branch in South Korea and within two years from the enforcement, American and Korean law firms will be allowed to build partnership. Within fiver years from the enforcement, establishing a joint law firm and hiring local lawyers will be permitted.

Thus, the domestic law firms that have to compete with large American law firms have to enlarge their business to confront their competitors.

One take away, a comparison of conditions before and after the effective date of an agreement might understate some types of impacts.