Brian Rupp and Jae En Kim report on the new law that opens up the Korean legal market: Korean Legal Services Set to Open Up (Law.com, Feb 26). They describe the new law as "the first measure the Korean government has taken to comply with the free trade agreement..."
The law opens the legal market in three stages:
First, it will allow foreign lawyers to establish operations in South Korea as "foreign legal consultants" and advise clients on the law of their home jurisdictions, public international law and international arbitrations. Second, within two years from entry into force, foreign law firms will be allowed to enter into specific cooperative agreements with Korean law firms to handle cases that involve both domestic and foreign legal issues. Finally, within five years, foreign law firms will be permitted to establish joint ventures with Korean law firms and hire Korean-licensed lawyers as partners or associates.
The law only applies to lawyers and law firms in countries with which Korea has a trade treaty. So the U.S. can take advantage of it if the trade agreement is ratified, and if not, not.
The article goes on, providing a useful overview of the new law.
The pay-off:
Despite these restrictions [limits on the liberalization, described previously in the article - Ben], the act appears to be a significant step toward opening the legal services market in Korea. U.S. companies looking to conduct businesses in Korea may benefit enormously from the change. In the past, it was necessary for such companies to hire a Korean law firm because foreign attorneys were prohibited from executing legal documents on behalf of their clients in Korea. Now companies will have available to them fully integrated, one-stop international law firms that can meet the local needs as well as provide them with global know-how and resources. These changes could reduce the cost and inconvenience to both Korean and U.S. businesses in locating and retaining experienced U.S. counsel in Korea. The availability of U.S. law firms in Korea may also provide U.S. companies with a certain comfort factor that could further facilitate Korea's long-sought foreign investment activity.
Perhaps the greatest benefit to U.S. companies will be the caliber of legal services that will be available in Korea. There is currently a disproportionately small number of Korean lawyers who are experienced in sophisticated finance or corporate transactions.... Opening of the legal services market means transfer of best practices and expertise of international law firms. Competition will also catalyze the creation of larger law firms with a capacity to handle large-scale transactions. With an open market, U.S. businesses can expect significant improvement in the overall quality of legal services in Korea.
The authors:
Brian C. Rupp is a partner, and Jae En Kim is an associate, in the Chicago office of Drinker Biddle & Reath. Rupp is head of the electrical patent team in the intellectual property practice group. From 1995 through 1998, he lived and worked in Seoul, South Korea, as patent counsel with Samsung SDI and Samsung Techwin. Kim worked as a summer clerk in 2005 with the Korean law firm Kim & Chang.
Other posts on the opening of the legal market may be found here: Services .
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