Korean Bar Association Launched Disciplinary Investigation on LAWTALK Lawyer LAWTALK Lawyers Claims Unfair

[Photo provided: Korean Bar Association]

Korean Bar Association has launched on investigation to discipline the lawyers who joined the online platforms such as ‘LAWTALK’ on the last 5th.

The Korean Bar Association said it will start an investigation on lawyers who join the online legal platforms in accordance with the revised Ethics of Lawyer and the lawyers advertisement regulations and after going through certain procedures in the future the disciplinary committee will determine the level of disciplinary action depending on the circumstances duration and degree of the violation.

LAWTALK which has been at the center of controversy is a platform that provides related lawyer information when the keywords of the case are searched and it has a system in which lawyers who paid advertisement fees get a chance to be exposed at the top of the search.

The Korean Bar Association regulated the online legal platform as an Office law firm saying that the platform structure is promoting career and expertise of lawyers without a device to verify the subscribed lawyers.

According to the Korean Bar Association requests for disciplinary action have been filed against about 500 lawyers at the Seoul Bar Association and about 1440 lawyers (some overlap) at the Law and Registration Review Committee of the Korean Bar Association.

The Korean Bar Association said The legal platform does not constitute an innovation industry because it does not use special new technologies and in fact it is only an Online broker that applies the lawyer brokerage business online which the current law strictly prohibits to both lawyers and non-lawyers criticizing the fact that there is no legal regulation on capital entering the business.

The Ministry of Justice also officially responded to the civil petitioners inquiry in July 2015 saying The business methods such as the online legal platforms in question are likely to violate the Attorney-at-Law Act and even if they do not receive fees from lawyers or consumers they are likely to violate the Bill of Ethics.“

Minister Park Beom-gye of the Ministry of Justice previously expressed his opposition to the bar associations launch of the disciplinary process on the 3rd saying It is a pity. Why we have to go unilaterally when there are reports that there are quite many lawyers on the platform and they are making positive progress.

Meanwhile LAWTALK (Law & Company) claims that it is a lawyer advertising service with no problem under the Attorney-at-Law Act and has asked the Constitutional Court to suspend the validity of the rule of the Korean Bar Association which prohibits to join the service. Since the unconstitutionality of the regulation has a decisive impact on the disciplinary action itself the disciplinary process is unlikely to be completed until the Constitutional Court makes a decision.

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