Foreign lawyers and legal consulting firms have been provided with legal grounds to operate in Korea.

The National Assembly on Monday approved a bill submitted by the Justice Ministry last October, aiming to allow foreign law firms to work in Korea, according to ministry officials yesterday.

The bill, which is to come into effect after a 6-month period from promulgation, will legalize overseas law firms in Korea as early as September.

Law firms or lawyers coming from a country that has ratified a free trade agreement with Korea may be proxy for the cases involving the laws of their native country, according to the new bill.

They, however, may not stand proxy for local lawsuits or plead in local courts.

Those who wish to work as lawyers in Korea are required to have three years of career experience in their country and a qualification certificate issued by the Korean justice minister.

They also need to register themselves at the Korean Bar Association.

In order to help legal consumers with the differentiation, foreign lawyers and firms have to include "Foreign Legal Consultant" and "Foreign Legal Consultant Firm," respectively, in their official business title.

Individual lawyers are to stay in Korea for a minimum of 180 days and may not enter a partnership with a local lawyer, judicial scrivener, patent attorney, public accountant, tax accountant or tariff accountant.

The law will only be applied to the branches of law firms that are active abroad, aiming to prevent the introduction of unqualified lawyers or firms, said a Justice Ministry official.

"The approval of this bill is the fulfillment of one of our duties derived from the KORUS FTA," he said, referring to the Korea-U.S. free trade deal waiting for ratification by the legislatures of both countries. "The new bill is also expected to improve legal services offered to Korean nationals."

The KORUS FTA includes progressive plans on opening up the legal market on sides.

By Bae Hyun-jung



(tellme@heraldm.com)