PRACTICE RIGHTS: support for enabling foreign firms to enter partnerships with local practices

Moves to enable foreign lawyers to practise in South Korea have been put on hold pending the outcome of a bilateral free-trade agreement it is negotiating with the US, the Gazette has learned.


But the delay may result in a better deal that could see foreigners able to form partnerships with local law firms within three years.


The draft Bill on foreign legal consultants was expected to be put before the Korean National Assembly by the end of this year (see (2006) Gazette, 3 August, 4). However, the fourth round of the bilateral US/Korea talks is not expected to be finalised until late spring 2007, which would delay the presentation of the Bill until after that.


The current draft of the Bill would allow foreign lawyers who meet strict qualifying requirements and adhere to stringent operating rules to open branch offices and practise on a limited basis. Any breach could put them at risk of penal sanctions.

Alison Hook, head of international at the Law Society, said that since the collapse of the Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks in the summer, the Korean Ministry of Justice favoured bilateral free-trade agreements. Trade commissioner Peter Mandelson will visit Korea later this year on behalf of the EU.





Ms Hook said that many believed the Korean government wants to see further liberalisation than the Bill provides, and would seek to enable foreign firms to enter partnerships with local practices within three years.



'The impression I get is that the Korean government is still very keen to liberalise the legal market, but the collapse of the Doha round has made it more complex and we'll now have to pursue it through the EU free trade talks,' said Ms Hook.



Nick Emmerson, an associate at Eversheds and chairman of the British-Korean Law Association, which was launched last month, said: 'The Bill is not proving to be popular among the major firms in Korea, but it is gaining support at the mid and lower levels and we're given to understand that 60% of Korean lawyers are in favour of it.'



Meanwhile, the Law Society is seeking feedback on the Bill from UK firms with an interest in moving into the Korean market, and aims to pass on the views of domestic lawyers to the Korean Ministry of Justice.



Catherine Baksi