A draft Bill to be put before the Korean National Assembly later this year could finally enable foreign law firms to open offices in one of the world's most closed but sought-after legal markets.


The Bill on foreign legal consultants would allow foreign lawyers to set up branch offices in South Korea and advise clients on the law of their home jurisdictions, public international law, and international arbitrations.



However, they would be prohibited from advising on domestic civil or criminal litigation or process, forming coalitions or joint ventures with Korean law firms, or co-operating with or hiring Korean lawyers.



Before being allowed to practise in Korea, foreign lawyers must have been qualified for three years in their home jurisdiction and must fulfil a 180-day residency requirement. In addition, non-Korean law firms may not bring associates from their own firms to Korea, but can only employ foreign legal consultants already based in the country.



Non-Korean lawyers will not be allowed to call themselves foreign lawyers or English solicitors, but must use the title 'foreign legal consultants', and their firm's Korean branch must be called 'foreign legal consulting office', followed by the name of the main office and the home jurisdiction of the firm. Any breach of these requirements may lead to imprisonment for up to three years.



The Bill is based on a concession made by the Korean government in 2003 during the World Trade Organisation's Doha talks and accepted by the member states in 2005, but foreign lawyers are sceptical about whether this partial opening of the market will be workable in practice.



James Walker, a partner at Clifford Chance's Hong Kong office, said: 'After many, many years, this at last seems a step forward, but the current draft is very restrictive and it is doubtful as to whether many international firms could operate successfully under these terms.'



Alison Hook, head of international at the Law Society, also welcomed the draft Bill, but added: 'We think that what they have produced leaves a lot to be desired. We're going to make some suggestions as to how they could make it more flexible and help them better achieve their goal of becoming more competitive.'



It is thought that the Bill will not be affected by the collapse of the Doha talks earlier this month.



Catherine Baksi