City law firms may steal a march on their US rivals by gaining access to the potentially lucrative South Korean market first, it has emerged.

A bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and South Korea could be signed as early as March, opening what is expected to be a three-stage process for the liberalisation of the country’s legal services market. The US reached such an agreement almost two years ago, but this has yet to be formally ratified.

Foreign law firms are not allowed to set up in Korea and foreign lawyers are not allowed to practise there.

The Law Society has been lobbying to ensure UK law firms can enter the South Korean market at least as soon as US firms and under the same terms and conditions. Chancery Lane’s international division is running a joint seminar in Seoul next week with the Korea Bar Association and British Embassy.

Alison Hook, the division’s head, said: ‘We are pleased that the EU-Korea FTA negotiations are nearing completion. This will open up an important market – South Korea is the world's tenth largest economy with important industrial, technology and shipbuilding interests as well as important investments in the UK.’

The legal services agreement reached between South Korea and the US, on which the EU agreement will be based, envisages a three-stage liberalisation. The first stage enables foreign law firms to establish branch offices offering advice in foreign and international law. The second stage, beginning no later than two years after that, would permit a foreign law firm to fee-share with a Korean firm. The final stage, to begin no later than five years after the agreement was signed, would permit Korean and foreign lawyers to go into partnership and allow foreign law firms to employ Korean lawyers.

Society research suggests that at least 16 UK firms would be interested in entering the market directly.