Rotok files constitutional complaint against Bar Association... "Legal platform ban regulation is unconstitutional"

60 Lawyers File Constitutional Complaint... "Highly Likely Unconstitutional"
"Infringement on Freedom to Practice Profession... Ignoring Citizens' Rights"

Legal service platform 'Lotok' logo. [Photo by Ro & Company]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] Law & Company, the operator of the legal service platform 'Lotoc', announced on the 31st that it will file a constitutional complaint regarding the 'Regulations on Lawyer Advertising' by the Korean Bar Association. Earlier, on the 3rd of this month, the Bar Association revised its internal bylaws to restrict the use of legal platforms such as Lotoc through a board meeting.

The petitioners consist of Law & Company and 60 lawyers. This includes Lotoc lawyer members as well as lawyers affiliated with the Bar Association who intend to use Lotoc services in the future.

According to Law & Company, the Bar Association's revised 'Regulations on Lawyer Advertising' have potential unconstitutionality in four major aspects: the principle of prohibition of excess, the principle of protection of trust, the principle of equality, and the principle of clarity. In addition, Law & Company raised the principle of legal reservation and the free economic order clause as grounds for unconstitutionality.

Through the petition, Law & Company argued, "The revised advertising regulations restrict the freedom of occupation for lawyers to conduct business by receiving cases through services like Lotoc," adding, "The purpose put forward by the Bar Association in revising the advertising regulations is neither legitimate nor appropriate, and the infringement was not minimized."

Discrimination against other platforms such as Naver was also raised as a ground for unconstitutionality. Law & Company stated, "This revision is unconstitutional in that it discriminates between lawyers using Lotoc and those using other advertising platforms," and added, "The Korean Bar Association announced in an additional press release that advertising on platforms like Naver, Google, and Daum is permitted."

Furthermore, Law & Company pointed out that "the application criteria of the revision are ambiguous and can be applied arbitrarily." The company stated, "Participation or cooperation with the platform is a disciplinary requirement, but there is no clause defining what constitutes participation or cooperation," and added, "The Bar Association said that Lotoc services are prohibited, but advertising by lawyers on their own websites, YouTube, blogs, or portals is not prohibited."

Nam Kijeong, a lawyer at Law Firm Kanghan who led the drafting of the petition, emphasized, "I do not understand why online advertising platforms are seen as disrupting fair case acceptance order," and said, "The revision is clearly an unconstitutional regulation." Lawyer Nam added, "Labeling the efforts of young lawyers to promote themselves and communicate with clients on online advertising platforms as market disruption or unfair case acceptance is not an attitude befitting a professional organization."

Kim Bonhwan, CEO of Law & Company, said, "The Bar Association's advertising regulations are an outdated regulation that ignores the rights of the public to receive legal assistance by resolving information asymmetry," and added, "We will confirm the unconstitutionality of the revision through a constitutional complaint and protect the rights of Lotoc users."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.