Bar Association Launches Investigation to Discipline Lawyers Joined with Lotok... "Merely Online Brokers, Not an Innovative Industry"

"Disciplinary Measures to Be Determined Based on Violation Details, Duration, and Severity"
"No Use of Special New Technologies, Cannot Be Considered an Innovative Industry"

Professional Field-Specific Platforms.
Graphic by Joo Ryong Lee

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] As announced, the Korean Bar Association (President Lee Jong-yeop) initiated disciplinary procedures on the 5th against lawyers who joined the legal platform, Lotoc.

Amid the situation where Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye expressed the position that Lotoc is a "legal service" and hoped that the Bar Association would refrain from disciplinary actions, the Bar Association's decision to proceed with disciplinary procedures is expected to cause significant repercussions.

According to the Bar Association, currently, the Seoul Bar Association has received disciplinary referral requests for about 500 lawyers, and the Bar Association's Legal Order Violation Supervision Center has received about 1,440 (some overlapping) complaints regarding lawyers who joined online legal platforms.

The number of lawyers registered with Lotoc, which was 3,966 at the end of March, decreased by 28% to 2,855 as of the 3rd, but the possibility of mass disciplinary actions against lawyers exceeding 10% of the total practicing lawyers (about 24,000) cannot be ruled out.

On this day, the Bar Association stated, "Starting from the 5th, investigations into lawyers who joined online legal platforms will begin in accordance with the revised Lawyer's Code of Ethics and Lawyer Advertising Regulations. After going through the prescribed procedures, the Disciplinary Committee will determine the level of discipline based on the circumstances, duration, and degree of violations."

The Bar Association revised the 'Regulations on Lawyer Advertising' in May.

The revised Article 5 (Restrictions on Advertising Methods), Paragraph 2 states, "Lawyers and others shall not request advertising, promotion, or introduction from, or participate or cooperate with, persons (individuals, corporations, or other organizations) who engage in the following acts," listing prohibited advertising methods.

The prohibited advertising methods include ▲ receiving money or other economic benefits (such as referral fees, brokerage fees, commissions, membership fees, subscription fees, advertising fees, regardless of name or regularity) from lawyers or consumers to connect lawyers and consumers or to advertise, promote, or introduce lawyers for legal consultations or cases (Item 1) ▲ other advertising acts violating laws, the Lawyer's Code of Ethics, and the rules of the association and local bar associations (Item 6).

Article 5, Paragraph 2, Item 1 of the regulation can be seen as targeting legal service brokerage sites like Lotoc.

Currently, Lotoc does not charge a membership fee but charges advertising fees, and the regulation prohibits requesting advertising or promotion from corporations that receive advertising fees and advertise lawyers.

The Bar Association also added a clause to the Lawyer's Code of Ethics stating that lawyers shall not participate in or join as members in electronic media-based businesses such as applications that introduce lawyers or legal services. Violations of this ethical code correspond to violations of Article 5, Paragraph 2, Item 6 of the above regulation.

On this day, the Bar Association pointed out, "Lawyers and their work are independent professions that cannot be subordinated to capital and power due to their high public nature of human rights advocacy and social justice realization, unlike other professional fields. They bear various regulations and heavy responsibilities according to diverse social demands. Nevertheless, profit-driven legal platform operators are acting as illegal online managers contrary to the purpose of the Lawyer Act, effectively subordinating lawyers to command and control."

They added, "Legal platform operators are pure private companies that prioritize profit and promote the careers and expertise of registered lawyers without proper verification mechanisms. Their business methods undermine trust in lawyers and legal services, which require a high level of public nature, and pose a significant risk of misleading consumers."

The Bar Association further stated, "Currently, legal platform operators are promoting themselves as if they are 'innovative industries,' but in reality, they are merely applying lawyer brokerage, which is strictly prohibited by current laws for both lawyers and non-lawyers, within an 'online' framework. They do not use any special new technology other than being online platforms, so they cannot be considered innovative industries."

The Bar Association also referenced a past response from the Ministry of Justice to an inquiry about the possibility of starting a business similar to Lotoc, stating that it "may violate the Lawyer Act."

The Bar Association pointed out, "In July 2015, the Ministry of Justice formally replied to an inquiry stating that business methods like the problematic online legal platforms are highly likely to violate the Lawyer Act and, even if no fees are charged from lawyers or consumers, are likely to violate the Lawyer's Code of Ethics." (Refer to our exclusive report on the 4th: [Exclusive] Ministry of Justice: Legal service brokerage sites charging membership fees violate the Lawyer Act... 2015 authoritative interpretation)

The Bar Association said, "Currently, there are no legal regulations on capital entering the online legal platform business, and it is dominated solely by private capital pursuing high profits. Given the precedent where Roanbee, the country's No. 1 case law search and legal professional information service company founded in 2000, was acquired by the multinational media group Thomson Reuters in 2012, we cannot guarantee that legal platform businesses with increased market share will not fall into the hands of large or foreign capital."

The Bar Association emphasized, "Because the legal market requires stronger public nature than any other profession, lawyers bear various regulations and obligations and are not mere merchants. The situation where capital dominates the legal market cannot be left unattended."

They continued, "We express deep concern over voices that defend legal platforms without properly understanding that their business methods, operating online platforms without using 'innovative technology,' disregard the purpose of the Lawyer Act."

Finally, the Bar Association stated, "To protect the public nature of the domestic legal market, maintain a sound legal market, and protect consumers, we clarify our position once again and intend to continue substantive responses to disruptions in the legal market order caused by online legal platforms in accordance with the revised Lawyer's Code of Ethics and Lawyer Advertising Regulations," expressing their determination to discipline lawyers who violate advertising regulations.

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