Seoul Bar Association to Hold Press Briefing Tomorrow on Lawyer Referral Platforms Including 'Lotok'

Seoul Bar Association meeting room. / Photo by Seoul Bar Association website capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Amid escalating conflicts between the legal platform 'Lotok,' which runs lawyer advertisements for a fee, and lawyer organizations, the Seoul Bar Association (President Kim Jung-wook), currently conducting an investigation procedure for disciplining lawyers affiliated with Lotok, will hold a press briefing.

As criticism grows that the Korea Bar Association and Seoul Bar Association's move to amend related regulations and discipline lawyers registered on legal platforms goes against public demand and market trends, this event appears to be arranged to highlight that Lotok's operating method violates the current Attorney-at-Law Act and to propose alternatives.

The Seoul Bar Association announced on the 18th that it will hold a "Press Briefing on Legal Interpretation, Legislative Direction, and Alternatives Regarding Lawyer Introduction Platforms" at 10 a.m. on the 19th at the Seoul Bar Association Hall in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

The Seoul Bar Association stated, "Recently, petitions requesting disciplinary action against members registered on lawyer introduction platforms have been received by the Seoul Bar Association, and investigation procedures are underway. Since the revised 'Regulations on Lawyer Advertising' by the Korea Bar Association came into effect on the 5th, issues regarding the illegality of lawyer introduction platforms have become more prominent."

It continued, "However, as there is still controversy over whether lawyer introduction platforms are legal, the Seoul Bar Association intends to correct misunderstandings and clearly communicate the illegality of lawyer introduction platforms through this press briefing."

Additionally, the Seoul Bar Association said, "As the responsible entity for protecting the public nature and independence of lawyers and creating an environment for providing high-quality legal services to the public, this press briefing will deeply analyze the illegality of lawyer introduction platforms and provide detailed explanations on desirable legislative directions and alternatives."

It added, "At this press briefing, President Kim Jung-wook and some members of the executive team will speak directly, and there will be unrestricted, free, and diverse Q&A sessions on the topic."

The Korea Bar Association revised the "Regulations on Lawyer Advertising" in May and initiated disciplinary procedures against lawyers registered on legal service intermediary sites such as Lotok.

The amended Regulation Article 5 (Restrictions on Advertising Methods), Paragraph 2 states, "Lawyers, etc., 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, registration 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) ▲ advertising acts violating other laws, the Lawyer's Code of Ethics, and association or local bar regulations (Item 6). Among these, Article 5, Paragraph 2, Item 1 is considered aimed at legal service intermediary sites like Lotok.

Currently, Lotok does not charge membership fees but receives advertising fees. The regulation prohibits requesting advertising or promotion from corporations that advertise lawyers for a fee.

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 offices. Violating this code by advertising constitutes a violation of Article 5, Paragraph 2, Item 6 of the regulations.

Opinions among legal experts differ on whether the services provided by Lotok violate the Attorney-at-Law Act.

One view holds that since Lotok does not receive money as a fee for directly introducing or connecting lawyers but merely receives advertising fees for advertising, it does not violate the Attorney-at-Law Act. The opposing view argues that regardless of the name or form of the advertising fee, it should be regarded as receiving money in exchange for introducing lawyers, thus violating the law.

This controversy was further fueled by the Ministry of Justice's reversed stance.

In the past, in 2015, the Ministry of Justice responded to a query on the legality of a service similar to Lotok via the National Petition System, stating, "Even if the operator of a legal service intermediary site does not receive commissions from lawyers or consumers for case acceptance, if membership fees are charged, it can be considered as compensation for introduction, referral, or inducement or as profit from work that only lawyers can perform, thus potentially violating the Attorney-at-Law Act."

However, recently, Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye has repeatedly stated that Lotok's service is legal.

Several investigations into allegations of Lotok violating the Attorney-at-Law Act have been conducted by investigative agencies, but all have reportedly resulted in no charges so far. However, new investigations into fresh allegations are ongoing, and lawyer organizations expect different outcomes this time, having secured various evidence proving Lotok's illegality.

As the Korea Bar Association and Seoul Bar Association push for disciplinary actions against lawyers registered with Lotok, many lawyers who paid advertising fees to Lotok have withdrawn their memberships.

Meanwhile, controversy arose when it was revealed that the Korea Bar Association and Seoul Bar Association, which have banned Lotok membership using disciplinary authority, have begun preparations to operate their own services providing lawyer information.

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