The Bar Association to Hold Symposium on Lawyer Introduction Platform Tomorrow

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Korean Bar Association (President Lee Jong-yeop) is hosting a symposium on issues related to lawyer introduction platforms and the Attorney-at-Law Act.

The KBA announced on the 2nd that it will hold a symposium titled "Algorithm Issues in Lawyer Matching Services and Review of the Attorney-at-Law Act" on the 3rd from 10 a.m. at the Justice Room on the 5th floor of the Seoul Bar Association Building in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

The symposium will begin with a greeting from President Lee, followed by congratulatory remarks from Kim Hyung-dong, a member of the National Assembly from the People Power Party, and Kim Jung-wook, president of the Seoul Bar Association.

The event is structured with a keynote presentation from 10:15 a.m. to 11:05 a.m., followed by a designated discussion from 11:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.

For the keynote presentations, Professor Jeong Shin-dong of the Department of Law at Gangneung-Wonju National University will speak on "Issues Concerning Algorithms Applied in Lawyer Matching Services," and Kim Ki-won, president of the Korean Legal Professionals Association, will present on "Illegality Issues of Lawyer Introduction Platforms under the Attorney-at-Law Act."

The session chair will be Kim Jin-woo, the KBA’s First Policy Director, and the moderator will be Han Young-hwa, the KBA’s Second Policy Director.

In the subsequent designated discussion, participants include Assemblyman Kim, lawyer Woo Ji-hoon of LKB & Partners, research fellow Seung Jae-hyun from the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice Policy, lawyer Kim Ki-hyun of Jungse Law Firm, and Cho Sang-hee, head of the social affairs department at Asia Economy.

The KBA stated, "This symposium is expected to serve as a wake-up call against various attempts to forcibly legalize lawyer matching platforms without thorough research and verification processes, despite numerous concerns and warnings from academia, politics, and the legal community."

However, it is not an easy situation for the KBA to find a persuasive justification, as the Ministry of Justice maintains its position that the representative lawyer introduction platform ‘Lotok’ is ‘legal,’ and recently, the Fair Trade Commission, which had been investigating Lotok for alleged violations of the Act on Labeling and Advertising following a report by the KBA, has cleared all charges. Meanwhile, the KBA is proceeding with disciplinary actions against members affiliated with Lotok.

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