Bar Association's 'Lotok Lawyer Disciplinary Action' Appropriate? Ministry of Justice to Review on 20th

The Ministry of Justice is expected to announce as early as the 20th its decision on whether the disciplinary actions taken by the Korean Bar Association (KBA) against lawyers registered on the legal service platform 'Lotoc' were justified.

The headquarters of Law&Company, the operator of Lotok [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 7th, the Ministry of Justice's Lawyer Disciplinary Committee plans to review the objections filed by 123 lawyers disciplined by the KBA for joining Lotoc on the 20th. If deemed necessary, the committee may postpone the conclusion for further discussion after the review.

In May 2021, the KBA amended its advertising regulations to discipline lawyers who joined legal service platforms such as Lotoc, claiming these platforms violated the Attorney-at-Law Act. Consequently, from October last year to February this year, the KBA disciplined 123 lawyers registered on Lotoc in five rounds, citing violations of the association's bylaws. The disciplinary measures ranged from a minimum reprimand to a maximum fine of approximately 15 million KRW.

The lawyers who filed objections reportedly appointed Kang Nam-il, a former Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Lee Jeong-seok, a former presiding judge of the Seoul High Court, as special attorneys.

Meanwhile, the Fair Trade Commission imposed fines of 1 billion KRW each on the KBA and the Seoul Bar Association in February, issuing corrective orders, stating that the KBA's disciplinary actions excessively restricted lawyers' business activities. However, the court granted a suspension of execution requested by the KBA, and the main judgment is pending.

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