Major Law Firms Turn Cold Shoulder to Regional Law School Graduates... "Let's Move to Seoul" Sparks Retake Trend

Published 05 Jun.2025 07:05(KST)

In 2025, it was confirmed that 77.2% of new lawyers at the ten largest law firms in South Korea were graduates of so-called 'SKY' law schools (Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University), raising questions in the legal market about whether non-SKY law school graduates are being excluded. Not only the top ten law firms but also most prominent law firms show a preference for graduates from law schools located in Seoul and the greater metropolitan area, making it extremely difficult for graduates from regional law schools to even approach the "threshold of opportunity."

The deeply rooted "regional university crisis" in Korean society is no exception in the law school sector. The number of regional law school graduates hired by major law firms is extremely small. According to an analysis by the Law Times of the law school backgrounds of 272 new lawyers at ten major law firms in 2025?including Kim & Chang, Bae Kim & Lee, Lee & Ko, Shin & Kim, Yulchon, HwaHyun, Jipyong, Barun, DR&AJU, and Dongin?only three (1.10%) were from regional law schools. Specifically, Kim & Chang hired one graduate from Wonkwang University, while Bae Kim & Lee selected one each from Pusan National University and Chonnam National University. In 2023, Jipyong hired two (0.72%) from Pusan National University. In 2024, three were hired?one each from Pusan National University, Kyungpook National University, and Kangwon National University (1.18%). However, even Jipyong, which had previously hired regional graduates, filled all 11 of its new lawyer positions in 2025 with SKY graduates.

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A professor who previously served as dean of a regional law school stated, "For graduates of regional law schools, getting hired directly by a major law firm is not even considered a realistic goal," adding, "Since opportunities are not given in the first place, they are forced to look toward public sector positions such as judicial research clerks or prosecutors, or to practice law in their local communities." He also pointed out, "As this situation worsens, more students are choosing to retake the law school entrance exam or transfer to law schools in Seoul." Another professor at a regional law school commented, "The hiring criteria of law firms are opaque, so it is unclear whether they consider undergraduate grades or other factors more heavily," and added, "The recruitment process is so closed that it is difficult to encourage students or provide them with guidance."

Against this backdrop, Bae Kim & Lee operates a special recruitment program for third-year students at regional law schools. Among major law firms, it is the only one making efforts to implement diversity as part of its HR policy. Bae Kim & Lee receives recommendations of one outstanding candidate from each regional law school and selects one or two from among them. In practice, this can be seen as an experiment in "regional balanced talent recruitment." In 2025, Bae Kim & Lee hired two lawyers through this program?one each from Pusan National University and Chonnam National University. However, this program is not mandatory; candidates are only selected if suitable applicants are available, leading some to argue that diversity-conscious hiring has not yet been fully institutionalized.

In the United States, there has been a move for several years to institutionalize diversity and inclusion in recruitment. An increasing number of law firms are adopting "DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion)" as a hiring principle, and a culture has developed that places greater importance on an individual's background, practical skills, and social contributions than on their law school of origin.

According to the 2024 annual report of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) in the United States, in 2023, women accounted for 50.3% of associate lawyers at American law firms. Among all associate lawyers at U.S. law firms, 30.15% were people of color, and about 5% identified as LGBTQ. Analysts say these figures demonstrate that U.S. law firms prioritize fairness of opportunity over educational background and strive to reflect the diversity of society as a whole.

Sonia Sotomayor, a female and person of color who serves as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, received the "Lifetime Liberty Achievement Award" at the 10th annual TIPS conference of the American Bar Association (ABA) held in Washington, D.C., on May 8. In her acceptance speech, Justice Sotomayor said, "Diversity is important in itself," adding, "It instills in everyone the belief that 'I, too, can be in a position to help others.'"

The original objectives of the Korean law school system?regional balance and securing social diversity?are effectively being nullified at the recruitment stage. The phenomenon of "law school retakes" is intensifying, and the gap between Seoul and the regions, as well as between SKY and non-SKY law schools, is widening. Not only are there no official blind recruitment elements in law firm hiring, but there is also virtually no system for quantifying and managing diversity metrics.

A lawyer responsible for new lawyer recruitment at a major law firm said, "The timing for hiring new lawyers at major law firms is getting earlier, and sometimes candidates are selected as early as their first or second year of law school," adding, "During this process, the law school of origin tends to be reflected from the document screening stage." He stated, "We do not assign separate scores for law school background," but also acknowledged, "When we look at the overall evaluation process, the final hiring rate for SKY graduates is higher."

Another lawyer with many years of experience in recruiting new lawyers at major law firms commented, "Ideally, selection should be made without distinguishing between Seoul and regional law schools, but separately recruiting from regional law schools could also create new issues, so it is a sensitive matter." He added, "It is time to consider together how to provide fairer opportunities to more students."