Things may be changing soon. Presently there are no U.S. law firms in Korea, but things will change if the Korea-U.S. FTA is passed. Presently numerous American law firms are interested in access to the market. I have been contacted by a few firms interested in building alliances. The doors will also open to British firms with the Korea-EU FTA.
The Korea Herald had an interesting interview with Gregory Nitzkowski the managing partner of Paul Hastings.
Gregory Nitzkowski noted in the article that:
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SeanHayes@ipglegal.com
The Korea Herald had an interesting interview with Gregory Nitzkowski the managing partner of Paul Hastings.
Gregory Nitzkowski noted in the article that:
"It is not the dominance in the Korean legal market that we seek, but rather a firmer connection to our global clients, many of whom are Korean-based international companies such as the Samsung or SK Group. A market is usually in favor of the staus quo and changes for the unknown many come as a threat. It is natural for Korean law firms to feel a certain degree of alarm and change themselves accordingly, but the global precedents show that they need not be intimidated by the upcoming challenges."I have wrote numerous articles on how the introduction of competition will likely create better services for clients. I assume, for business clients, fees may also be reduced and more transparent billing practices will be implemented by these firms. Here are a few articles that appeared in the Korea Times and on this blog that may be of interest.
- Korean’s Appetite for Inept Attorneys
- Opening Door to Legal Change
- Protect Yourself from Bad Lawyers
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SeanHayes@ipglegal.com
I would like American lawyers to practice in Korea as long as they followed the (reasonable) retainer format, and not the K-lawyer idea that an automatic 5-7 million won lotto was just hit.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I know that cases can get expensive. But just to get started the K-lawyers need 5-7 million won, non-refundable.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI agree. I hope more Korean attorneys will be willing to take cases based on contingency fees. Some "new" attorneys because of competition have been willing to take cases based on small upfront fees. For smaller cases, the services of these attorneys are often adequate. However, as I mentioned in numerous posts - attorneys with government experience (not simply law firm experience) is essential for most cases.
Sean Hayes
Well, I believe it's a matter of confidence, most of the times. If the attorney has good confidence, contingency would be a problem. However, when you look to foreign attorneys new to the Korean environment, it might be difficult to be that. Gotta see both side of things and not be a welfare case.
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