辯護士의 金品保管義務에 대한 比較法的 考察 － 미국ㆍ캐나다 등의 변호사 신탁계좌(attorney trust account) 제도를 중심으로 -

This article is a comparative study on the fiduciary duty of attorneys focusing on the professional rules of conduct regarding the attorney trust account. The author discusses about the various rules governing the attorney’s fiduciary duty in Korea and analyzes some disciplinary sanction cases of Korean Bar Association regarding the misuse of the clients’ fund. The author recommends that Korean law society should establish more concrete and clear rules on the fiduciary duty and the attorney trust account to avoid the ethical danger or temptation in which many attorneys might fall in case of temporary financial difficulties. This article also covers an extensive comparative review of the professional rules of conduct among the United States, Canada, UK and Korea. The author emphasizes that the effort for the change is inevitable in Korea. The author emphasizes that the effort for the change is inevitable in Korea. The change might be an additional burden to Korean lawyers in some meaning. In other aspects, however, it could be mutual interest for the clients and the attorneys because the new rules not only promote the safety of clients’ funds for the clients’ side but also facilitate the collection of fees for the attorneys’ side. The conclusion of the article is that Korean Bar Association needs to form a special committee or a task force to meet this challenge, the emerging issues on the attorney trust account in Korean law society and global law market.