싱가포르의 법 교육, 변호사 실무 교육, 그리고 법률서비스 시장에 대한 연구

Three jurisdictions in Asia(Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia) inherited a common-law system that evolved substantially differently. Those Three jurisdictions requires law graduates to complete practical training before they are admitted to enter into practicing. In that it requires all applicants and graduates to pass a bar examination after completion of compulsory preparation course, Singapore has a unique pathway to admission different from those of other two jurisdictions. Singapore introduced Parts A and B of the bar examination and relevant preparatory course. In Singapore, law schools are expanding their clinical legal programs and providing “early preparations” to satisfy the demands from the real legal service market. Globalization has caused many changes in the practice of law and major structure of legal service markets. The impacts globalization on the legal practice are seen with the intergovernmental economic organizaitons such as APEC, WTO and etc. In Korea, there are on going critics that some graduates are ill-prepared for practice. In this regard, there might be a perceived need for law schools should prepare graduates to appropriately cope with challenges facing in real practice and strengthen their role as a initial gatekeeper for entry to the profession. To achieve those goals, law school should expand clinical and internship programs in their curriculum. In addition, globalization of legal services is being associated with more competition among various transnational legal service providers in different countries. Especially large law firms with branch offices predominantly are providing multinational legal services in different countries based on agreement with local law firms under the open market policies of nations. With considerations on combined impact of globalization and technology, Korea should take advantages of linkages and partnership with legal entities of advanced countries in Europe or United States.