FTA에 따른 한국 법률시장 개방과 우리의 대응

Opening Korean legal services market began in earnest with the entry into force of the Korea-US FTA. In accordance with the gradual opening-up policy, Foreign Legal Consultants (hereinafter ‘FLC') could provide only legal advisory services regarding the laws of the jurisdiction in which they are licensed and public international law now. From Phase 2, FLCs can enter into specific cooperative agreements with Korean law firms in order to be able to jointly deal with cases where domestic and foreign legal issues are mixed. Also, foreign law firms(FLC offices) can establish joint venture firms with Korean law firms and employ Korean-licensed lawyers as partners or associates from Phase 3. Korea has been preparing for the opening of the legal market with policy stances such as a gradual and step-by-step opening and a thorough regulation and supervision. In a concrete way, Korea has realized a gradual opening by reservations in FTA and has established a ground of regulation and supervision of FLCs' qualification approval and performance. The purpose of this article is to broaden the understanding of the opening Korean legal market through a review of FTA and Foreign Legal Consultant Act, and to examine how to respond in preparation for future competition. The research shows that proactive countermeasures of related subjects, such as lawyers and government, is a way to minimize the negative effects and maximize the positive effects of the legal services market opening.