[비즈한국] Attorney A, in his early 40s and a graduate of the judicial examination, opened his practice in Gangnam, Seoul. He chose to work in a shared law firm office where multiple lawyers split operating costs, which come to about 3 to 4 million won per month. Although he highlights his background as a former judicial exam passer, winning cases is not easy. Since he tries to avoid using various platforms like LawTalk, there are times when it is difficult to even cover his office operating expenses.
Naturally, Attorney A began taking on "public defender" cases about a year ago. Lawyers who take on both private and public defender cases receive 550,000 won per case. While the difficulty of cases varies and there are times when the time invested outweighs the pay, Attorney A believes that handling just 3 to 4 such cases a month is a "big help" in running his office, as it provides a decent amount of money.
The meaning of '1.1 cases per month on average per person'
Complaints about the "serious livelihood problems of lawyers" are increasing in the legal market. It is an open secret that a significant number of lawyers take on public defender cases just to cover their office operating expenses.
For private practitioners, the average number of cases per lawyer per month is only 1.1 as of 2021. Considering it was 2.05 in 2013, it has fallen by half. This is partly due to the increase in the number of lawyers. The number of lawyers, which was around 16,000 in 2013, has now grown to about 34,000. It is expected to exceed 40,000 in two to three years. This is why the legal industry is concerned that the average number of cases per lawyer will soon fall below one per month.
The fact that the monthly case load is around one is significant. Typically, legal fees for a lawyer start at around 5 million won. After paying for the office and staff expenses (assuming a model where both costs are shared), there is almost nothing left. One might receive a success fee, but given that it is common not to receive the full legal fees in the first place, it is inevitable that many lawyers are worried about "making a living."
An official from the Korean Bar Association expressed concern, saying, "Even though law is considered a professional field, the problem is that after the law school system was created, the number of lawyers being produced is higher than the increase in cases. Isn't it likely that the recent controversies over various illegal activities by lawyers are also a result of people being tempted into illegal acts because it has become difficult to make a living as the numbers have increased?"
'Universally' joining small firms before moving to large law firms
Of course, unlike the market for individual practitioners, large law firms are still doing well. In the case of the "Big 5" law firms (Kim & Chang, Lee & Ko, Bae, Kim & Lee, Yulchon, and Shin & Kim), which have annual revenues of over 300 billion won, the income of so-called junior "associate" lawyers is nearing 100 million won. While it depends on the case, they can earn high incomes if they receive bonuses like success fees.
For this reason, building a career to receive "better treatment" is becoming a universal culture in the legal profession. The industry explains that a culture has emerged where lawyers start their careers in small firms with 3 to 4 members instead of opening their own practice, and then move to large law firms.
A representative of a small law firm who is a former chief prosecutor explained, "It has become common for young people who pass the bar exam to join law firms where former high-ranking officials work, gain experience, and then use that as a basis to apply and move to large law firms when they hire experienced lawyers." He added, "To recruit good talent, we guarantee a base salary of over 5 million won per month, and the reality is that over 100 talented people apply even to these small firms. As a result, a characteristic of our firm is that all our associate lawyers have graduated from prestigious universities and law schools."
Attorney A, mentioned earlier, hinted, "Among those who try to take on public defender cases, some say they should apply if a hiring notice for former judges or prosecutors comes up," adding, "The legal market is becoming increasingly difficult for lawyers to open a practice and make a living."