An overwhelming majority of lawyers in South Korea believe there are too many new attorneys entering the profession, a survey showed.
The Korean Bar Association on Thursday released results of a survey on "the adequacy of the number of lawyers," conducted from February 13 to March 6 among 2,521 member attorneys.
Of the respondents, 75.9%, or 1,914 lawyers, said the number of bar exam passers is "excessively high." Another 536 respondents, or 21.3%, said the number is "somewhat excessive." Those who answered "adequate," "somewhat insufficient," or "very insufficient" totaled just 71, or 2.8%.
When asked about the appropriate number of new lawyers to be produced each year, 996 respondents, or 39.5%, said "1,000 or fewer." That was followed by "500 or fewer" at 606 respondents (24%) and "700 or fewer" at 518 respondents (20.6%). Last year, 1,744 candidates passed the bar exam.
A large majority also said average case fees had declined over the past five years. Some 962 respondents (38.2%) said fees had dropped significantly by 30% or more, while 918 (36.4%) said fees had decreased somewhat by 10% to 30%. A total of 97.7% of respondents felt that competition among lawyers is overheated.
To address the supply-demand imbalance, respondents identified "reducing law school enrollment quotas" as the most needed measure. "Rationalizing the bar exam pass quota decision process" and "abolishing the vacancy replacement system" followed.
In open-ended responses, lawyers cited the "consolidation of similar professions" such as judicial scriveners, tax agents, and labor attorneys, as well as "reforming the law school system" — including reviving the old bar exam, abolishing law schools, or merging underperforming ones — as urgent priorities.