Laws Governing Attorneys Revised

The government, on February 22, revised laws and regulations for private lawyers that will forbid the practise of former judges and prosecutors from being treated favorably by their former colleagues still working in the judiciary or prosecutors' offices. The habitual practise of using brokers to acquire clients will be outlawed.
The public outcry raised by the recent scandal in Taejon through the revelations of Lee Jong Ki, a private lawyer who engaged in extensive kickbacks and payoffs, was largely responsible for the sweeping provisions established to punish attorneys who use brokers, or judges and prosecutors who introduce clients to attorneys.
Attorneys who use the sevices of a broker could be sentenced up to seven years in prison.
On the other hand, the government will allow private attorneys more freedom in procuring clients by permitting them to advertise themselves.
The Korean Bar Association immediately protested the government's revisions. It wants to retain the right to register and punish any offences committed by attorneys, insisting that the loss of this right to the government could be used as a method to suppress attorneys' actions that run contrary to government wishes.