[School Stories] Let’s Liberalize Law Schools

President Lincoln, one of the most revered figures in American history, was a lawyer in his younger days. He became a lawyer through self-study. It was a time when one could become a lawyer based on ability alone, even without attending law school.

The system of granting eligibility for the bar exam only to those who had attended law school began in the 1920s. Its stated purpose was to screen out unqualified candidates, but in reality, it is said to have been a device created by lawyers and schools to protect their own interests. Yet there is no evidence that the quality of American lawyers improved afterward. Even in the days when law school was unnecessary, American lawyers were competent. In a sense, the compulsory law school system may simply have raised the cost of becoming a lawyer.

Even so, despite the existence of law schools, the American legal market remains highly competitive. First, anyone who wants to can establish a law school, and there is no quota control. Moreover, among law school graduates, everyone who takes the exam and scores above a certain threshold is granted a law license, so the effect of the law school system in reducing competition among lawyers is very small.

Because competition is so intense, consumers of legal services in the United States can enjoy relatively high-quality services at low prices. Some lawyers can be hired for the equivalent of 200,000 to 300,000 won. That is the reality for American lawyers: simply obtaining a law license guarantees nothing if one lacks ability.

By comparison, lawyers in Korea charge high fees. No matter how low the fee, one must pay at least 2 million to 3 million won. That is because lawyers are scarce. As of 2005, Korea had 1.7 lawyers per 10,000 people, while the United States had 37.3. Since Korea has far too few lawyers compared to the United States, competition is weak and legal fees become expensive.

The core of judicial reform is to ensure that citizens can receive high-quality legal services at affordable prices, and its starting point should be to widen the path to becoming a lawyer. However, the law school system we adopted as a means of reform misses the essence of the issue. As long as law school enrollment is controlled as it is now, it is unlikely that competition among lawyers will become more intense, and there is little chance that legal fees will fall. On the contrary, because students pay expensive tuition, they are more likely to seek even higher legal fees in return. This may be worse than the existing bar examination system.

It would be better, both for schools and for the benefit of consumers of legal services, to follow the American model: allow every school that wishes to establish a law school to do so, and pass everyone on the bar exam who scores above a certain threshold.

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Original title: [학교이야기] 로스쿨을 자유화하자

Author: Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Date: 2008-06-30

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=18&idx=10718