Korea Startup Forum Conducts Legal Tech Industry Awareness Survey with 1,026 Participants
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Korea Startup Forum (Chairpersons Kim Seul-ah, Ahn Sung-woo, Lee Seung-gun) announced on the 7th that, according to a survey on public perception of the legal tech industry, 8 out of 10 people responded that "IT technology needs to be introduced into the legal market." Conducted from the 6th to the 9th of last month, the survey targeted 1,026 men and women nationwide aged 18 and older. It aimed to gauge public awareness of the legal tech industry and gather opinions on lawyer advertising platforms, which have recently become an issue due to regulations by the Korean Bar Association.
The survey results showed that the majority of the public answered that IT technology introduction is necessary in legal services to enhance convenience, transparency, reliability, and accessibility. The legal service market is considered a typical "lemon market" (a market where information asymmetry makes it difficult for consumers to make rational choices).
Among the respondents, 76.4% agreed that IT technology needs to be introduced into legal services. The reasons for this included ▲being able to use legal services conveniently (27.9%) ▲legal services being transparently disclosed, increasing trustworthiness (25.3%) ▲improved accessibility to legal services (21.6%). Among the legal tech services people wish to use, the need for automatic legal document and contract drafting services and lawyer search and consultation services was high.
However, when asked about awareness of legal tech, 71.5% of all respondents answered "do not know at all," indicating that while there is agreement on the necessity of IT technology in legal services, public awareness of legal tech remains low. Regarding access to lawyer information for resolving legal issues, the majority of respondents (62.6%) said "I do not know any lawyers around me," followed by "I know one lawyer" at 20.1%, and "I know two lawyers" at 9.1%. The response "I would use a legal platform if a legal issue arises in the future" was 32.9%, ranking high along with "I would look it up through internet search" (29.9%). In contrast, only 29.3% said they would inquire through acquaintances or nearby lawyers, showing a preference for information search channels over personal contacts.
The reasons for wanting to use legal service platforms that provide lawyer information were ▲obtaining legal information through multiple cases (37.6%) ▲saving time and cost in lawyer search and consultation (21.4%) ▲ability to compare at reasonable prices (19.7%) ▲checking information on multiple lawyers (10.8%) ▲lack of known lawyers (8.9%). Notably, 39.2% of respondents had experienced legal issues, and most had hired lawyers face-to-face or sought advice from acquaintances. Regarding why "self-representation" in civil lawsuits without a lawyer accounts for over 70%, the overwhelming reason (68.2%) was "the burden of lawyer hiring costs," confirming that many still feel burdened by legal service costs.
Choi Sung-jin, CEO of the Korea Startup Forum, said, "Through this nationwide survey on the legal tech industry, we were able to confirm the public's voice that active IT technology introduction is necessary to improve accessibility and transparency in the legal service market." He added, "Considering the high willingness of the public to use legal platforms for resolving legal issues in the future, legal tech is an unstoppable trend of the times." CEO Choi also stated, "Since the domestic legal tech industry is still in its infancy, the legal community, government, and National Assembly should fully support the development of the legal tech industry and promptly undertake regulatory improvements for this purpose."
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