Legal Support Advisory Group Comprising Over 40 Lawyers
Starting July, FAQs on Labor and Legal Affairs to Be Provided
Startups facing legal issues will be able to receive free legal advice.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 8th that it will implement the ‘Startup Online Legal Support Project’ to enable startups in new industries to access legal services such as investment, regulation, labor, and legal affairs.
The legal advisory services are categorized into ‘corporate legal affairs,’ which includes corporate establishment and stock issuance for startups; ‘intellectual property (IP) protection,’ related to trademarks, patents, utility models, copyrights, etc.; and ‘contract law-related’ services, supporting contracts with business partners, employment contracts, and supply contracts. Additionally, there is support for handling disputes arising from transactions with consumers, legal advice on personal information processing and protection, and legal assistance in drafting contracts for negotiations and fundraising with investors. The legal advisory group consists of about 40 lawyers.
Applications for legal advice can be made anytime through the ‘K-Startup Startup Support Portal.’ After suitability review, selected startups can freely choose one advisor from the advisory group members. This year, support will be provided to 500 startups (up to 1 million KRW per company).
The Ministry expects that through this project, startups that have had difficulty finding suitable legal experts and lacked the time and funds to invest will be able to receive high-quality legal services.
Starting in July, publicly shareable cases of legal advice for startups will be categorized by labor and legal affairs and provided as ‘Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).’ This will allow simple inquiries to be resolved through the FAQ, while more complex cases will receive one-on-one customized legal advice.
Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, “Although the government supports legal services for small and medium enterprises, the support has been limited to specific areas such as technology protection or global expansion, and the scale of support has been small, making it difficult for startups to feel the benefits in practice. This year, we have formed an advisory group of specialized lawyers in the startup field to pilot legal advisory services for startups in new industries, and if the results are good, we will expand it further next year.”
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