As of September Last Year, 7,486 Companies
Focused on North America, Europe, and India
Japan Eyes Unicorn and IPO Companies
Lee Sung-yeop, President of the Korea Data Law and Policy Association, is scheduled to deliver a congratulatory speech at the ‘Legal Tech & AI Forum Academic Conference’ held on the 28th at COEX, 1st floor, Hall A in Samseong-dong, Seoul. In a recent written interview, President Lee expressed his expectations for the event, stating, “LTAS will provide insights from the most authoritative domestic and international experts on the changes AI will bring to the legal profession, discuss innovations in legal tech and generative AI, and serve as a platform for the entire legal community to collaborate and coexist.”
On the 24th, Lee Seong-yeop, President of the Korean Data Law Policy Association, is being interviewed by Law Times at the CJ Law Building, Korea University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by Baek Seong-hyun stwhite@
President Lee graduated from Korea University Law School, Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Administration, and the University of Minnesota Law School, and earned a Ph.D. in Law from Seoul National University. After passing the 35th Administrative Examination in 1992, he worked at the Ministry of Information and Communication and Kim & Chang Law Firm. Since 2017, he has been dedicated to research and education in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) law and policy at Korea University. The Korea Data Law and Policy Association is an academic organization that researches legal policies for the utilization and protection of data.
The following is a Q&A with President Lee.
- What was the reason for holding this academic conference?
“Legal tech is a new form of legal service that combines law and technology. As the internet has become widespread and IT such as big data and AI has advanced, convergence with these technologies in the legal market has accelerated. Furthermore, with the recent introduction of generative AI, legal tech has advanced to a stage where it replaces some tasks of lawyers, such as legal interpretation, case law and academic paper searches, and legal document drafting. It is expected that the role of lawyers and the way consumers access the legal market will change. In this context, I saw the need for specialized research on the changes legal tech and AI will bring and the legal market’s response, as well as sharing research outcomes. We formed the ‘Legal Tech & AI Forum’ centered on experts from academia, the legal profession, and the legal tech industry and held the first academic conference.”
- Please introduce the main contents of the academic conference.
“The conference will feature presentations by four experts, followed by a comprehensive discussion among representatives from academia, the legal profession, and industry on the topic of ‘Discourse on the Coexistence of Legal Tech and the Legal Profession.’ Regarding the presentation on ‘Legal Tech Regulation and Related Laws in the United States,’ it will be mentioned that AI technology has been actively introduced in the U.S. legal system, especially to efficiently handle the vast amount of documents generated during the discovery process, which has led to the rapid growth of major legal tech companies. It will be emphasized that Korea should also organize related systems to pursue innovation and growth in legal services.
Additionally, in the presentation on ‘The Potential of Domestic Legal Tech and Future Legislative Policy Directions,’ it will be stressed that since the Korean Bar Association conducts disciplinary actions or lawsuits, domestic legal tech companies have not been able to actively provide good services to users. Therefore, legislators need to quickly establish permissible legal tech fields through legislation and appropriately protect consumers within that framework.”
- How does the development level of the domestic legal tech industry compare to overseas?
“According to a global market research firm Traxcn’s announcement as of last September, there are about 7,486 legal tech companies worldwide, with a total investment scale of approximately 16 trillion KRW, about 30% of which has been invested in the last two years, indicating rapid growth.
Most legal tech companies are concentrated in North America, Europe, and India. Among the nine unicorn companies, six are in the U.S., and nearly half of the 15 companies that have succeeded in IPOs are located in the U.S. Another noteworthy point is that Japanese companies have one unicorn and two IPO companies each.
Korea is now at the ‘beginner stage.’ In the cases of the U.S., Germany, and Japan, which are ahead in legal tech, there has been institutional support for industry development. It is necessary to refer to how the existing legal profession has revised various legal systems to promote innovation in the legal industry and improve legal consumers’ access to the judicial system, thereby fostering coexistence with legal tech.”
- What direction should Korean legislation take?
“Until now, Korea has focused on AI industry promotion policies and considered regulatory issues sufficiently addressed by soft norms such as ethics and guidelines. However, given the recent vulnerability of the domestic AI industry’s competitiveness, there is an increasing need to legally support industry promotion promptly. At the same time, legislation should be established to ensure reliability and safety measures for high-risk AI as minimum regulation, including notification and disclosure obligations for generative AI. Korea needs to promote AI innovation and strengthen the judicial system through legislative improvements.”
- Lastly, any final remarks?
“Just as printing technology brought about the massive spread of legal theories and the internet popularized legal information, AI will not only greatly enhance the productivity of legal professionals but also dramatically improve legal consumers’ access to the judicial system. I believe this technological change should not be understood merely as job replacement. Our judicial system must also prepare to welcome and embrace AI.”
Yoo Ji-in, Reporter, Legal Times
※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.
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