Ministry of Justice: "Naver Is Subject to Regulation"
Lawyer Advertising Regulations Mirror Those for Medical Advertising
Following the Ministry of Justice's recent release of the "Guidelines for the Operation of Lawyer Search Services" (hereafter "the guidelines"), the so-called Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising model?which involves bidding on specific fields or keywords and ranking lawyers in order of winning bid prices?has been banned. As a result, the legal community is now considering alternatives such as a "public advertising platform" or a "success fee-based advertising model."
Lee Sijeon, Director of the Legal Affairs Division at the Ministry of Justice, is attending LTAS on June 19 and explaining the guidelines. Legal Times.
The public advertising platform is a type of portal operated mainly by lawyer organizations such as the Korean Bar Association (KBA) and local bar associations. The KBA is currently running a search service called "My Lawyer," and there is now discussion about revamping this service to align with the newly announced guidelines and increasing public awareness and accessibility of the platform.
The success fee-based model is not a form of cutthroat competition that incurs costs with every click. Instead, it involves paying individual lawyers or law firms only when an actual case is retained or when a professional consultation takes place. Since costs are incurred only when substantial services?such as case retention or consultation?are provided or are scheduled to be provided, this model moves away from the current CPC approach, where even heavy advertising can easily be rendered ineffective if the lawyer's exposure ranking is low.
Some in the industry are also predicting a resurgence of legal tech platforms such as "LawTalk." Law & Company, the operator of LawTalk, announced that it revised its service operation policy to fully reflect the guidelines just one week after their release. Lawyers who pay advertising fees are given priority exposure over free members, but there is no differentiation among those who pay; all pay a fixed monthly subscription and their exposure order is determined randomly. The display of individual profile fees has also been removed. A lawyer who operates a private office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, commented, "With the announcement of the guidelines, LawTalk may now have the opportunity to become an institutionalized platform that can compete with Naver."
Within both the legal and platform industries, there is a saying: "Lawyer advertising regulations can be understood by looking at medical advertising." This is because there is a tendency for lawyer advertising regulations to follow the regulatory trends of medical platforms. Under the Medical Service Act, it is considered illegal medical advertising for non-medical professionals to provide information about medical institutions. This is similar to the Attorney-at-Law Act, which prohibits non-lawyers from brokering or mediating legal services.
The well-known medical platform "Gangnam Unni" prohibits writing reviews in exchange for tangible or intangible compensation, as well as naming specific medical institutions or doctors with the intent to attract patients. It also does not allow the inclusion of content about specialized medical procedures that are not common knowledge. Under the new Ministry of Justice guidelines, users who have actually experienced legal services are permitted to write individual evaluations or reviews for lawyer search services. However, if a user’s review or evaluation was posted in exchange for compensation from a lawyer or law firm, the service operator may request the user to revise or delete the content.
The government is choosing to promote the technological aspects of medical platforms while regulating brokerage and mediation. A similar approach may be taken with legal platforms, where technologies such as video consultations are encouraged, but brokerage and mediation remain under the Ministry of Justice’s oversight.
The recently proposed amendment to the Medical Service Act includes provisions on the scope of permitted remote consultations, mandatory reporting obligations for intermediaries, and prohibited acts such as intervening in medical decisions, introducing or brokering specific institutions, and receiving compensation. A similar structure could be applied to legal platforms, where the ceiling for advertising and brokerage competition is discussed, legal tech is promoted, and the Ministry of Justice manages the platforms.
Lee Sijeon, Director of the Legal Affairs Division at the Ministry of Justice, attended the "2025 Legal Tech & AI Show (LTAS)" on June 19 and clarified that major portals such as Naver are also included as subjects of the guidelines. Lee explained, "If higher advertising fees are given preferential treatment, it encourages cutthroat competition among lawyers, and the burden is ultimately passed on to the public." He added, "Since the final choice belongs to the user, there is a distinction between 'connecting' lawyers and providing a 'venue for connection.'"
The Ministry of Justice plans to soon hold a meeting with portal companies to discuss compliance with the guidelines and intends to continue related discussions with Japan's Ministry of Justice.
Lim Hyunkyung, Legal Times Reporter
Suh Hayoun, Legal Times Reporter
※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.
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