One in Ten Newly Appointed Judges in the Past Five Years Comes from Kim & Chang

More Than Half of New Judges Come from Major Law Firms
Concentration Persists After Unified Legal Profession Reform
Choo Mi-ae: "Concerns About Preferential Treatment... Criteria Needed for Greater Diversity in Appointments"

In the past five years, one out of every ten newly appointed judges has come from Kim & Chang, a major law firm. The proportion of judges with large law firm experience exceeds half.

On September 25th, at the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, participants including Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae are taking a commemorative photo at the inauguration ceremony of new judges. Provided by the Supreme Court.

According to data titled "Status of New Judge Appointments Over the Past Five Years (2021-2025)" submitted by the Supreme Court to Democratic Party lawmaker Choo Mi-ae, Chair of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, as of October 12, 2025, among 153 new judges appointed this year with over five years of legal experience, 68 (44.4%) were former attorneys from law firms and similar backgrounds.

Of these, 14 were from Kim & Chang, the highest number, followed by 6 from Bae, Kim & Lee, 4 each from Shin & Kim and Yulchon, and 1 from Lee & Ko. This means that about 9% of all new judges, and 20% of those with attorney backgrounds, have experience at Kim & Chang.

Over the past five years, out of a total of 676 newly appointed judges, 355 (52.5%) had previously worked as law firm attorneys, surpassing half. Of these, 166 (24.6%) came from the six largest law firms-Kim & Chang, Lee & Ko, Shin & Kim, Yulchon, Bae, Kim & Lee, and Yulchon. During the same period, Kim & Chang produced the most new judges, with 73.

By year, the proportion of new judges from Kim & Chang has remained around 10% without significant fluctuation: 12.2% in 2021, 14.1% in 2022, 7.4% in 2023, 10.8% in 2024, and 9.2% in 2025. Overall, the ratio has consistently stayed between the high single digits and the low double digits over the past five years.

In the legal community, it is believed that as the unified legal profession system has become established, it has become common for attorneys to accumulate experience at law firms before being appointed as judges. The previous system, which focused on newly appointed judges who had passed the bar exam, has disappeared, and the current system now fills judicial positions with legal professionals from diverse backgrounds, including attorneys, professors, and prosecutors.

Lawmaker Choo stated, "There is still a clear concentration of new judges coming from large law firms," and added, "Since concerns about preferential treatment for former colleagues persist, the Court Administration Office needs to establish criteria for appointing judges from a wider range of backgrounds."