LAW FIRM YULMARULaw Firm Yulmaru

Specialization Registration

How do I check a "specialist lawyer" label?

Under Korean Bar Association specialization registration, each lawyer can register up to 2 fields after review, and you can check this in the association's lawyer search. Whether "specialist" in an advertisement means registration depends on whether the association's name appears with it.

Run by
the Korean Bar Association, which reviews and registers
Limit
2 fields per lawyer
How to check
search by real name in the association's lawyer search
Yulmaru registrations
Criminal Law, Divorce, Insolvency

What should I check in a "specialist lawyer" label?

Check two things: whether the advertisement names the association, for example "specialization registered with the Korean Bar Association", and whether the lawyer comes up under that field in the Korean Bar Association (KBA) lawyer search. Article 9(1) of the KBA Regulations on Attorney Advertising (amended February 6, 2025) allows terms such as "specialist" (jeonmun) and "dedicated" (jeondam) to be used to describe work a lawyer mainly handles, while providing that a "specialist" label written together with the association's name may be used only by lawyers who have registered a specialization under the Regulations on Registration of Attorney Specializations. Even when the word "specialist" is the same, read a label backed by KBA registration separately from a phrase an office has adopted on its own.

What is the specialization registration system?

It is a system in which the KBA receives a lawyer's application, reviews it, and registers the lawyer by field. Article 1 of the Regulations states its purpose as raising public trust in lawyers' specializations. The requirements and procedure are as follows.

Item Details Provision
Fields that can be registered 63 fields, including Civil Law, Criminal Law, Family Law, Divorce, Inheritance, Insolvency, Juvenile Law and School Violence Article 2(1), Appendix 1
Registration limit Up to 2 per lawyer Article 2(2)
Legal practice At least 3 years Article 8(1)1
Training At least 14 hours of training in the field within the 3 years before applying Article 8(1)2
Case experience At least the number of cases set for each field, handled within the last 3 years: 30 each for Criminal Law, Divorce and Insolvency, and 10 for School Violence Article 8(1)3, Appendix 2
Review The Specialization Registration Review Committee reviews, and the Standing Board of Directors decides on registration Articles 3 and 10
After registration A registration certificate is issued, the registration is publicly announced, and the list is published on the association's website Article 13
Cancellation Registration is cancelled if it is found that the requirements were not met Article 16

The table is based on the regulations as amended January 7, 2025, posted by the KBA on the regulations board of its website. The number of fields and the requirements may change with amendments, so check the current version on the KBA website.

Registration means the KBA has confirmed that the lawyer met the experience, training and case number requirements. It is not a promise of any outcome, and it does not mean that an unregistered lawyer cannot handle cases in that field.

Where can I check registration?

Anyone, not only lawyers, can check directly in the following order.

  1. Go to the lawyer search on the KBA website.
  2. Enter the lawyer's name or the office name. You can also choose region and specialization filters.
  3. Select the field you want to check as the specialization filter and see whether the lawyer appears.
  4. You can also ask at the consultation to see the specialization registration certificate. The certificate shows the name, the specialization and the registration date.

The lawyer search is a service for hiring a lawyer, so use it only for that purpose.

What to check when reading advertising copy

  • Whether the words "registered with the Korean Bar Association" appear together with the name of the field
  • Whether the field name is one in the registration classification. There are no fields named individual rehabilitation, sex crimes or drunk driving in the classification. Rehabilitation and bankruptcy fall under "Insolvency", and criminal cases, including sex crimes and drunk driving, fall under "Criminal Law"
  • Whether the real name of the registered lawyer is given. Specialization registration is granted to individual lawyers, not to law firms
  • Whether one lawyer claims 3 or more KBA-registered specializations. The registration limit is 2

Warning signs to avoid

Article 23(2) of the Attorney-at-Law Act prohibits advertising that creates unjustified expectations about the results of the work, advertising that exaggerates objective facts or leaves some out so as to mislead, and advertising that compares the lawyer with other lawyers. Article 4 of the KBA Rules on Attorney Advertising also prohibits advertising that creates unjustified expectations about a case, such as the percentage of cases won, release rates or predictions of outcomes. If you see the following alongside a "specialist" label, check once more.

  • Copy that leads with the percentage of cases won or confirmation rates as numbers
  • Expressions meaning the lawyer is the most skilled or the only one (prohibited by Article 9(2) of the Regulations on Attorney Advertising)
  • "Specialist" attached only to an office name, without a registered field and a lawyer's real name
  • An operation in which non-lawyer staff handle all consultations

How to check Yulmaru against these points

At Law Firm Yulmaru, three lawyers have registered specializations with the KBA. Lim Jae Hyun has registered Divorce and Insolvency, and Park Sang Jun and Moon Ji Yeong have each registered Criminal Law and Divorce. In fields that are not registered, such as school violence, real estate and inheritance, Yulmaru does not use the word "specialist" either. You can confirm registration by searching each lawyer's real name in the KBA lawyer search as described above, and each lawyer's profile is in Lawyers.

Attorneys in Charge

Specialization Registration Frequently Asked Questions

QIs a lawyer who has not registered a specialization barred from advertising as a "specialist"?
A

Article 9 of the KBA Regulations on Attorney Advertising, amended in February 2025, allows the term "specialist" to be used to describe work a lawyer mainly handles. However, a "specialist" label written together with the KBA's name may be used only by lawyers who have registered that specialization.

QHow many specializations can one lawyer register?
A

Up to 2. This is set by Article 2(2) of the Regulations on Registration of Attorney Specializations, so if one person claims 3 or more KBA-registered specializations, check with the lawyer search.

QCan individual rehabilitation or sex crimes be registered as a specialization?
A

The registration classification has no fields named individual rehabilitation or sex crimes. A lawyer who handles rehabilitation and bankruptcy cases can register the "Insolvency" field, and a lawyer who handles criminal cases can register the "Criminal Law" field.

QCan a law firm register a specialization?
A

Specialization registration is applied for and granted to individual lawyers. If "specialist" appears next to a law firm's name, check by real name which of its lawyers has registered which field.

QDo lawyers with a registered specialization get better results?
A

Registration confirms that the experience, training and case number requirements were met, and it does not promise an outcome. The result of a case depends on the facts and the evidence, so along with registration, check whether the lawyer in charge reviews your case personally.

QCan a registration be cancelled?
A

If it is found that the registration requirements were not met, or there are grounds that make it unsuitable to maintain the registration, the review committee cancels it. That is why it is more accurate to check the lawyer search again around the time of your consultation.

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