The Protectionist Bar Against Foreign Lawyers in Japan, China, and Korea: Domestic Control in the Face of Internationalization

With the advent of the new millennium and a rapidly changing international outlook, Japan, China, and Korea' have been at the forefront of recent media attention, focused primarily on the rapidly gaining influence and power that these countries wield on a level no longer limited to Asia. Some observers argue that these countries have untapped economic potential, especially with regard to China, which is in the position to become a global economic powerhouse as its economy continues to grow and expand internationally. Furthermore, participation in the World Trade Organization and other multilateral agreements, such as GATS, has created the need for a global standardization of services offered to support and safeguard the rights of foreign investors. The gradual opening of these three major players in East Asia to international organizations and standards suggested to many observers that the legal services market, under the same premise, would also be opened to foreigners who wished to practice the law of their home countries abroad. However, the current trend suggests otherwise. Recent revisions to China's Lawyers Law put stricter standards and compliance measures on foreign lawyers and foreign law firms, while Japan still prevents Japanese lawyers (bengoshi) from being hired by non-Japanese firms. Korea won't even permit foreign law firms to set up shop in their country. What force is behind the protectionist nature of the largest East Asian economies regarding legal services and the relationship between domestic and foreign lawyers? One important difference between these three countries' legal systems is the role of the lawyer within the system, and more specifically, the number of "lawyers" currently existing within the system. China, with over 110,000 lawyers, has structured a very different legal community than Japan, where the exceedingly strict pass rate on the Japanese bar exam means that only 1,000 Japanese can become lawyers each year. This number does not, however, include the separate positions of ...