A, who passed the 15th bar exam this year, sent resumes to more than 50 law firms and law offices starting at the end of April but was rejected time after time. A finally got an interview offer from a small law office in Seocho-dong, but more than 10 applicants competed for one trainee attorney position.
Failing to find a traineeship, A has been taking a practical training course run by the Korean Bar Association since last month, paying a tuition of 1.1 million won. A said, "You need to complete six months of practical training to work as an attorney, but it's hard to find a place to train," adding, "Even after passing the bar exam, the reality is that it's hard to get over the hurdle to employment."
Even after passing the bar exam, more new attorneys are flocking to the Korean Bar Association's practical training because they cannot secure a traineeship. Bar passers must complete six months of practical training before they can open a law office on their own or take on cases, but as the job market worsens, many are paying out of pocket and relying on the association's training. In the legal community, voices are calling for solutions to structural problems stemming from a saturated attorney market.
◇551 passers couldn't find traineeships… about 1 in 3
According to legal sources on the 23rd, 551 new attorneys took part in the practical training course the association opened last month. That is 32.1% of the 1,714 people who passed the 15th bar exam. Roughly one in three passers failed to find a traineeship at a law firm or law office.
Under the Attorney‑at‑Law Act, those who pass the bar exam must work for six months in legal work at a law firm or a legal work agency such as a court, the Prosecution Service, or the Korea Legal Aid Corporation. Only after this process can they open a law office independently or become a member of a law firm. Those who do not find a traineeship can substitute it with the association's practical training, which runs from May to November.
The problem is that the number of bar passers seeking the association's training has surged recently. Each May, the number of trainee attorneys applying for the course was 393 (23.0%) in 2022, 432 (25.0%) in 2023, 479 (27.4%) in 2024, and 572 (32.8%) in 2025. This year it stands at 551, slightly down from last year, but it has topped 500 for two consecutive years. Compared with 2022, that is an increase of 158 over four years.
To take the association's practical training, trainees must pay a tuition of 1.1 million won. Those who fail to find a traineeship are effectively paying out of pocket to meet the statutory practical training requirement. The program consists of two months of lectures, two months of mock record exercises, and two months of field training. Like a university, completion requires earning a set number of credits.
◇"You have to apply even to a 'black firm' that pays 2.3 million won before tax"
The biggest reason more new attorneys are turning to the association's training is that the door to attorney jobs has narrowed. In fact, according to the Korean Bar Association's Employment Information Center, attorney job postings fell 18.7% from 3,895 in 2021 to 3,167 last year. In contrast, the number of solo practitioners rose 22.6% from 26,006 to 31,874 over the same period. Hiring demand is shrinking while the number of attorneys entering the market is increasing.
Those who passed the bar are feeling the market saturation. B, who passed this year's bar exam, said, "Some passers do manage to get hired and leave during the association's training, but quite a few still remain in the classroom," adding, "For fear of having a gap in my resume after passing the bar, I have no choice but to apply even to a so-called 'black firm (exploitative law firm)' offering 2.3 million won before tax."
Some also say the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) legal services is dampening hiring of new attorneys. An attorney at a major law firm said, "In the past, case law searches and drafting briefs took days, but now it can be done in a few hours using AI," adding, "Some even say it's better to use AI than to hire new attorneys who need a lot of training."
In fact, users of the AI legal assistant "Superlawyer" number about 34,000 as of this month, roughly triple the approximately 11,000 in June last year.
◇Korean Bar Association "considering suspending practical training starting next year"
There is also a possibility that the association's practical training will disappear as early as next year. The association is currently reviewing various options as more members say the practical training should be halted starting next year. The reason is that it is not sustainable for the association to continue shouldering the growing burden of practical training for new attorneys.
If the association's training is suspended, the gap for bar passers who cannot find traineeships could widen. In the legal community, there is concern that if law firms and law offices keep cutting trainee hiring and the association's training also disappears, a large number of passers may fail to complete practical training on time.
A similar problem is appearing in the accounting industry. The number of so-called "unassigned accountants," who passed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam but could not find places to complete practical training, is increasing. However, because the industry does not offer an association-level substitute training through The Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants, there is growing consensus that the number of accountant selections should be reduced. In fact, the Qualification System Deliberation Committee under the Financial Services Commission cut the minimum number of CPA selections by 50, from 1,200 last year to 1,150 this year.
This is also why calls continue in the legal community to reduce the number of new attorney selections. In April, the association held a press conference in front of the Ministry of Justice to demand a cut in the number of attorneys produced. The association argues that to ease the oversupply of attorneys, the number of bar exam passers should be reduced to 1,500 or fewer.
A legal community official said, "Law firms are cutting trainee hiring, and if the association's training is halted as early as next year, there could be a surge of new attorneys who have not received practical training," adding, "It's time to consider either reducing the number of attorneys or diversifying the legal services market."