Fair Society and Lawyer’s Business Scope
(Electronics Daily Newspaper on May 17, 2022)
Myung Shin Kim
Adviser, the Korean Patent Attorneys Association
It took 233 years after
the adoption of the U. S. Constitution for the first black woman, Ms. Ketanji
Jackson Brown, to be appointed Justice on the U.S. Court. Crying with emotion,
Judge Brown quoted the poem "The Hope and Dream of the Slave" by Ms. Maya
Angelou, a black American female poet.
The systems of all
certified specialists have been developed to ensure specialization and
diversification. I again reflect on the lawyer's business scope, which I have
pondered for many years.
Article 1 of the
Attorneys at Law Act announces that a lawyer's mission is to defend fundamental
human rights and realize social justice, and lawyers shall perform their duties
faithfully by following their mission and endeavor to maintain social order and
improve the legal system.
For 115 years now,
since the establishment of the Seoul Attorneys at Law Association in 1907,
people have respected lawyers as for social leaders, and nobody denies the
social contribution of lawyers. However, the lawyers' businesses have developed
in various ways, especially with the passing of each year. Moreover, the number
of certified specialists, such as Tax Accountants, Judicial Scriveners, Patent
Attorneys, Certified Real Estate Agents, and Certified Labor Consultants has
increased every year.
As of December 31,
2021, the number of each certified specialist is as follows:
Tax Accountants are
14,057. Judicial Scriveners are 7,128. Patent Attorneys are 4,235. Certified
Real Estate Agents are 118,049.and Certified Labor Consultants are 3,108,
whereas Attorneys at Law are 26,408.
These days, all
certified specialists have studied and developed their specialties according to
the needs of the people.
Nonetheless, today
Attorneys at Law obtain the qualifications of the certified specialists
mentioned above automatically or perform the businesses of other certified
specialists legally with only the capability of Attorneys at Law without any
procedure or specialized training.
Moreover, recently the
Constitutional Court ruled that even if a law firm handled a trademark
application, a unique Patent Attorney's business, it is not a violation of the
constitution. Now, what is social justice? What is a real fair society? Who is
a certified specialist in a fair society?
I passed the
examination for Patent Attorney with another person in 1969 and received
practical training at the Patent Bureau for one year, and I had to pass the
practical test. The Examination question was to write the specification on a
kettle's spout as a patent claim. I could not write the specification well
because my major was the Commercial Act, and I did not know fluid mechanics.
Therefore, I was disqualified from the practical test together with another
examinee who had no technical background. Thus, we needed to receive practical
training for more than one year. I have had many troubles when handling patent
application cases because I obtained the qualification for Patent Attorney
during a transition period without having any engineering knowledge. When
filing patent applications, inevitably, a Patent Attorney having a technical
background would have to take care of those cases.
Part of Attorneys at
Law is challenging to manage their offices, unlike before, because the number
of Attorneys at Law has increased too much. Nonetheless, Attorneys at Law have
filed patent applications for even specific technology fields that they do not
understand. This is done only for the Attorneys at Law's benefits based on
automatically imposed qualifications. Not only can these Attorneys at Law not
protect their clients' interests, but this is against social justice, fair
society, and the mission stated in Attorneys at Law Act. These circumstances
are similar to those of other certified specialists.
If Attorneys at Law
continue to obsess about this legalism, we cannot develop or maintain other
certified specialists' systems. Finally, the current way will eventually
destroy the base of other certified specialists' systems. Further, it will
violate Article 22, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution that "the laws
concerned will protect the right of an inventor."
Therefore, to maintain
Attorneys at Law as respected social leaders while performing social justice,
Attorneys at Law must carry on only their traditional businesses, excluding the
businesses of other specialists. Further, they should not take on patent
application cases because they do not understand technologies. To talk about a
fair society orally and to realize a fair society, people are watching whether
Attorneys at Law would have the will to make the necessary changes.
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