2L SA at a Korean Law firm Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello Everyone,

Just wondering if there are anyone who had experience doing a summer associate job in Korea over the Summer.
Is it not a good career decision unless you want to work in Korea?
Also, given that Korean law firms tend to not pick entry level, does this SA even have merit?
Lastly, is the SA in Korea paid? if so, how much for the compensation?

Thank you <3

[RedPurpleBlue]

It's a terrible idea if you don't want to practice American law in Korea long-term.

[BrainsyK]

I know people who went to White& Case and Kim & Chang who were not paid anywhere near market.

[2013]

I have heard of a couple of classmates doing this. Apparently their entire summer was spent translating documents.

[Anonymous User]

AH, I see.. Would it help that I really do want to practice in Korea?
But I have heard that main job is to translate LOL
okay Ill go apply more to US firms :0

[Anonymous User]

Also would an internship in Seoul for White & Case result in an offer of employment later?
Probably not right?

[BeeTeeZ]

I have heard of a couple of classmates doing this. Apparently their entire summer was spent translating documents.

Heard the same thing.

[JWalker]

I spent my 1L summer at K&C and ended up in Korea after graduating from law school.

Top Korean firms do hire a decent number of people straight out of law school, but strictly for translation purposes. The pay is decent and the lay prestige (not that it matters, but to be fair I was a red-blooded young dude when I started out haha) is there. In retrospect, however, I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

As for the likely compensation, it's much closer to the amount you'd get for PI summer funding programs than NY SA compensation.

[QContinuum]

Wait so out of curiosity, if the top Korean firms don't generally hire straight out of law school (except as translators), how do they hire? How do folks position themselves to join, say, K&C in a legal (non-translation-focused) role? Does the Korean trajectory involve starting out in-house, then lateraling to a firm? Or does it involve progressively "trading up" from small firms to mid-size firms to large firms?

[JWalker]

Wait so out of curiosity, if the top Korean firms don't generally hire straight out of law school (except as translators), how do they hire? How do folks position themselves to join, say, K&C in a legal (non-translation-focused) role? Does the Korean trajectory involve starting out in-house, then lateraling to a firm? Or does it involve progressively "trading up" from small firms to mid-size firms to large firms?

They hire enough Korean lawyers out of top Korean law schools (SNU, Yonsei, KU, etc.) to take care of basically all the substantive work. Sadly, while foreign attorneys are relegated to translating, Korean attorneys are free to work on matters that involve foreign law issues. Besides U.S.-licensed attorneys who end up in Korea right out of the gate, a fair number of more experienced U.S.-educated Korean or Korean-American lawyers also move to Korea at various points of their careers. Unless those folks bring any business (or have an influential partner backing him/her up), however, a lot of them soon find themselves translating/proofreading docs as well.

[QContinuum]

Wait so out of curiosity, if the top Korean firms don't generally hire straight out of law school (except as translators), how do they hire? How do folks position themselves to join, say, K&C in a legal (non-translation-focused) role? Does the Korean trajectory involve starting out in-house, then lateraling to a firm? Or does it involve progressively "trading up" from small firms to mid-size firms to large firms?

They hire enough Korean lawyers out of top Korean law schools (SNU, Yonsei, KU, etc.) to take care of basically all the substantive work. Sadly, while foreign attorneys are relegated to translating, Korean attorneys are free to work on matters that involve foreign law issues. Besides U.S.-licensed attorneys who end up in Korea right out of the gate, a fair number of more experienced U.S.-educated Korean or Korean-American lawyers also move to Korea at various points of their careers. Unless those folks bring any business (or have an influential partner backing him/her up), however, a lot of them soon find themselves translating/proofreading docs as well.

Ah, I see. Thanks. So basically, if one wants to practice law in Korea, attend law school in Korea. Makes sense.