– Considering the Ministry of Justice's "Lawyer Search Service Operation Guidelines," we will quickly inspect the service operation and take action.
– Prohibition of keyword searches for ‘Jeon-Gwan’ and strengthening of advertisement display… “We will do our best to operate responsibly to establish a fair order of assignment”
Comprehensive legal tech company Law & Company (CEO Kim Bon-hwan) announced on the 5th that it has revised the service operation policy of 'Rotalk' and completed reflection of the guidelines announced by the Ministry of Justice.
On May 27, the Ministry of Justice announced guidelines that stipulate detailed operating standards to properly establish the lawyer search service. The guidelines consist of a total of 20 articles, including search conditions, search results, notification obligations, and advertisement content.
Law & Company has quickly improved the provisions that are already being complied with among the guidelines, as well as those that require additional measures, and has reflected all regulations in its services. For example, due to concerns that advertisements suggesting influence using the background and career of public officials, etc. could harm the public nature of the lawyer system, keywords such as “Jeon-gwan,” “Jeon-gwan courtesy,” and “Jeon-gwan lawyer” will all be blocked from the search results for lawyers and law firms in Law Talk.
Advertisement display is more specific. The existing advertisement area introduction text clearly explains ‘advertisement area by field’ along with ‘advertisement area priority sorting and difference from non-advertisement area’, and a list of advertisement areas used by individual lawyers, etc. is also made public so that they can all be viewed on the lawyer profile page.
In addition, we have changed the terms of use for the operating policy so that if it is confirmed that a lawyer has not directly consulted with a user, the fact can be notified to the Korean Bar Association or the affiliated local bar association. Although it is regrettable in terms of transparent disclosure of lawyer information and realization of legal consumers' right to know, we have also completely excluded the display of fees on lawyer profile pages in accordance with the guidelines.
Since the launch of LawTalk, Law & Company has continuously emphasized compliance with the Attorney-at-Law Act and related regulations by monitoring attorney advertising phrases. In February 2022, it introduced 'real-time AI monitoring' to establish a system that automatically checks false and exaggerated phrases, and in January last year, it distributed a revised version of the 'Standard Advertisement Guide for Attorneys' to strengthen the system to protect fair order in the legal market and protect legal consumers.
Kim Bon-hwan, CEO of Law & Company, said, “Rotalk has always been at the forefront of responsible service operation through transparent information disclosure and systematic policies, and has quickly supplemented existing policies by specifying search conditions and advertisement display in accordance with the Ministry of Justice guidelines.” He added, “We will continue to do our best to establish a fair legal order and provide legal consumers with reliable legal information.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.