[Interview] “I am a living witness to the law school with many scholarship benefits.”... Attorney Kim Young-min (Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan))

Attorney Kim Young-min (Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan))

Attorney Kim Young-min, now in his 7th year, started a new career at Daeryun Law Firm (Yuhan) in May last year. As a senior lawyer, he may have a busy schedule, but Attorney Kim, who willingly took time out for the interview, recalled his time at law school as ‘valuable time.’ I met and talked to lawyer Kim Young-min, who is quietly and unwaveringly following his own path.

While preparing for the bar exam, I was selected for the spring literary contest.

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself.

hello. I am Kim Young-min, a lawyer who is in charge of various litigation matters, including civil, criminal, and domestic affairs, at Daeryun Law Firm (Liuhan). My history is a bit special. I graduated from Seoul National University Law School and enlisted in the military as a private at the age of 29 without realizing my dream of passing the bar exam. While preparing for a job in the media after being discharged from the military, I happened to learn about a law school scholarship system for the economically disadvantaged, and I enrolled in law school at the somewhat late age of 35. That's how I passed the bar exam and ended up in my current position.

Q) You entered law school while preparing for the bar exam. When did you start dreaming of becoming a lawyer?

My dream of becoming a lawyer started from childhood. In particular, my relationship with the late lawyer Cho Young-rae had a big influence. Attorney Young-Rae Cho was a cousin of my eldest mother, and I heard a lot of her stories since I was young. I developed a vague dream of becoming a lawyer like Cho Young-rae, who was famous as a ‘human rights lawyer.’ Then, I naturally entered law school and realized my dream of becoming a lawyer.

Q) You have a unique history as a winner of the Spring Literary Contest. Could you tell us an anecdote from that time?

That episode was one of the most dramatic moments of my life. In fact, I have been active in literary arts classes since elementary school and have won many awards in writing contests. Then, starting from my first year of college, I attempted the Spring Literary Contest every year, but I kept failing.

In the winter of 2007, I was busy preparing for the second round of the bar exam, so I didn't have time to write a new work. So, I submitted the previously rejected work with some modifications, but this time I came up with a special strategy. At the time, most applicants were submitting manuscripts written on computers, but I went against the grain and submitted the manuscripts by handwriting them. I thought it would be more noticeable to the judges.

And then something truly unbelievable happened. I got a call from Chosun Ilbo's Spring Literary Contest and asked why I wrote and submitted my work on manuscript paper. At that moment, I had a gut feeling, ‘Ah, I’ve been elected this time!’ In fact, I received notification of winning a few days later.

Through this experience, I really felt that there is a time in life. When I think about it now, I joke that maybe I didn't pass the bar exam because I used up all my luck. (Laughs)

Q) Hard jurisprudence and soft children's poetry, it feels like a somewhat unsuitable combination. (Laughs)

At first glance, it may seem that way. But I think these two fields are more closely connected than you might think. I am reminded of the words of former Supreme Court Justice Kim Jae-hyung, whom I took a class in as an undergraduate, who said, “There is a lot of space to be filled with imagination both inside and outside civil law,” and that “legal imagination is as important as literary imagination.”

When I heard that, I remember thinking, ‘Wow, maybe I have both literary imagination and legal imagination?’ (Laughs) In fact, writing, including children’s poetry, has been a hobby of mine for a long time, and law is the field I majored in. If you look at the relationship between hobbies and occupations, they are not that different. Rather, I think having both of these things would be my strength.

I decided to go to a law school that supported tuition and living expenses for 3 years.

Q) What made you decide to go to law school?

In fact, the biggest reason was economic. Since I was young, my family's financial circumstances were not good, so I always studied with the help of scholarships. After graduating from college, I faced a significant financial burden while preparing for the bar exam. Then, at the age of 31, while I was preparing for a job after completing my military service, a friend heard about my situation and told me about a law school scholarship program.

It turned out that I was in the second-lowest class, so I was able to receive significant scholarship benefits when entering law school. I was even able to get the LEET test fee waived. It was a bit disappointing that it was only then that I found out that such a system existed. If I had known sooner, I would have attempted law school right after I was discharged from the military.

I took the LIT exam without any special preparation, and surprisingly got a high score. I was accepted to both Sungkyunkwan University and Chung-Ang University, and after much deliberation, I was accepted into Chung-Ang University Law School, which offered exceptional conditions that included tuition and living expenses of 1 million won per month for three years.

Q) You were 38 years old when you took the bar exam, so you must have been quite different from your younger peers. Wasn’t it physically difficult for you? (Laughs)

As I mentioned earlier, I was relatively able to afford it thanks to my background as a major. So, fortunately, there wasn’t much physical strain.

However, after finishing the final exam for the second semester of my third year and with about a month left until the bar exam, I let my guard down for a moment. Since I didn't have to go to school, I stayed in my room and spent the day watching YouTube, dramas, and movies. Now that I think about it, it was a really dangerous move.

Even right before the bar exam, I was worried about what I would do if I fail. Fortunately, I passed, but the three months leading up to the announcement of successful applicants was a truly nerve-wracking moment. Through this experience, I learned the hard lesson that you must not let go of tension until the end, and that being able to overcome it and do it when you don't want to do it is a skill.

Q) You have been working as a lawyer for 7 years now. You recently moved to Daeryun Law Firm (Liuhan). What kind of work are you doing?

Yes, I am currently in charge of general civil and criminal litigation at Daeryun Law Firm (Liuhan). In particular, Daeryun also handles a lot of family cases, such as divorce and inheritance. We are building our so-called expertise by handling cases in various fields.

Q) What are the rewards and difficulties you find in your work?

The greatest reward is when I solve my clients' problems. I especially feel greatly rewarded when I help people who are in financial difficulties or who are having difficulties due to lack of legal knowledge. The greatest joy as a lawyer is being able to make positive changes in people's lives with my experience and knowledge.

The challenge is that it is sometimes difficult to reconcile the gap between client expectations and legal reality. From the client's perspective, of course he wants a favorable outcome, but there are cases where that is legally difficult. In times like this, the process of explaining the reality while finding the best alternative and persuading the client is not easy.

Also, sometimes it is difficult to manage personal time because of the workload. However, I think that these difficulties are part of my growing process and I am overcoming them.

“Someday, I want to work as a lawyer and children’s writer.”

Q) What makes you most happy as a lawyer these days?

I've been really into running lately. I started running through the Runday app in June of last year, and not long ago, I competed in the 10km marathon course and set a record of 55 minutes. At first, I thought it was a sport that didn't cost much money, but as I got more into it, I found out that there were surprisingly many things to buy, such as running shoes, running belts, and sports watches. (Laughs)

I set goals one by one, such as running for 30 minutes without stopping, running for 50 minutes without stopping, completing 5km, completing 10km, etc. I give myself these items as a gift every time I set and achieve them. Should we call it a kind of ‘running flex’? (laughs)

Q) What are the future plans of lawyer Kim Young-min and person Kim Young-min?

In the future, I would like to further develop my expertise in a specific field. So far, I have handled cases in a variety of fields, but now I want to focus more on one specific field, such as labor law, family law (divorce, inheritance), criminal law, and copyright law.

In the long term, my goal is to run a law office or law firm under my name. At that time, when I say ‘Attorney Youngmin Kim,’ I want to be evaluated as a warm and humble lawyer along with people saying, ‘Ah, he is a talented person in a certain field.’ To this end, I plan to continue studying and accumulating various experiences.

Personally, maintaining a good balance between home and work is one of my important goals. My daughter is now 5 years old, and I want to cherish the time I spend with her and maintain a balance between home and work.

And if I had one small dream, it would be that someday I would like to work as a lawyer and children's writer. When I see people who are both lawyers and writers, I am always envious and respectful. If I get the chance, it would be great if I could write fairy tales or essays for children and even provide legal education to children.

Q) Lastly, what would you say to those who are hesitant about going to law school due to their age or the misunderstanding that tuition will be expensive?

First of all, you can give up worrying about tuition. There are many scholarship benefits depending on your income level. I too am a living witness to the benefits.

Being old is definitely not a factor in failing to pass the exam. Rather, your past life experiences can be your strengths. The important thing is to appeal well to what kind of study you have done up to that age, what social experiences you have gained, and what strengths you have gained as a lawyer through that.

Don't worry too much about your past undergraduate grades as they are already in the past. Instead, focus on your English scores, such as TOEIC, or LIT scores, which can be improved with effort.

Never think, ‘I can’t do it because of my age.’ Instead, just think about how you can incorporate your age into your strengths in your self-introduction. If you prepare like that, you will definitely be active in the legal field with me in three years. We support your challenge!

Reporter Park So-hee (showe@leet.or.kr)

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[Interview] "Law school with many scholarship benefits, I am a living witness."... Attorney Youngmin Kim (Daeryun Law Firm (Limited)) (Go to)