[Interview] Kim Kuk-il, CEO of Daeryun Law Firm, “In the AI ​​era, ‘legal tech’ is the fate of the times, and sanctions against foreigners are outdated.”

Infringement of freedom of professional practice and freedom of expression under the Constitution... File a constitutional complaint at the Constitutional Court
 

Regulations on the introduction of LegalTech are unfair practices ‘reported to the Fair Trade Commission’… call for investigation

Ranked among ‘Top 10 Law Firms’ after 9 years of establishment… “The future keyword is ‘global mega law firm’”

Main office and 35 branch offices in Yeouido, Seoul… Establishment of local corporations in New York and Washington, USA

“In an era where AI has surpassed human intelligence, the global legal market accepts the increasingly sophisticated AI technology as fate and utilizes ‘legal tech,’ but it is problematic to restrict only the Korean Bar Association from doing so.” Kim Kuk-il, CEO of Daeryun Management Law Firm, protested against the recent regulatory measures by the Korean Bar Association.

At the same time, CEO Kim said, "It was shocking that AI beat Korea's best player Lee Sedol, 9th dan, in a Go demonstration about 10 years ago. Since then, AI intelligence has evolved day by day and we have entered an era where it surpasses human intelligence. If we do not accept the natural development of technology, it is an outdated idea and bordering on stubbornness."

"The world paid respects when the lunar probe 'Odysseus' of Intuitive Machines, an American private space company, succeeded in landing on the moon on February 17, 2024. Last year, one space tourism product ticket was already sold for $450,000 (approximately 600 million won), and expectations are high that a trip to the moon will become a reality in the near future. This was a fantasy trip dreamed of in fantasy movies or dreams in the past, but now that dream is becoming a reality. However, “Our bar association’s actions are tantamount to denying the realization of a trip to the moon by a private space company, saying it is not a reality,” he points out.

Daeryun Law Firm actively utilized ‘Legal Tech’ despite the Korean Bar Association’s regulations, raising sales of 112.7 billion won last year and ranking among the top 10 law firms within 9 years of its establishment. It was an honor to hold the title of one of the top 10 law firms in the shortest period since opening as ‘Daeryun Comprehensive Law Office’ in 2016.

On the 22nd, I met with CEO Kook-il Kim (35th floor, Park One Tower 1, Yeouido) to hear about Daeryun's legal tech and the future of legal services.

He said, "The legal market around the world is concentrating on ways to respond to the ever-increasing development of AI. Daeryun Law Firm has also succeeded in developing 'AI Daeryun' in 2025 by quickly responding to changes and is providing high-quality legal services to customers."

He continued, "The global legal tech legal market is growing at a rapid pace. AI is being actively used, especially in advanced countries such as the United States, and one of the representative examples is 'Harvey AI.' Global law firms such as Allen & Overy are known to have introduced AI and are using it for tasks such as regulatory research and inspection of contract provisions."
 

▶In the rapidly developing AI era, Daeryun’s quick response has provided practical help in pioneering the market.
= Following the trends of the global legal market, Daeryun has been exploring ways to introduce AI technology into legal work for a long time. This is because we believed that overcoming the current situation in which only lawyers enjoy professional legal information and increasing accessibility to consumers would also be helpful to the development of the legal market as a whole. Therefore, Daeryun has been focusing on developing services based on AI legal tech in line with the changing trends of the times, and as a result, ‘AI Daeryun’ was introduced early this year.
 

▶The legal market is suffering from a high cost structure. Is there a way to solve the problem of high costs, which is an obstacle to improving high-quality and efficient services?
=To solve the problem of high costs, Daeryun is working to increase efficiency in organizational operations and innovate the service structure. In particular, we are increasing work processing speed and efficiency through AI wheel service. I believe that minimizing the time and cost of writing complex documents such as complaints or responses, as well as errors that may occur in the process, and helping lawyers focus on supplementing core legal principles and establishing strategies ultimately helps solve high-cost problems.
 

▶I am curious about Daeryun’s self-developed program, ‘AI Daeryun’.
=‘AI Daeryun’ is a customized legal service that provides clients with fast and accurate legal information 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and connects them with consultations with lawyers. Its characteristic is that it does not stop at simply delivering legal information, but quickly analyzes and reviews users' questions and delivers the answers they need.

Furthermore, the service was developed by learning from public laws and lower court rulings, such as Supreme Court precedents and sentencing standards, and the legal accuracy and reliability of AI Daeryun were improved by having professional lawyers directly participate in the inspection and advisory process. In addition, ‘AI Dae-Ryun’ is actively used internally, and lawyers are actively utilizing AI when performing tasks such as searching for precedents, drafting documents, and reviewing legal principles. By resolving repetitive and time-consuming tasks with the help of AI, lawyers can focus on establishing more essential strategies and responding to customers, which is greatly helpful in performing their work.

In the future, we also plan to integrate incident computing systems and AI in earnest. I have no doubt that in the future, an environment will be created where lawyers can receive AI assistance throughout the entire process of a case.
 

▶I heard that the Korean Bar Association is imposing various sanctions on ‘AI Daeryun’. What are the injustices of the Bar Association and what are the countermeasures?
=The Korean Bar Association continues to show a negative stance toward ‘Legal Tech.’ Not long ago, when Daeryuk Aju Law Firm (Limited) launched ‘AI Indigo Aju,’ the Korean Bar Association filed a request to initiate disciplinary action, and despite Daeryuk Aju’s explanations several times in accordance with the requests of the Bar Association’s investigation committee, the representative attorney and others were fined 5 to 10 million won just two months after starting the disciplinary process.

Sanctions against Daeryun followed. As soon as the news of the launch of ‘AI Daeryun’ was announced, they announced their intention to initiate disciplinary proceedings. Sanctions through regulations are also in progress. One of the representative ones is ‘Article 5 of the Rules on Lawyer Advertising’, which was newly established in October last year. The rule contained the provision that, other than AI programs certified and supervised by the Bar Association, the fact that they were used for business purposes could not be advertised (Article 5, Paragraph 1). In addition, the Bar Association also prohibits advertising in a manner or content that allows consumers to directly use AI programs or connects consumers to programs (Article 5, Paragraph 2). We filed a constitutional appeal because we judged that the Bar Association's rules and attempts at disciplinary action infringe upon the constitutional freedom of professional practice and freedom of expression. Currently, this case has been referred to the full court and is in progress.

Accordingly, in June last year, the Bar Association deleted some provisions that stated, ‘You cannot advertise the fact that you are using AI programs for work.’ But the problem still remains. This is because Article 5, Paragraph 2, which prohibits consumers from directly using AI programs, is still in effect. Therefore, Daeryun plans to continue arguing whether Article 5, Paragraph 2 is unconstitutional.
 

▶In order to lead the development of Legal Tech, please tell us about the background to urging the Fair Trade Commission to investigate?
=On the 22nd, Daeryun submitted a report on business group prohibition to the Korean Bar Association to the Fair Trade Commission. The report states that the artificial intelligence-related advertising rules established by the Korean Bar Association clearly conflict with the ‘minimum regulation’ principle that the lawyer advertising system was originally intended for. Lawyer advertising regulations should be operated in a way that selectively regulates only false and exaggerated advertisements while providing sufficient information to consumers. However, the current regulations are intended to amount to excessive suppression to an unreasonable level.

In addition, through Article 6 of the ‘Regulations on Lawyer Advertising’, which sets out specific details regarding advertising rules, the Korean Bar Association requires lawyers, etc. to register the relevant artificial intelligence system in advance in accordance with the Association’s certification standards when advertising the fact that they use artificial intelligence in their work. However, currently, even the certification standards are not properly established. Additionally, if an artificial intelligence program is provided to the association for certification, there is a risk that a wide range of trade secrets, including the client's confidential information, may be leaked.

Daeryun pointed out these points and requested the Fair Trade Commission to strictly regulate actions that unreasonably block innovative attempts to introduce new technologies in the legal service market.
 

▶Daeryun’s future keywords. I am curious about what role it will play in the legal market.
=Daeryun’s slogan is ‘Global Mega Law Firm.’ It can be said to be a long-term roadmap to secure competitiveness not only domestically but also on the international stage. As is known, Daeryun originally introduced and operated the advanced system of ‘Baker & McKinsey’, the world’s largest law firm, in accordance with domestic circumstances. Through an integrated system centered on the main office, we have achieved high quality litigation by managing offices located throughout the country as one organic organization, and we plan to expand this to the overseas legal market.
 

▶What are Daeryun’s plans to establish a nationwide branch and branch network, overseas branch network, and enter the Chinese market?
=Daeryun currently has a main office in Yeouido and 35 branch offices, and is also making efforts to expand overseas. Based on this principle, local law firms were established in New York and Washington D.C. this year. In addition, we are recruiting a variety of professional personnel, including American lawyers and customs experts who specialize in overseas legal advice, and are striving to provide legal services to global companies and customers beyond simple legal advice. In addition, plans for entering China are currently being developed.
 

◆Who is Kim Kook-il’s CEO lawyer?
He graduated from Seoul National University College of Law in 1991, passed the 34th bar exam (1992), and completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute (24th class) in 1995. He first entered the legal profession as a prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in 1998, and served as chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, and Suwon District Prosecutors' Office.

Since then, he has served as the head of the Namwon Branch of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office, the head of the Mokpo Branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, and the head of the Goyang Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office. He has also worked as a professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute and has taken the lead in nurturing legal professionals.

Attorney Kim, who took off his legal uniform and entered the legal field in 2020, promoted innovation in the public sector by working as an innovation advisory committee member of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Osan City in Gyeonggi-do, Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation, and legal advisor to the Korea Sports Council. After joining Daeryun as the chief general lawyer in 2023, he was appointed as the management representative in 2024.
 

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[Interview] Kim Kuk-il, CEO of Daeryun Law Firm, “‘Legal Tech’ in the AI era is the fate of the times, and sanctions against the US are outdated” (Go)