변호사의 공익활동 활성화 방안에 관한 소고

Abstract

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and platform technologies in the digital economy is making the issue of access to justice, such as “no lawyer town” seem like a problem of the past. However, our society is becoming increasingly polarized and aging, and there is a lack of discussion on access to justice for socially vulnerable groups such as the digitally illiterate, the elderly poor, and multicultural families. In this regard, apart from the improvement of the legal aid system, which is the responsibility of the state, this study aims to examine the role that pro bono, which is practiced as a public duty of lawyers, should play in our rapidly changing society. In recent years, the flow of lawyers’ pro bono activities has diversified from simple legal counseling and litigation relief to legislative improvements for the socially disadvantaged and public interest programs that respond to various needs. In particular, legal education for the general public and activities to improve legal awareness have been emphasized as public interest activities that lawyers should be more interested in. This study synthesized the current status and implications of lawyers’ public interest activities in major countries to explore new directions for lawyers’ public interest activities and to examine ways to revitalize them. As a result, the study emphasized the importance of a referral service that can easily connect consumers and providers of legal services in the era of the digital transformation, and the need to establish a national public platform that can continuously operate and support it. In addition, the categories of lawyers’ public interest activities need to be adjusted to respond flexibly to new issues facing our society. The expansion of public interest activities of lawyers and the specialization of public interest litigation are important trends, so it is necessary to improve the support system to make them sustainable.