[INTERVIEW] In AI-augmented legal market, clients will judge firms by final results: BKL chief

Yi Joon-ki, managing partner of Bae, Kim & Lee, said in a recent interview that clients will judge law firms by the quality of results, not by how much AI they use. He said BKL has rolled out generative AI across the firm this year after pilot projects in litigation, research, due diligence and drafting. He also said the firm wants to use AI to improve legal workflows, deepen analysis and strengthen cross-border work.

BKL recorded 440.2 billion won in revenue last year, overtaking Lee & Ko for the first time in six years to become Korea’s second-largest law firm by revenue after Kim & Chang.

Revenue reported in value-added tax filings for the first half of this year rose 29.3 percent from a year earlier.

BKL began organizing its most recent years of records across the firm with AI-aided preprocessing and aims to complete the broader historical archive by year-end.

Yi said BKL wants its new system to incorporate the reasoning criteria of its lawyers so it can produce advice that general-purpose AI tools cannot imitate.

Published Sep 22, 2026 7:00 am KST

AI can 'raise the floor' but it is law firms' job to 'raise the ceiling,' Yi Joon-ki says

Yi Joon-ki, managing partner of Bae, Kim & Lee (BKL), speaks during a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul. Courtesy of BKL

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a standard tool across the legal profession and beyond, clients will ultimately judge law firms not by whether or how much they use the technology, but by the quality of the results they deliver with it, said Yi Joon-ki, managing partner of Bae, Kim & Lee (BKL).

“Clients do not really care what tools we use,” Yi said in a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office. “What they want is a compelling and useful analysis — one that addresses their needs. In the end, it is BKL’s judgment, and BKL will be responsible for it. As long as we deliver a reliable answer, that is what matters to them.”

The Seoul-based law firm has emerged as one of the most active adopters of generative AI among Korean law firms, rolling out the technology across the organization this year after conducting pilot projects in litigation, legal research, due diligence, document drafting and other legal tasks.

Yi said BKL’s broader ambition is not merely to automate routine work, but to redesign legal workflows so that lawyers can deliver deeper analysis, sharper strategic judgment and more useful advice to clients.

“The introduction of AI in work can only raise the floor,” Yi said. “But what matters more is raising the ceiling, which depends on how it is used by people … The real competition will be over who can use it to produce a better final product for the client.”

The distinction is central to BKL’s approach. AI can quickly summarize documents, identify clauses, compare testimonies and draft routine documents — tasks that previously required many hours of work by junior lawyers. But Yi said the greater competitive advantage will come from combining the technology with a firm’s accumulated know-how, the judgment of experienced lawyers and systems designed to make the best use of AI-generated materials.

“If a law firm simply asks AI a question and accepts one answer, that is one level,” he said. “But if it can generate several possible approaches, compare them, verify the facts and legal grounds, and use them to build a better strategy, it becomes a completely different kind of service.”

When ChatGPT was introduced to the public in late 2022, Yi thought it was premature for BKL to adopt the technology, which seemed promising but not dependable enough for work. Security, particularly client confidentiality, remained a key concern.

But as AI tools improved, he concluded that both the technology and its internal governance safeguards had advanced enough to manage the risks. Yi also pointed to changing corporate attitudes toward “shadow AI” — employees’ use of unapproved AI tools outside company systems — even at major companies with stringent security requirements. Rather than trying to ban AI use altogether, he said, it would be better to use managed platforms that could bring such activity under institutional control.

Asked where AI has proved most useful, Yi pointed to matters involving large volumes of documents, including complex criminal cases.

Lawyers, for example, once had to spend many months reviewing interrogation records and witness statements to identify inconsistencies, contradictions and corroborating evidence — a task AI can now handle in a fraction of the time.

AI is also changing the way BKL handles cross-border matters, allowing its lawyers to carry out more substantive preliminary research.

“Instead of asking overseas counsel an open-ended question about what the law is there, we can now say, ‘Based on our research, we think the answer is yes. Can you confirm that?’ That changes the nature of cross-border legal work completely,” Yi said.

Yi said BKL’s next goal is to connect AI with the firm’s four decades of accumulated legal materials and the tacit judgment of its experienced lawyers. Rather than limiting an internal AI system to a narrow set of recent documents in a single practice area, the firm has used AI-aided preprocessing to organize its most recent years of records across the firm and aims to complete the broader historical archive by year-end. The new system will incorporate BKL lawyers’ reasoning criteria, allowing it to produce high quality advice that cannot be imitated by general-purpose AI tools, he said.

BKL recorded 440.2 billion won ($320 million) in revenue last year, overtaking Lee & Ko for the first time in six years to become Korea’s second-largest law firm by revenue after Kim & Chang. Its growth has continued this year, with revenue reported in value-added tax filings for the first half rising 29.3 percent from a year earlier.

Yi outlined three priorities for BKL’s next stage: expanding AI across day-to-day legal work to deliver tangible value to clients; building an outcome-driven culture and developing talent capable of delivering results for clients; and strengthening the firm’s ability to resolve complex cross-border matters.

“These tasks ultimately converge on one goal: qualitative growth and stronger international competitiveness,” Yi said. “What matters is not simply becoming larger, but raising the level at which we solve difficult problems — and ensuring that level meets international, not just domestic, standards.”

裴金李律师事务所（Bae, Kim & Lee，简称BKL）的管理合伙人李俊基（Yi Joon-ki）在最近的一次采访中表示，客户评判律师事务所的标准是结果的质量，而不是他们使用了多少人工智能。他表示，在诉讼、研究、尽职调查和文书起草等领域开展试点项目后，BKL今年已在全所范围内推广了生成式人工智能技术。他还表示，事务所希望利用人工智能来改进法律工作流程、深化分析并加强跨境业务。

BKL去年营收达4402亿韩元，六年来首次超越Lee & Ko，成为韩国营收第二大的律师事务所，仅次于Kim & Chang。

今年上半年增值税申报表显示的收入比上年同期增长了 29.3%。

BKL 开始利用人工智能辅助预处理技术整理公司最近几年的记录，目标是在年底前完成更广泛的历史档案整理工作。

Yi表示，BKL希望其新系统能够融入律师的推理标准，从而提供通用人工智能工具无法模仿的建议。

发布于2026年9月22日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

李俊基表示，人工智能可以“提高底线”，但律师事务所的职责是“提高上限”。

裴金李律师事务所 (BKL) 的管理合伙人李俊基 (Yi Joon-ki) 近日在首尔办公室接受《韩国时报》采访。图片由 BKL 提供。

Bae, Kim & Lee (BKL) 的管理合伙人 Yi Joon-ki 表示，随着人工智能 (AI) 成为法律行业及其他领域的标准工具，客户最终评判律师事务所的标准将不再是他们是否或多少次使用这项技术，而是他们利用这项技术交付的结果的质量。

“客户其实并不关心我们使用什么工具，”李先生最近在办公室接受《韩国时报》采访时表示，“他们想要的是一份有说服力且实用的分析报告——一份能够满足他们需求的分析报告。最终，这是BKL的判断，BKL也将对此负责。只要我们能提供可靠的答案，对他们来说就足够了。”

这家总部位于首尔的律师事务所已成为韩国律师事务所中生成式人工智能最积极的采用者之一，在诉讼、法律研究、尽职调查、文件起草和其他法律任务方面开展试点项目后，今年已在整个组织内推广了这项技术。

Yi表示，BKL的更远大目标不仅仅是实现日常工作的自动化，而是重新设计法律工作流程，以便律师能够为客户提供更深入的分析、更敏锐的战略判断和更有用的建议。

“人工智能在工作中的引入只能提高最低标准，”易说。“但更重要的是提高上限，这取决于人们如何使用它……真正的竞争将在于谁能利用它为客户打造更好的最终产品。”

这一区别是BKL方法的核心。人工智能可以快速概括文件、识别条款、比对证词并起草常规文件——这些任务以前需要初级律师花费大量时间。但易表示，更大的竞争优势将来自于将这项技术与律所积累的专业知识、经验丰富的律师的判断以及旨在充分利用人工智能生成材料的系统相结合。

他说：“如果律师事务所只是向人工智能提出一个问题并接受一个答案，那只是一种层面。但如果人工智能能够生成几种可能的解决方案，对它们进行比较，核实事实和法律依据，并利用这些方案制定更好的策略，那就变成了一种完全不同的服务。”

ChatGPT 于 2022 年底正式发布时，易认为 BKL 当时采用这项技术为时尚早，尽管它看起来很有前景，但还不够可靠，无法用于实际工作。安全性，尤其是客户隐私，仍然是他们关注的重点。

但随着人工智能工具的改进，他认为这项技术及其内部治理保障措施都已发展到足以应对风险的程度。易还指出，即使是安全要求严格的大公司，对“影子人工智能”（即员工在公司系统之外使用未经批准的人工智能工具）的态度也在发生变化。他认为，与其试图完全禁止人工智能的使用，不如使用可管理的平台，将此类活动置于机构控制之下。

当被问及人工智能在哪些方面最有用时，易指出，人工智能在处理大量文件方面最为有效，包括复杂的刑事案件。

例如，律师过去需要花费数月时间审查审讯记录和证人证词，以找出不一致之处、矛盾之处和佐证——而人工智能现在可以在很短的时间内完成这项任务。

人工智能也在改变 BKL 处理跨境事务的方式，使其律师能够进行更实质性的初步研究。

“我们现在可以不再向海外律师提出关于当地法律的开放式问题，而是说，‘根据我们的研究，我们认为答案是肯定的。你能确认一下吗？’这彻底改变了跨境法律工作的性质，”易说。

易先生表示，BKL的下一个目标是将人工智能与律所四十年来积累的法律资料以及经验丰富的律师的默契判断相结合。律所并没有将内部人工智能系统局限于单一业务领域的近期文件，而是利用人工智能辅助预处理技术整理了律所近几年的各类记录，并计划在年底前完成更广泛的历史档案整理。他表示，新系统将融入BKL律师的推理标准，从而能够提供通用人工智能工具无法模仿的高质量法律建议。

BKL去年营收达4402亿韩元（约合3.2亿美元），六年来首次超越Lee & Ko，成为韩国营收第二大的律师事务所，仅次于Kim & Chang。今年，BKL的营收增长势头依然强劲，上半年增值税申报数据显示，其营收较上年同期增长29.3%。

Yi 为 BKL 的下一阶段概述了三个优先事项：将人工智能扩展到日常法律工作中，为客户带来切实价值；建立以结果为导向的文化，培养能够为客户带来成果的人才；以及加强公司解决复杂跨境问题的能力。

“这些任务最终都指向同一个目标：质的增长和更强的国际竞争力，”易先生说。“重要的不仅仅是规模扩大，而是提高我们解决难题的水平——并确保这一水平达到国际标准，而不仅仅是国内标准。”