THE KOREAN COMMUNITY’S NEED FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE

New York City is home to one of the most vibrant Korean-American communities in the United States, with approximately 220,000 residents by some estimates. While our community has been instrumental in providing goods and services that enrich the Greater New York area among other contributions, many community members face significant legal challenges that require dedicated support and resources.

Key Demographics & Language Issues

Our community faces unique circumstances that make access to legal services particularly crucial:

• Immigration Status: According to the Asian American Federation, almost two-thirds of Korean residents are foreign born, as opposed to roughly only one-third for New Yorkers in general. 

• English Proficiency: The Asian American Federation has also found that in 2022, 44.2% of Koreans over the age of 5 were considered to have limited English proficiency, which was double the City’s 22.4% rate.

Challenges

Some of the many challenges in legal contexts that Korean Community members face due to language and cultural barriers include:

• Substantial difficulty navigating the Court system, either as civil or criminal participants

• Difficulty in defending against hate crimes as well as discrimination in housing, employment and other areas

• Difficulty in seeking the protections the legal system provides in domestic violence situations and other family court proceedings

• Difficulty in defending themselves in Landlord-Tenant disputes

• Difficulty in owning and operating the many small businesses in the Community under complex regulations and the resulting susceptibility to heavy fines  

• Complex immigration issues

THE CURRENT STATE OF LEGAL SERVICES 

Based on the observations of attorneys collaborating with the Korean Help initiatives, the vast majority of what we would describe as ‘Korean Community attorneys’ - those primarily serving Korean-speaking clients - concentrate their practice in a limited number of areas, particularly residential real estate and immigration law. This focus, potentially also influenced by language barriers, results in what has been described as only a ‘handful’ of litigation attorneys and a noticeable shortage and/or absence of legal professionals in various other practice areas. 

It is important to acknowledge that many highly skilled Korean-American attorneys practice in diverse areas of law outside of the primarily Korean-speaking Community. However, historically there has been a disconnect between these attorneys and the Korean-speaking community members who could benefit from their services. This disconnect may stem from a weaker connection between Korean-speaking and English-speaking Korean-Americans.  

ABOUT THE LEGAL ASSISTANCE NETWORK INITIATIVE 

The Korean Help Legal Assistance initiative seeks to act as a bridge between our Community and vital legal resources addressing the following needs:

Building Stronger Connections:

• Creating networks between Korean-speaking and English-speaking Korean-American attorneys

• Facilitating partnerships between Korean Community organizations and established legal service providers

• Developing stronger referral systems within the Community

Expanding Legal Service Coverage:

• Identifying and addressing gaps in current legal service areas

• Supporting the expansion of Korean-speaking legal services beyond traditional practice areas