Lawyers, traditionally considered among the most privileged in society, are recently finding it hard to maintain their once-eminent status.

With the number of lawyers reaching 9,500 this April, they are competing ever more fiercely to secure grounds in the legal market.

Careers as a lawyer, together with judges and prosecutorial jobs, have long been an example of low supply and high demand.

However, as the Judicial Research and Training Institute opens its doors to around 1,000 trainees per year, legal manpower supply is beginning to catch up with market demand.

The law school system, which will qualify around 2,000 students per year with lawyer certificates from 2012, is also expected to further speed up the supply.

Major law firms opening subsidiaries in Korea, and the expansion of patent attorneys, judicial scriveners and tax accountants are also said to be eating at lawyers' share of the market.

The number of lawyers who shut down their offices over financial difficulties almost doubled from 78 in 2005 to 138 last year, according to the Seoul Bar Association.

Not only are a growing number of lawyers failing to compete, many following the lawyer-career path are also suffering from low pay and unfavorable treatment.

"Many still think lawyers enjoy a highly profitable career, but this has come to be a bias," said a lawyer in her third year on the job who asked to remain anonymous.

"Except for a few law firms that still offer an initial annual payment of 80 million won ($64,777) or more, most novice lawyers receive a surprisingly low salary."

Moreover, per hour incomes are usually much lower for these lawyers, as their working hours generally far exceed those of ordinary company employees, she added.

Nevertheless, even these jobs are not so easily available these days.

"One of my acquaintances, who was a highly capable lawyer, had to join a regular company as legal advisor as he failed to find a new lawyer job offer after quitting his previous office," said the lawyer.

However, local law firms are likely to suffer their own crisis as major U.S. law firms are tipped to flood into Korea once a bilateral free trade agreement takes effect.

Under domestic law, foreign-based law firms are only allowed to offer consulting services here, but the limitations are expected to be lifted in the near future, according to legal experts.

A further development saw the National Assembly last month pass a revision bill on the patent attorney law to allow patent attorneys to co-represent a legal case with a lawyer.

Judicial scriveners and tax accountants also handed in similar revision bills on the corresponding laws, claiming the expansion of their business fields in the law market.

The Korean Bar Association, in response, recently decided to limit the lawyers' fees to 500,000 won in small sum cases and to improve the level of their services.

The KBA's efforts will include free online legal counsel via major online portals, association officials said.