Netflix K-drama Pro Bono: Jung Kyung-ho shines as fallen star judge in breezy legal drama

Lead cast: Jung Kyung-ho, So Ju-yeon\nLatest Nielsen rating: 6.18 per cent\nJust a few months after playing a labour rights lawyer in Oh My Ghost Clients, Jung Kyung-ho is back on screens as another jurist taking on human interest cases in the breezy legal drama Pro Bono.\nHere, Jung is Kang Da-wit, who starts off the show as a star judge with a massive social media following. He works at the Seoul Central District Court, which he likes to dub his castle.\n\n\nHandsome, tough on corruption and generous to his staff, Da-wit is beloved by all. He skilfully feigns modesty while secretly being very ambitious – his dream is to be appointed to the Supreme Court.\nHowever, his carefully laid plans experience a major roadblock following an unexpected meet-up with an old primary school classmate. He wakes up after a boozy night to find an apple box stuffed with cash in the boot of his car, with no recollection of how it got there.\nDa-wit’s boss forces him to quietly resign to avoid a scandal and soon he is headhunted by former flame Oh Jung-in (Lee Yoo-young, appearing in her second legal drama of the year following Law and the City), a partner at her father’s large law firm Oh & Partners.\nHe accepts the job, expecting a plush partner gig and the corner office that comes with it, but is dumbstruck when he is guided to his new space – a cluttered pro bono office filled with well-meaning but hapless lawyers and a number of stray dogs.\n\nThe dogs are related to some of their current case work, which includes a dispute between the guardians of a golden retriever and its former abusive owners.\nStill bewildered by the breathless turn of events that have sent him from a judge’s seat to a back office, Da-wit is not very focused on the case to begin with. But his ambition has not left him; recognising that Oh & Partners hopes to score PR points through its pro bono work, he strikes a deal with Jung-in.\nDa-wit will throw himself into the work for a year, and if he manages to win over 70 per cent of his cases, Oh & Partners will help him secure his cherished Supreme Court nomination.\nHe sets to work, joining forces with idealistic human rights lawyer Park Gi-ppeum (So Ju-yeon, Dr. Romantic season 3). While Da-wit has won over his other colleagues in the pro bono department, he has his work cut out for him with Gi-ppeum because they had a run-in while he was still a judge.\n\nAt the Seoul Central District Court, Da-wit graciously came to Gi-ppeum’s aid when she was struggling with a printer, only to do a one-eighty when he realised she was not a staff member – whose votes he was actively courting.\nThings quickly get complicated during their first case, when the woman claiming her dog was kidnapped hires a hotshot lawyer who Da-wit knows has a habit of fabricating evidence.\nWhile Gi-ppeum’s idealism falters in the courtroom, Da-wit’s experience and connections succeed in keeping their case alive.\nAs a legal drama, Pro Bono is largely an enjoyable one, sticking to an episodic structure through the cases Da-wit needs to win and a larger frame of his fall from grace, comeback and we can safely assume his moral development.\n\nSpeaking of that moral trajectory, these opening episodes briefly let us glance at Da-wit’s rural upbringing. He may seem cocky in the present, but he had a difficult childhood and made it to the bench after passing the bar exam without a college degree.\nRather than violent crimes, the show is so far sticking to cases of social injustice, the kind that elicit tears and heartfelt victories. Look no further than Da-wit and Gi-ppeum’s first case, which goes right for the heartstrings with its focus on an abused pup.\nJung’s previous hit Oh My Ghost Clients shared a similar thematic structure, the only clear difference being that show’s supernatural premise. That said, the actor is equally entertaining here and Pro Bono offers slightly more in the way of legalese and complex jurisprudence, one of the pleasures of this genre.\n\nJung’s latest courtroom foray, which has already opened to strong ratings, proves that legal shows remain a top draw in the world of K-dramas.\nPro Bono is streaming on Netflix.\n