Script reading stills have been dropped for SBS’s upcoming action law drama One Dollar Lawyer, starring Namgoong Min (The Veil), Kim Ji-eun (Again My Life), Choi Dae-hoon (Insider), Lee Deok-hwa (Business Proposal), and Park Jin-woo (Military Prosecutor Doberman).
The drama promises to be a snappy courtroom flick centered around Namgoong Min’s character — Cheon Ji-hoon — a lawyer who fights the corrupt rich while only charging his clients 1,000 won (essentially $1) in legal fees. Notorious for taking on, and winning, David vs. Goliath cases, Ji-hoon is colorfully described as a lawyer with a sophisticated perm and the personality of a London back-alley gangster. Do I know what that means? No. Am I intrigued? Most definitely. He’s assisted by his secretary Sa Ma-jang — played by Park Jin-woo — who is the Watson to his Sherlock.
Working with him, or should I say against him in the courtroom, is prosecutor Baek Mari, played by Kim Ji-eun. As someone who comes from a long line of prestigious legal professionals, Mari is considered legal royalty. She’s poised and self-assured in the courtroom, but when she meets our wildly temperamental lawyer, her smooth career trajectory comes to a grinding halt.
Lee Deok-hwa plays Baek Hyun-moo, Mari’s grandfather and founder of the top law firm “Baek.” Amidst his success, Hyun-moo is a lawyer that leads by his heart. It’s his pathos-driven sense of justice that will have him pushing Mari toward Ji-hoon in the first place.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a legal drama without a power-hungry bad guy, which is where Choi Dae-hoon comes in as prosecutor Seo Min-hyuk. Hailing from another prestigious family of lawyers, Min-hyuk believes in playing the rich person game to get ahead: leveraging connections, getting into prestigious schools, and marrying rich. He’ll have his sights set on turning “Baek” into “Baek and Seo” by putting a ring on our female lead.
The rest of the cast includes names like Lee Chung-ah (Awaken), Gong Min-jung (Hometown Cha Cha Cha), Ha Sung-Kwang (From Now On, Showtime!), and Kim Chul-yoon (Military Prosecutor Doberman), among others.
With the writers Choi Soo-jin and Choi Chang-hwan (Heart Surgeons, Defendant) behind the script and PD Kim Jae-hyun directing, One Dollar Lawyer plans to air in the Friday-Saturday slot on SBS.