#suspicious partner

As a lifelong legal drama fan on top of a kdrama afficionado, you have come to the RIGHT PLACE.

If we're counting the fantasy ones, then The Judge From Hell is obviously pretty high on the list: A literal judge from hell gets banished to earth to punish people in order to earn her way back down, and she's also the hottest woman alive and accidentally seduces a pathetic self-loathing cop with a strong sense of justice, and gathers a band of ne'er-do-wells along the way.

But if we're sticking to the more rigid definition of legal drama, then I've got plenty of options:

The Devil Judge

Set in a world where things are only slightly worse than they currently are, and our protagonist is the ultimate "why can't we all do the right thing" guy who gets pulled into the web of the ultimate "i will do anything to serve justice, including crimes" guy. They're also in love, but that's mainly subtext, but also it's BARELY subtext.

2. Law School

This is my personal favourite of the k-law dramas, because it's essentially How to Get Away with Murder but better because it only ran for one season and therefore stuck the landing successfully. A bunch of law students are mixed up in a murder mystery when it seems like their professor killed someone and they try to figure out the truth while also passing law school. The cast is STACKED and the writing is fantastic.

3. May It Please the Court

An ambitious attorney is suspended for spurious reasons and ends up working for the public defenders office, where she meets somebody who has no desire to climb the ranks and simply wants to do his job. They clash, but work surprisingly well together, and end up taking on an ongoing case together. Their chemistry is great and I adored this show and how much of a stone-cold bitch she pretended to be.

4. Witch at Court

Same actress, slightly different vibes. A cutthroat lawyer who is willing to lie and do illegal things to win cases ends up working for the sex crimes division alongside a man who is new to the profession with a steadfast moral compass which is about to be thoroughly shaken.

5. Miss Hammurabi

An overly empathetic newly appointed judge clashes with the rigid rules and customs of the establishment, and along the way meets a cold-seeming man who dislikes her for her emotional approach to judging, but who ends up coming around.

6. Lawless Lawyer

A former gangster becomes a lawyer who works JUST on the edge of the law, taking advantage of his previous life and knowledge to take on corruption from within and outside of the system. He meets a lawyer whose license is suspended because she punched a judge (deservedly) and together they form a crack team - along with a gang of delinquents - to defeat the evils that threaten to corrupt the entire system.

7. Extraordinary Attorney Woo

Attorney Woo is an autistic baddie who I am in love with, and while she does face discrimination from her fellow lawyers who look down on her "odd" behaviour she is loved and appreciate by those who matter. This whole cast is also absolutely banging btw, but Woo Young Woo is the most ray of sunshine character to have ever shone her light on us.

8. Suspicious Partner

This was the first legal kdrama I ever watched and it slaps SO hard and still absolutely holds up. A rookie prosecutor is framed for murder and the brilliant prosecutor she works with (who already got off on the wrong foot with her) is dragged in. The case is complicated by politics and false evidence and plenty of twists and turns, and the whole time you're watching these two go from antagonists to lovers and it's great. The chemistry is CHEMISTRYING and this is the hottest that Ji Chang Wook has ever looked, which is an extremely high bar.

and y'know what, yeah, let's throw in Vincenzo, just for fun:

Vincenzo Cassano works for the Italian mafia and when he returns to South Korea he ends up fighting for the little guy (an apartment complex of working class people) against the huge corporations, roping in a corporate lawyer to help, and it absolutely rips. Half mob show, half legal drama, with a brilliant host of supporting characters, some truly despisable villains, some hot and compelling villains, complex motivations, pigeons, and a carrie-style bucket scene, this show has everything!

Born March 13, 1991, actress and singer Kwon Nara aka Nara turns 35 today.

Shown above as Sang-woon/Hwa-yeon in Bulgasi: Immortal Souls (2021), she has also appeared in well known series such as Itaewon Class (2020), My Mister (2018), and Suspicious Partner (2017).

"I'm really struggling to hold myself back"