“May It Please The Court” is a 2022 South Korean legal drama written by Kim Dan and directed by Kang Min Ku. The series is based on the novel of the same name by Jung Hye Jin and stars Jung Ryeo Won, Lee Kyu Hyung, and Jung Jin Young in leading roles.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Chak Hee Get Arrested?
The owner of Jangsan Law Firm pays respect to his late father, along with a bunch of people related to him. Jangsan is a big name in Korea and the owner, Byung Chun, is highly respected. He has a few people close to him, and one of them is Noh Chak Hee. People often confuse her with Byung Chun’s granddaughter because of how close they are to each other. However, Oh Ha Ran does not like Chak Hee and treats her like just another employee of their firm.
Chak Hee is one of the top lawyers in Jangsan and is known as “The Dark Lord” by her subordinates. She is disciplined and a workaholic. During her seven years at Jangsan, she has given an impressive performance that is almost unbelievable. She is being considered for the post of a new partner of the firm who will lead them in the future, but she has many opponents, Ha Ran being the top one. The most suspicious thing about Chak Hee is the record of her working hours.
When the management team discussed the prospective new partner of the firm, one of Chak Hee’s previous clients stormed her office, demanding an explanation of the Lawyer’s fees. He demanded proof that Chak Hee really worked for the mentioned hours. The management committee plays the recorded footage of Chak Hee working in her office, which kills two birds with one stone. It convinces the client and also the management team that Chak Hee has a true record on her timesheet. It was planned by Chak Hee and her client to help her win the favour of the management team.
Chak Hee is currently representing Kangsung Pharmaceuticals against their former employee who has accused them of producing faulty birth control pills. She is already busy and suddenly gets a call from her friend, Soon Young, who has murdered her husband. Chak Hee refuses to help her because Soon Young cannot afford her fees. Chak Hee visits Lawyer Jwa Si Baek, a public defender who is battling against her. He has taken the birth control pills himself to check whether they have side effects or not.
Chak Hee offers Si Baek to settle the case with monetary compensation, which only intrigues Si Baek further. He refuses to settle outside of court because the compensation is way less than what they have sued the company for. Chak Hee threatens him that she will go to any length to win a case, and that is why she has a 92%-win rate, and Si Baek has only 3%. On her way, the thought of meeting her friend, Soon Young, crosses her mind, but she has more important work to do.
The CEO of Kangsung Pharmaceuticals is annoyed that Chak Hee couldn’t convince the other party to receive compensation. Chak Hee assures him that she can win the case but asks him to make sure if she is representing him or his company. When he confirms that she is only representing the company, Chak Hee decides her next move. She exposes the CEO and the woman’s extramarital affair in court. The woman agrees that she had leaked the information because she was angry about their breakup, but she still claims that the pills have side effects.
Chak Hee made a move to stop the rumours from spreading further, but the CEO was displeased and slapped her after coming out of court. Si Baek finds it interesting why Chak Hee would even bear getting slapped by her client when she had helped him. Si Baek isn’t stopping soon and is looking for evidence against Kangsung. The evidence that he is looking for is already destroyed, but there are some women who can testify against the company.
Soon Young had been a part of clinical trials of Kangsung’s birth control pill, and she told Chak Hee about a similar symptom as she had heard from other victims. Soon Young felt like she was hallucinating when she killed her husband, and many other women have reported such similar symptoms. Senior Lawyer Jang tells Chak Hee to settle with Soon Young silently so that she won’t speak up, but she just tells Soon Young to kill herself.
The next day, Chak Hee receives the news of Soon Young’s attempt to suicide, and the CEO gets happy with her dedication to her profession. This opens the door for Chak Hee to become a partner in the Jangsan Law Firm. The CEO had looked down on her because she was a housekeeper’s daughter and studied law at a country university, but now he was the one who gave her approval to get promoted. Chak Hee accepted her new position, and as she started her speech, a police detective arrested her for instigating the suicide of Soon Young.
Who Reported Chak Hee To The Police?
Chak Hee had told Soon Young to attempt suicide, but it was to attack Kangsung Pharma indirectly. After Chak Hee found out that the birth control pills were really defective, she didn’t feel right about defending them. Soon Young’s suicide attempt made noise, just as Chak Hee expected. She even gave Si Baek the confidential document about the side effects of the birth control pills, knowing she would face severe consequences if Jangsan found out about it.
Initially, she believed that Si Baek had reported her for Soon Young’s suicide, but he denied doing so. Though Si Baek thought that the arrest served Chak Hee right, he helped her get out after no one from her firm came to her help. Chak Hee pestered the police detective to finally reveal who had reported her. It was director Jang, whom Chak Hee trusted so much, but it was her mistake that got her arrested. Jang found out that Chak Hee had provided confidential information to Si Baek.
Jang is Oh Ha Ran’s husband and has received a higher position in Jangsan because of her father. Chak Hee doesn’t have a powerful family background, and Jang claims that to be the reason why Chak Hee doesn’t know anything about loyalty. She gets expelled from the Jangsan firm for a year and has to work as a public defender in Jungha. However, Jang reveals to her the hidden agenda behind this move. He has been planning to open an ESG department in the firm and wants Chak Hee to lead it. Jang has an ulterior motive behind it: to enter politics, and hence, he needs a good image. Chak Hee already comes from an unprivileged background, and her experience as a public defender will only add to her selling value.
‘May It Please The Court” Episode 2: Ending
Chak Hee was used to the luxurious lifestyle in Seoul and found it difficult to adjust to the small town of Jungha. Moreover, she has to work in a small, rented office with Si Baek. Si Baek is more vexed by her arrival than she is about working with him. On her way back home, Si Baek refuses to give her a ride, even when it is raining. The CEO of Kangsung Pharma suddenly arrives in his car and asks her to ride with him. Chak Hee apologizes to him for her mistake, but instead of forgiving her, he needs other favours from her.
CEO Cho offers her hand for help, but he asks for sexual favours in return. Cho is taking her to a hotel, but she resists. Si Baek had seen her going with Cho but didn’t get the right feeling about it and followed her. He stops his car across from Cho’s car and saves Chak Hee from him. Later, at Cho’s house, someone kills him by drowning him in his bathtub. The killer has odd similarities with someone we know.
Si Baek is a righteous lawyer in “May It Please The Court,” but he is also seen wearing the same watch as the killer and has a distinct knot as his keychain, which Cho was also tied with. The story will be exciting if Si Baek is really living a dual life.
