Extraordinary Attorney Woo

In 2000, Woo Young-woo is a seemingly nonverbal child on the autism spectrum. When her father, Woo Gwang-ho, is attacked by a neighbor's jealous husband, she finally speaks—citing definitions of assault memorized from her father's legal library.

Twenty-two years later, Young-woo has graduated from Seoul National University at the top of her class and begins her first day at the Hanbada law firm. Senior attorney Jung Myung-seok does not want the awkward newcomer on his team, but CEO Han Seon-young agrees that he can dismiss Young-woo if she mishandles her first case: defending her childhood neighbor, charged with attempting to murder her husband. Though a plea bargain for attempted murder has been set, Young-woo realizes this would invalidate the defendant's pension and leave her homeless. The short-tempered husband dies after cross-examination from Young-woo, who extracts testimony from a medical expert that he could have suffered from an underlying subdural hematoma. The charge is reduced to assault, and the defendant receives probation, with her pension and home intact. Young-woo is aided in her new job by her colleague Lee Jun-ho, navigating everyday obstacles like their office building's revolving door.

At her lavish wedding prepared by the Daehyeon Hotel, bride Kim Hwa-young trips on her dress, exposing herself and her tattoo of the Buddha. Humiliated, her father, Kim Jeong-gu, rejects his lawyers' advice to accept the hotel's generous refund and hires Hanbada instead. Determined to outdo rival law firm Taesan, Seon-young agrees to pursue ₩1 billion in compensation. A wedding gift to the bride's family of land worth ₩33.2 billion will not occur due to the botched wedding, which Young-woo suggests entitles Jeong-gu to special damages, despite his daughter's unhappiness with the arranged marriage.

Posing as a couple to investigate the hotel's wedding business, Jun-ho sees Young-woo in a different light after she tries on a wedding dress. He enlists a bridal assistant from the hotel to testify that Hwa-young's dress was switched for a looser-fitting version. As the actual aggrieved party, Hwa-young withdraws the lawsuit, telling her father she is in fact a Buddhist and revealing her true love, her girlfriend. Young-woo comes to the attention of Taesan's CEO, Tae Soo-mi.

Kim Jeong-hoon, a young severely autistic man, is discovered apparently attacking his older brother, a brilliant medical student who dies intoxicated with mysteriously broken ribs. Their father, a Hanbada client, asks the firm to handle Jeong-hoon's defense. Young-woo, following her father's advice on getting through to her as a child, tries to communicate with Jeong-hoon through his love of Pengsoo. Young-woo and Jun-ho find evidence that the older brother tried to hang himself, but his parents refuse to accept that he was suicidal.

The prosecution uses Young-woo's high-functioning autism to argue against the defendant's diminished capacity. Young-woo is removed from the case, despite Myung-seok's protests, and the case is reassigned to his rival. In her office, Young-woo appears to attempt to hang herself but is saved by Jun-ho. She realizes that Jeong-hoon attempted to save his brother in the same way, breaking the deceased's ribs in the fall and by trying to perform CPR. The charges are reduced to bodily injury, and Jeong-hoon is ruled mentally incompetent; a disenchanted Young-woo resigns from Hanbada.

Dong Dong-sam, the father of Young-woo's best friend, Dong Geu-ra-mi, inherits land from his late father worth ₩10 billion. His older brothers pressure and deceive him into signing an agreement giving him only 20% but making him solely responsible for all taxes, which leaves him ₩260 million in debt. Young-woo no longer considers herself an attorney but agrees to help as a personal favor. An eavesdropping neighbor overheard the brothers intimidate Dong-sam but changes his story in court. Young-woo advises Geu-ra-mi to create a drunken scene at her grandfather's memorial, leading her uncles to attack her and her father, which invokes a section of the civil code that invalidates the agreement. Dong-sam is entitled to the entire inheritance but, after apologies from his brothers, agrees to divide the inheritance equally. Geu-ra-mi urges Jun-ho to confess his feelings for Young-woo. Myung-seok kindly chooses "not to process" Young-woo's resignation, and she rejoins the firm.

Hanbada is hired by ATM manufacturer Ihwa, who accuses rival company Geumgang of copying their technology, which Geumgang claims is an open-source design Ihwa is fraudulently trying to patent. "Wild card" Young-woo leads the case alongside her competitive colleague, "tactician" Kwon Min-woo, who openly sabotages her. Geu-ra-mi and Jun-ho advise Young-woo how to detect when people are lying. Imha's convincing false testimony results in an injunction against Geumgang.

Young-woo shows Min-woo a letter from the head of Geumgang begging her to pursue the truth as an honorable attorney, but he reminds her that their duty is to win for their client. Geumgang tracks down the last remaining ATM from a defunct company that used the same design, proving the technology pre-dated Imha's patent. The injunction is lifted, but Imha has already taken over Geumgang's contracts and ruined their business. Young-woo displays the letter on the wall of her office as a reminder to herself.

As a candidate for Minister of Justice, Tae Soo-mi denies rumors that she had a child out of wedlock.

Young-woo and her colleague Choi Soo-yeon become emotionally invested in defending Gye Hyang-sim, a North Korean defector. Five years earlier, she was arrested after demanding money from a badly beaten debtor but fled to care for her young daughter and has now come forward to accept punishment. A drunken miscommunication leads Min-woo to mistakenly tell Soo-yeon that Jun-ho has feelings for her. Arguing that the victim's wounds were caused by her abusive husband, Young-woo questions the doctor who examined her, who admits his bias against defectors.

Young-woo argues that under North Korean law, the defendant would be guilty of a lesser crime, but Hyang-sim confesses that she intended to get the money at any cost. While the jury deliberates, Young-woo and Soo-yeon sneak into the judge's chambers with a final plea for leniency. Telling Soo-yeon about mother whales' bond with their children, Young-woo struggles with her own mother's abandonment. The jury unanimously sentences Hyang-sim to four years in prison, but the judge imposes probation instead, in light of her honest confession.

Shopping with Soo-yeon, Young-woo nearly crosses paths with Tae Soo-mi.

The villagers of Sodeok-dong are distressed by plans for a highway that would cut through town. The head of Sodeok-dong convinces Myung-seok's team to handle the lawsuit against the construction after bringing them to see the colorful village. Taesan is hired as opposing counsel, led by Tae Soo-mi herself. She and Young-woo are impressed by each other, upsetting Young-woo's father. He accuses Han Seon-young of hiring Young-woo as a pawn in her rivalry with Soo-mi, who Young-woo is unaware is her mother. Despite Soo-mi's flashy presentations, Young-woo's eidetic memory proves that the highway plans were finalized before a required environmental impact study, and the judge is persuaded to visit Sodeok-dong himself. Soo-yeon urges Young-woo and Jun-ho to face their feelings for each other. Young-woo's father tells her that he and Seon-young were friends in law school, and that she hired Young-woo at his request. Deeply hurt, Young-woo leaves home. Min-woo, frustrated by what he perceives as Young-woo's "special treatment", writes an anonymous post on Hanbada's website about the company's "corrupt hiring practices".

Despite gossip about Young-woo and nepotism, Soo-yeon defends her to Min-woo and the rest of the firm. At the judge's on-site verification, Sodeok-dong's appeal is dampened by rain. Taesan has already convinced residents to sign consent forms for construction by suggesting potentially higher compensation. The judge will dismiss the lawsuit if most of the residents consent, leading Taesan to flood the village with interns collecting signatures. Soo-mi offers Young-woo a job with Taesan, further frustrating Min-woo. Young-woo tells her father that she has decided to move out and join Taesan, and he reveals that Soo-mi is her mother. Overwhelmed, Young-woo collapses, and her father tells her the truth: he and Soo-mi met in law school, but she rejected him when she became pregnant. After she gave birth, he dropped out to raise Young-woo by himself. Learning that Sodeok-dong's prized hackberry tree was prevented from being considered a natural monument, Young-woo secures the tree's protected status, ending construction and uniting the village. Revealing to Soo-mi that she is her daughter, Young-woo declines her offer.

Young-woo defends an eccentric young man who has adopted the humorous name "Bang Gu-ppong" (which can be translated as "fart") and is charged with kidnapping a busload of children who were supposed to attend his mother's hagwon. Instead, Gu-ppong—self-declared leader of the "Children's Liberation Army"— took them into the woods to play. Jun-ho and Young-woo learn the children are forced to study all day and night, prompting Gu-ppong to try to free them of the intense pressure from parents and schools.

A heartfelt plea from Gu-ppong's mother convinces the children's mothers not to pursue a lawsuit. Abandoning her team's plan to deem Gu-ppong mentally unfit, Young-woo helps him declare his philosophy of play as a "political offender". Myung-seok chastises Min-woo for antagonizing Young-woo. The mothers agree to let their children attend the trial, where Gu-ppong leads them in a joyous recitation of his motto: play, be healthy, and be happy. Young-woo struggles to demonstrate her affection for Jun-ho, and they finally confess their feelings for each other, but she runs away.

Visiting Gwang-ho, Soo-mi is secretly photographed by a reporter who connects her to Young-woo.

Young-woo intervenes when a young man, Yang Jeong-il, is arrested on the subway. Charged with quasi-rape of Shin Hye-yeong, a woman with intellectual disabilities, Jeong-il claims that he and Hye-yeong are in a loving relationship, and Young-woo agrees to defend him. Jeong-il's affectionate texts with Hye-yeong are contradicted by her statement to the police. After meeting Young-woo without her overprotective mother, Hye-yeong testifies that the relationship was consensual, but the prosecution asserts that the sexual encounter drove her to self-harm. The jury finds Jeong-il not guilty of sexual assault, but the judge sentences him to two years in prison as a sex offender.

Young-woo sets Soo-yeon up on an unsuccessful date with Kim Min-shik, Geu-ra-mi's boss. Young-woo and Jun-ho work toward becoming an official couple, an endeavor complicated by Young-woo's aversion to touch and judgement from Jun-ho's friends, and they share their first kiss. Soo-mi presents Gwang-ho with an offer for Young-woo to join Taesan's Boston branch, near numerous autism specialists, but he angrily throws her out.

Hanbada is hired by Shin Il-soo, who bought lottery tickets with two gambling buddies, one of whom reneged on their promise to split the winnings after his ticket won the ₩6 billion jackpot. A casino employee witnessed their agreement to share the prize but is unwilling to testify as an undocumented immigrant. Il-soo persuades employee Choi Da-hae to testify about the agreement instead, and the judge rules that the prize must be shared between the three men.

Young-woo realizes Il-soo is having an affair with Da-hae and plans to divorce his wife, Sung Soo-ji. Young-woo and Jun-ho try to warn Soo-ji without violating attorney-client privilege, but her abusive husband is killed in a car accident, and she inherits his prize money. Soo-yeon's new boyfriend is revealed to be a con artist preying on women with elite jobs, and Young-woo finds herself thinking about Jun-ho as often as she does about whales.

Deducing the truth about Young-woo's mother, Min-woo blackmails Soo-mi, who agrees to hire him at Taesan if he can force Young-woo out of Hanbada.

Myung-seok's team defends an insurance company in a gender discrimination case. Faced with downsizing, the company had employed 112 married couples and threatened the husbands' jobs if their wives did not resign instead, persuading most married women to quit. Activist attorney Ryu Jae-sook represents the only two women willing to take on the company, and her belief in an attorney's duty to protect vulnerable people leaves Young-woo conflicted.

Exploiting this, Min-woo tries to frame Young-woo by sending Jae-sook damaging Hanbada documents, but she is protected by Jae-sook's goodwill. Jae-sook submits evidence that the company's human resources manager was directly ordered to force female employees to resign; nevertheless, the judge dismisses the plaintiffs' claims of discrimination. Undeterred, Jae-sook invites Young-woo and Soo-yeon to a rooftop party with her and the plaintiffs, and returns the documents.

Gwang-ho confronts Young-woo after seeing her kiss Jun-ho, who is hurt that she does not already consider them to be a couple. Myung-seok grows paranoid when a murderer he defended is on the loose. The man is caught, but Myung-seok finds himself coughing up blood.

Myung-seok decides to visit a doctor after the events of the previous episode. The Hanbada team soon head to Jeju Island, along with Dong Geu-ra-mi and Kim Min-sik, after Young-woo accepts a case involving her landlady's father being charged an admission fee for being in the area of a local heritage site there, a temple called Hwangjisa, even though he had no intention to visit.

As the case develops, Myung-seok is saddened to see that his beloved Haengbok Noodle shop has closed down and later reveals to his coworkers how his overworking nature, typified by his honeymoon on Jeju Island, eventually caused his wife, Ji-su, to leave him. The team visits the temple, guided by the cheerful abbot. Jun-ho and Young-woo also visit the former's sister, Seung-hui, and her husband, with Seung-hui expressing disapproval over Young-woo. During the second day of court proceedings, Myung-seok clutches his stomach in pain and collapses on the floor, to everyone's shock.

At the hospital, the other lawyers learn that Myung-seok has been diagnosed with stage III stomach cancer. The Hanbada team decides to find the owner of Haengbok Noodles at Young-woo's suggestion but are unable to make meaningful progress. Ji-su visits Myung-seok in the hospital, exasperated that he has not changed despite not seeing her in five years. After speaking with Ji-su, Young-woo doubts that she would be able to make Jun-ho happy and initiates a breakup. The trial concludes with Hanbada's victory and the closure of the admission fee booth.

The team visits the abbot again at Hwangjisa, who bears Hanbada no grudges and prays for Myung-seok's well-being. They accept the abbot's invitation for lunch and find out that Haengbok's owner has taken up residence at Hwangjisa as their gongyangju (cook). The team helps him reopen Haengbok via the proper legal channels, before returning to Seoul. Back in her office, Han Seon-young meets reporter Lee Jun-beom and confirms his suspicions of Young-woo of being Tae Soo-mi's daughter. She promises to tell him everything he wants to know, under the condition that he publishes the article right before Soo-mi's confirmation hearing as minister of justice.

An employee working at Raon becomes the victim of spear phishing from an unknown hacker. As a result, millions of users' financial records are compromised. Jang Seung-jun takes the place of Myung-seok as leading attorney on the case, as the latter recuperates from surgery. However, he is dismissive of Young-woo and proves incompetent on the first day of court proceedings to the point of displeasing Han Seon-young. The CEO of Raon, In-cheol, tries to bribe the judge with Seung-jun, but the move backfires. Visiting Myeong-seok in the hospital, Young-woo is advised by him to lie low and confide in her peers.

The next day, In-cheol ingests cyanide and is rushed to the hospital. The Hanbada team is swarmed by reporters. Seung-jun abandons his coworkers and flees. Without him, they regroup at Hairy's Pub, where Young-woo realizes a crucial fact about the hacking. The team brings new information to Seung-jun, who loses his temper at Young-woo, kicking her off the case. However, Su-yeon keeps what Young-woo said in mind and goes against Seung-jun's arguments. Min-woo follows up, leaving a good impression on the judge. Raon wins the first lawsuit.

In the ending scene, it is revealed that the hacker is Tae Soo-mi's son, Choi Sang-hyeon.

Sang-hyeon confesses to Tae Soo-mi that he was behind the Raon hacking but is told to keep everything a secret. During In-cheol's absence, Kim Chan-hong became Raon's CEO. In conversation with his ex-wife, Ji-su, a recuperating Myung-seok considers quitting Hanbada. Sang-hyeon feels guilty for In-cheol's hospitalization and meets Young-woo, revealing that Chan-hong requested that he do the hacking to convince In-cheol to spend more money on security. He gives her a flash drive containing his confession video. He also reveals that they are siblings. Han Seon-yeong wants to use the confession video against Soo-mi, but Young-woo proposes another solution, as the hacked data remains encrypted.

In court, the judge does not accept the video as evidence. Raon's board fires Chan-hong. Sang-hyeon is unable to testify in person, as Soo-mi is sending him to the United States. Mending her relationship with Jun-ho, Young-woo meets Soo-mi at the National Assembly right before Soo-mi's hearing, giving an emotional plea requesting her to do the right thing for her son as a mother. After Sang-hyeon testifies, Soo-mi apologizes to the media for her son's misdeeds and steps down from her candidacy for minister of justice.

The Hanbada team celebrates their victory. Young-woo is given a full-time contract at the firm and feels a sense of accomplishment in her life.