On July 23, 2015, the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice: YANG Sung-tae, Justice in charge: KWON Soon-il) rendered an en banc decision on invalidation of contingency fee agreements in criminal cases. The Court decided “contingency fee agreements in criminal cases violate moral custom and social order by connecting the result of investigation or trial with financial incentives because such agreements not only undermine public role of a lawyer whose duty is to advocate basic human rights and realize social justice, but also pose risks of marked decrease in trust in judicial system by the client and the public. Any contingency fee agreement in criminal cases from now on is invalidated according to the Article 103 of the Civil Code. The Supreme Court decision also reversed previous court decisions which considered even the contingency fee agreements in criminal cases which did not consider whether they contrast with moral custom and social order were valid in principle. (Supreme Court Decision 2015Da200111 Decided Jul 23, 2015)