To be a Criminal Defence Solicitor – especially a Duty Solicitor – is to walk a path of moral fortitude, professional integrity, and emotional resilience. These practitioners often represent clients accused of the most heinous crimes – acts that chill the spine and challenge the very limits of human empathy. Yet, they must do so with unwavering commitment, without judgment, and with a sense of duty rooted in justice.
A Demanding Profession
The role demands more than just legal knowledge. It calls for diplomacy, patience, empathy, and an extraordinary strength of character. Representing a person charged with a violent or deeply disturbing crime is not a matter of condoning the behaviour, but of upholding the fundamental principles of justice: that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, proper representation, and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
It means being available 24/7. It means managing 12 months or more of ongoing contact with a client (often someone who is difficult, rude, ungrateful, or in severe mental distress). It means handling individuals with complex needs, sometimes coordinating interpreters, navigating additional vulnerabilities, and ensuring their rights are protected at every stage.
And it means doing this with professionalism and respect, day in, day out, even when met with hostility. Even when society (or often your friends and family) question your motives!
A Test of Integrity
One of the most common questions criminal lawyers hear is, “How can you defend someone you know is guilty?” It’s a question loaded with misunderstanding. Because to represent someone accused of a crime – guilty or not – is not about enabling wrongdoing. It’s about ensuring fairness. It’s about making sure that no one is railroaded by a system simply because of who they are, what they’ve done, or how the world perceives them.
Think of your own loved ones. If they made a terrible mistake or were wrongly accused, wouldn’t you want them to have the best defence? Someone who could speak up for them, protect their rights, ensure they were treated humanely, and advocate for proportionate outcomes?
This is the moral clarity that criminal lawyers must maintain. The SRA Code of Conduct requires solicitors to act with integrity, in the best interests of their clients, and with independence. These aren’t abstract ideals – they are lived daily by criminal solicitors dealing with the grimmest realities of life and crime.
Even when guilt is certain and sentencing inevitable, a defence solicitor ensures the process is fair, the sentence is just, and the client’s voice is heard. This is not just legal representation. It is a demonstration of society’s humanity.
The Mental Load
The mental and emotional burden carried by criminal solicitors cannot be overstated. These professionals are exposed regularly to stories and images most people never have to confront. Yet they must stay clear-headed, compassionate, and ethically grounded.
This role requires something rare – a blend of legal excellence, emotional intelligence, grit, and compassion. It demands the ability to compartmentalise without becoming numb. To advocate fiercely without losing one’s sense of self. To fight for justice, not just for the innocent, but for everyone.
A Community That Understands
At the CLSA, we understand this burden. We see the toll it can take – and the power it holds to drive real change. That’s why being a member of the CLSA matters.
We offer more than representation. We offer solidarity. We provide a platform for criminal solicitors to amplify their voices, challenge injustice in the system, and campaign for the resources and recognition this role deserves. We connect likeminded professionals who understand what it means to walk this path and offer the peer support that can make all the difference.
Criminal law is the foundation of a fair society. And the solicitors who uphold it are the sentinels of our justice system – working, often in silence, to protect the very freedoms we all rely on.
To those criminal lawyers and duty solicitors out there: we see you. We respect you. And we’re here to stand with you.
Join the CLSA – because your work matters, your voice matters, and you shouldn’t have to carry the weight of this profession alone.
