The Varied Life Of A Criminal Defence Solicitor

Criminal defence solicitors deal with many different aspects of law

, one of which being advocacy. Another is crimes against property, whilst yet another is dealing with money laundering. In fact, the job specification for such solicitors is quite wide and varied. The law, never being quite what it seems, is not to be trifled with and, for those individuals who believe self-representation is the way to go, they get a rude awakening when the prosecutors shout 'prosecutorial discretion'! Basically, training and qualifying as a solicitor is just the beginning of the journey towards becoming an experienced defence solicitor because there is such a huge gap between textbook law and what actually happens between warring parties and their representatives in court.

Take the prosecutors' role, for instance. It is for the prosecutors, in court, to decide what charges they should file and even whether to file any at all. The decision made by the prosecutors can go a long way to determining the final outcome of the case. Fixed penalties can be negotiated and, what exists in statute as immovable, can be successfully negotiated by criminal defence solicitors who have the flair to interpret the prosecutor's moves in advance.

Advocacy

Many solicitors prefer the anonymity of police stations or offices to the spectacle of advocacy in court. For an empathic defence solicitor, however, this can prove to be the pinnacle of success in their field. For many, standing up in court as a litigator for the defence can often be the best part of their job. Waiting around for your case to be heard is one of those things that goes with the territory, and observing other cases can help pass the time effectively. The first thing a new advocate learns is to speak up so the tribunal is able to hear what is being said.

The second thing to learn is to keep up-to-date with whatever new innovations the government brings in. There is little point in asking for an adjournment for pre-sentence reports when the prosecutor knows, as does the court, that the Probation Service now has to provide a pre-sentence report on the day it has been requested as a result of the 'Speedy Summary Justice' programme - courtesy of HM Government. Nowadays you are not going to get an adjournment on those grounds. You need to pick something a bit more believable.

Other Areas Where Expertise is Required

Establishing the sources of money laundering, which involves locating the origin of revenue from dubious sources, is another area that can involve work by criminal defence solicitors, as is internet and computer fraud. There are various kinds of internet fraud, such as scams involving 'phishing' emails and misuse of personal information harvested from legitimate internet users. Other internet crimes involve hacking into databases belonging to financial institutions or deliberately causing internet sites to crash; this latter facet known as a DOS attack, or Denial of Service attack. This is a particularly lucrative sideline to the job of a solicitor, as well as providing an interesting case to work on.

by: Tom Jones

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