A criminal lawyer will deal with a full range of criminal offences. These professionals will prosecute on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service or other government agencies such as the local authorities, the National Probation Service, British Transport Police, and similar institutions. On the other hand, a barrister can also specialise in defence work. Practising at the criminal bar is quite challenging for a barrister who is just starting in his/her career. But he or she will gain much experience and derive a personal satisfaction knowing that he or she is making a difference in people’s lives. In fact, you will be protecting the weak and vulnerable individuals in society through your dedicated work at the criminal bar. Some of the job functions of a criminal barrister are discussed further in this post, but a summary is as follows.
A criminal lawyer will deal with a wide variety of cases such as burglary, assault, theft, sexual assault, road traffic offences, fraud, murder, and a host of other cases. The timescale for these cases may vary from a matter of minutes to trials that go on for months and months. A criminal barrister will be on the go most of the time and spend a very little time in the chambers. With the latest technology in communications, you don’t have to spend much time in the chambers – except to make the required calls to keep abreast of your next courtroom appearance. You may have to travel to different courts up and down the country most of the time. You can have a short day if the case is postponed or you may have to go on until 7.00 pm or 8.00 pm in the evenings if the case is taken up by the courts.
A criminal barrister gets the chance of conducting Crown Court trials fearlessly and persuading the court of the innocence of his/her client. The professional has to conduct hours and hours of research and case analysis in order to get to this stage. A barrister should be mentally prepared to experience the highs and lows of winning and losing during his/her career.
The criminal bar offers many rewards and successes for the right criminal lawyer. Your commitment and dedication to the practice are very important to achieve such a success level. Despite the pressures and emotional roller-coasters, a career as a criminal barrister brings many happy returns – both in the intellectual and social strata.
