Life as a Criminal Defence Lawyer

TOM PERCY QC

Albert Wolff Chambers

I never really intended to be a defence lawyer. In fact, I never intended to be a lawyer at all. I had never been steered towards the profession by my family or friends as none of them had any connection or interest in the law whatsoever. After a year at university, however, a number of my friends were moving into law after the first-year prerequisite in the Arts faculty, so, for whatever reason, which I cannot presently remember, I decided to join them. I found law was generally very interesting but parts of it were more exciting than others. I was lucky to be exposed to Criminal Law while doing some work experience in the holidays of my penultimate year and I think I knew then that that’s what I wanted to do. Property transactions, arranging peoples wills and sorting out their divorces was all very well but I wanted to be at the coal face of the law as I perceived it. More than 40 years on, I am still there. A wise old man once said to me that if you really enjoy your job, you will never work a day in your life. I am fortunate to say, with very few exceptions, that every day of my working life over the past four decades has been a joy. The challenge of mounting a defence against improbable odds and the massive resources of the State is something I have always enjoyed- the David and Goliath battle. When you win, it’s even better- not that that is a regular occurrence. Obviously, some of your clients will be guilty and plead guilty. You soon discover that the notion of criminal barristers taking on cases where they effectively know (or believe) that the client is guilty is simply a fiction. You might sometimes form a view one way or another during your preparation for the case but there are many occasions where once all the evidence is disclosed, you will find that you were very wrong. Most of my work is in jury trials. However, I still do some serious work in the Magistrate’s Court and the Court of Appeal. Being Senior Counsel, a privilege I’ve enjoyed since 1997, means that the sort of cases you get are usually of such complexity that they require a team, involving (sometimes) junior barristers and (always) instructing solicitors. I have always enjoyed the camaraderie of putting together and working with a cohesive defence team. Teaching them what I can of the processes and techniques of defence advocacy, learning from them and benefitting from their youthful exuberance at the same time. Of course, there are good times and bad times. When the verdict goes your way, it is more of a relief than anything else. Contrary to popular belief, there are no extravagant celebrations. The acquitted accused person usually emerges broke, devastated and with their reputation in tatters. But it is better than being convicted. Enduring a conviction, when in your own heart you believed the client to be innocent or considered that the prosecution case did not establish the alleged facts beyond reasonable doubt, is a galling experience. Despite my long experience and (I like to think) comparatively thick skin, there have been times when I’ve gone home and been physically ill following a verdict. Sometimes the devastation of seeing (what you believe to be) an innocent person go to prison for a long time is very difficult for a barrister to cope with. Some counsel deal with it better than me, but anyone contemplating a future in Criminal Law ought to take this on board as a challenge that will inevitably await you.

The other downside is that, compared to other areas of law, particularly Commercial and Corporate Law, there is really not a lot of money in defence work. I guess that is the downside of having a job you really love. At a recent celebration of a significant anniversary of our law school class, I was speaking to one of our number who had spent his entire career analysing stamp duty problems. I asked him if that was interesting? He said that it wasn’t. I asked him if he liked going to work every day? He didn’t. I asked why he did it? He said that the financial rewards were very attractive: he owned a palatial home, a fabulous holiday house in Eagle Bay, had a massive superannuation fund set aside for his retirement and took first class holidays around the world every year. Despite having none of that, I still consider myself more fortunate. I enjoy getting out of bed every day and going to work and I suppose that is the greatest recommendation I could give to anyone who is inclined to consider the defence bar as a career.