A Criminal Lawyer's Job

A criminal laywer's job isn't easy; if he makes a mistake his client can suffer--he can even die. And a criminal lawyer's job requires a lot of knowledge. But a criminal lawyer's job can be yours, even if you don't go to law school.

The term criminal is a word used to describe someone who has been accused and convicted of a crime. However, the term is sometimes used--albeit, incorrectly--to describe a person that has been arrested and accused of a crime but has not been found guilty of it yet. Such individuals are really known in law enforcement as suspects, and in the judicial court proceedings they are called the "accused."

What is a Criminal Lawyer?

A criminal lawyer is an attorney who handles criminal cases in a court of law. They represent accused individuals, but they also can represent those individuals who have already been convicted of a crime or crimes who may wish to appeal--or who may be facing additional criminal court charges in that crime, or another separate crime.

Criminal lawyers are also called defense attorneys in a courtroom, since they are the defending attorney and the prosecutor for the state is the prosecuting attorney.

A Criminal Lawyer's Job Description and Education Requirements

While most lawyers achieve an undergraduate degree and then proceed to law school for completion of their education prior to taking the state law bar exam, an individual can choose to study for the bar exam without ever attending law school, according to the online website Careers.stateuniversity.com (see 1st link in Ref Sec below).

Since a criminal lawyer is responsible for helping a defendant (the accused) defend themselves against criminal complaints in a court of law--and to help the defendant remain a free citizen--their basic job description includes client advisement as well as knowledge of laws and legal precedent (prior case decisions similar to the defendant's case).

More About a Criminal Lawyer's Job Description

The potential freedom of the criminal lawyer's client resides in the criminal lawyer's ability to assess the client's situation accurately, for one thing: what are they up against with the prosecution (what evidence does he have), the climate of public opinion (is the crime considered horrendous), and the history of the judge on rendering direction to jurors in similar cases--and sentencing.

But the criminal lawyer must also be able to stack the deck--even if it is quite negative against the prosecution or victim--in the favor of his client too; he must be able to find any legal precedent (prior tried case) that would support release for his client under the circumstances and he must successfully refute any evidence against his client by seeking its inadmissibility or proving its fallibility.

Important

Therefore, a criminal lawyer must be well versed in prior criminal case history, be knowledgeable about the judge, prosecutor, and court in which he will be interacting, understand evidentiary matters and law enforcement protocols (in order to prove fallibility or inadmissibility), and be an eloquent speaker who can sway a jury if all else fails in his case presentation.

Resources:
State University.com
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/721/Lawyer.html

WorldWideLearn.com: lawyers
http://www.worldwidelearn.com/career-planning-education/law-criminal-justice/lawyers.htm