As its name indicates, the criminal defence lawyer defends natural and legal persons in criminal courts for offences relating to the penal code. The criminal prosecutor exercises his oratorical skills in the criminal courts (correctional court, courts of law).

Assizes, Courts of Appeal, etc. Murders, robberies, assaults of all kinds, rapes, scams, etc. He advises and defends victims as alleged perpetrators of crimes and offences. Whether it is for immediate appearances, custody or endless trials, his daily life is far from been easy.

Skills Required to Become a Criminal Lawyer

The profession of criminal law is very demanding, you have to show many qualities. The lawyer must be very organized in his work and be able to easily assimilate a very large amount of information because the law is vast and sometimes complicated.

The board must have a capacity for analysis and a developed spirit of synthesis. The criminal lawyer is driven by the desire to uphold the law. He must be irreproachable, which is why ethics and deontology are at the centre of this profession.

To become a criminal lawyer, there are a lot of skills that are important to get in order to succeed in this domain.

The most important are:
● Knowledge of the law
● Oral and written fluency
● Power of persuasion
● Rigour and method

Education Requirements and opportunities of a criminal lawyer

Among all, a criminal lawyer must hold a Juris Doctor. With this, he is able to represent victims in a court. However, it is still important to get more than the Juris Doctor. A criminal lawyer must pass a bar examination, it is important for him to undergo a background test and in some States, to become a criminal lawyer, the government requires continuing education.

With all these, the criminal lawyer can now have licensure which is generally required by state law. The education requirements are the very first step, and maybe the most important to become a professional and competent criminal lawyer.

This auxiliary of justice generally exercises his profession in liberal. He works in a cabinet which a generally decides to set up in order to be independent and have his clients. He can equally decide to be salaried. Independent, he will, in parallel with his duties, seek to develop his clientele.

For it to be done, it is important that he obtains popularity in the field. It is only by being an excellent criminal lawyer that he will be able to increase his clientele and develop his business. If you plan to get started in this field, you should be very patient, but also very dynamic because the competition is really tough.

Professional evolution

In general, the criminal lawyer starts in the profession as an employee, as a collaborator of a firm. With experience and the acquisition of a portfolio of clients, he will be able to open his own firm.

But it takes several years of experience to achieve it. During his career, a criminal lawyer is often required to specialize in a specific area; criminal law, territorial law… which gives him a quality of expertise.