This is the most common question a defence solicitor is asked. In fact, it’s axiomatic that, if you’re going to be good lawyer, and particularly a good defence lawyer, you have to separate yourself from your job, and put your own feelings and opinions to one side.

Probably the toughest thing about representing someone you know to be guilty is spotting the fact that they may have a good defence, that you are in a position to assist them, and that you may be able to secure an acquittal for someone who (in your personal opinion) should probably be found guilty.

But if defence solicitors allowed themselves to think like this all of the time, or even some of the time, they would probably have to give up their jobs. It is absolutely key that, to do the job well, you utterly suspend your own judgement, thoughts and feelings. Decision making has to be left to the Judge, Jury and overall legal process. Outsiders often find that difficult to understand, and can even be outraged by the idea. But think of it from other side of the coin.

Defence solicitors do not merely defend “guilty” people. Sometimes the accused is innocent and may be rightly acquitted; sometimes the evidence against an accused may be strong and a defence lawyer will assist in bringing a case to a swift resolution, involving some sort of compromise. If defence solicitors were to make up their own mind about a defendant before the case was truly explored, there would be no point in having a trial, no point leaving matters a jury. The English legal system is founded on the cornerstone idea of a defendant being innocent until proven guilty. Defence lawyers must absorb and respect that idea as much as anyone, however much they know about a case or a defendant, and however unsavoury and incomprehensible it may sometimes appear to outsiders.