Having a successful criminal law practice requires overcoming several challenges. Are you considering being a successful criminal lawyer or have started a criminal law practice already? If yes, then reading this will certainly be useful.

What are the initial challenges faced by a young criminal lawyer? A knowledge of these will help you in tackling them and advance in your criminal litigation career.

To establish a practice in criminal law, three major challenges should be conquered:-

1. Getting clients
2. Understanding the criminal judicial machinery
3. Ability to build strategy to get relief for your clients

Getting Clients

I have heard a lot of people saying that there is a dearth of clients in criminal litigation. On the contrary, the fact is that more than 46 lakh criminal complaints were filed in India in 2015. There are hundreds of start-ups and SMEs that have been accused of regulatory offences even before they could make their first profits. Fortune 500 have been troubled with socio-economic offences like insider trading. Such people and companies are constantly looking for criminal lawyers who would provide them with swift justice. Keep pushing yourself to expand your network to get new clients. For this, use the following self assessment questions:-

1. How many people outside your friend/peer/colleague circle know that you specialize in criminal law?
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how will you rate yourself as a criminal lawyer? What new actions did you to take to improve your rating?
3. When did you last speak to your first few clients?
4. What actions are you taking to get referral clients? If you are good, then why not spread the word through your existing contacts?

Reach out to as many people as you know. Reconnect with them and find out whether you can fight cases for them or get contacts of people who need the help of a criminal lawyer. You will be surprised to find out how many people need the advice of a criminal lawyer! Go ahead, get rid of your inhibitions and connect with people!

Understanding Criminal Judicial machinery

Knowing criminal law is one thing but understanding how the criminal judicial machinery works is quite another. Knowledge of both is necessary to become a successful criminal lawyer. Criminal Procedure Code very holistically covers the procedure of a criminal case but that does not help in understanding it in a way that will help you pursue your case. To be an effective and efficient criminal lawyer, understanding the court setup and investigative machinery of your state and the lawyer’s responsibility in connection with those is imperative. For instance, if your client is a victim of cyber crime, the criminal machinery will be initiated through filing a report at a cyber crime cell of your city, if there is a cyber cell in your city. This can be done only if you are updated with the latest amendments in the law and introduction of new laws. Similarly, it is important for you to keep yourself updated with the criminal machinery working in your state with respect to specific crimes like corruption, money laundering, misappropriation of employee’s provident fund etc. Drafting and understanding key criminal documents (FIR, complaint, bail, protest petition, SLP, etc.) play a crucial role in setting up a case powerfully. The fact situation and the laws applicable should be accurate. A very effective way to keep yourself updated with the latest changes in criminal law is by studying short online courses which don’t interfere with your work. You can study for them at your own pace and in your own time. Please check out the Certificate Course in Criminal Litigation and Trial Advocacy to have a comprehensive knowledge about criminal law, procedure of criminal law and the courts, drafting, client management and to update yourself with the latest changes in law and procedure.

Ability to build strategy to get relief for your clients

Ram Jethmalani, or for that matter, any renowned criminal lawyer, study the same law as other lawyers do, but the difference lies in the way they apply it to their cases. Most cases that Ram Jethmalani argued in, resulted in conviction but his success lay in the fact that he strategized each case in a way that got his clients bail even in clear conviction cases. It is important for you to understand that it is not important that every case should result in prosecution or acquittal for your client. For example, actions like impounding of passport or freezing of bank accounts have the potential to give relief to your client. For success in criminal cases, you need to understand the stand of prosecution and then strategize your actions accordingly. For instance, sometimes all that works in a criminal trial is planting a seed of doubt that  makes conviction improbable. This can be done while the cross-examination and examination are conducted.

If you are facing these challenges in your quest to become a top criminal lawyer, don’t worry. Keep working on those areas and map your progress daily. Take actions on improving upon anything that is stopping you from becoming an extraordinary criminal lawyer.

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