Just the job

'Don't take this the wrong way but I hope I never see you again.' This is the valedictory that I have received many times from the tearfully grateful and the plain relieved. I don't suppose that architects, doctors, plumbers or roadside mechanics get quite the same expression of thanks. It all rather sums up the absolute nature of what we do: the moment that the jury returns with its verdict and the foreman is asked to 'please stand', the whole room holds its breath. Whether prosecuting or defending, it is an incredibly tense, awful, unbearable moment. I used to be superstitious '“ writing the 'g' in my notebook and wondering whether I would by some miracle be putting an 'n' in front of it. Now I just close my notebook and pretend that it is not happening. I don't know what the judge feels about a verdict '“ perhaps the judge really is above it all '“ but I suspect that where it is possible to have formed a view there is the occasional tingle of nerves.

The relationship that the lawyer has with his client through the course of a trial is probably unique. Patients and doctors have a professional relationship but on the whole the doctor does not spend all day every day for some time with the patient. The doctor sees the patient when the doctor needs to; she does her stuff, writes it up and hands on to others. The closest in the medical sense to the relationship that we have is probably that of the nurse. Nurses are close to patients and help them through the mundane and every day, as well as the real issue why the patient is there. The defence solicitor who does a proper job for his or her client is similar.

The committed solicitor

I have often been struck by the dedication that some solicitors show to a client's welfare: there are endless telephone calls, arrangements for lifts, phoning witnesses, speaking to mum, speaking to probation, hospitals and GPs' surgeries, getting letters and reports and assessments and so on. It is alright for counsel, as at the end of the court day we can leave and have only the next day to think about. For the busy and committed solicitor there can be a whole catalogue of calls and matters to deal with. The solicitor will have to put up with the frustration of the client, the client's anger, unreasonableness or indifference. Some clients think that their solicitor is another social punch bag for them to rant against and be thoroughly obnoxious to; some clients have mental health problems that the solicitor needs to persuade them to get help with. To do all of this well comes down to something close to a vocation.

We should, as a society, be particularly grateful. It is not just that the individual has received a good service consistent with their rights in law; it is also that society has received a good service. As routinely fashionable as it is to knock away at our public institutions, when the lawyers get a kicking it is only for the amount of money that we get paid '“ and that is borne from ignorance, prejudice and mis-reporting. What we are not knocked for is getting paid too much for doing the job badly.

There is a taste for films that portray miscarriages of justice, or brutal justice, falling upon westerners in overseas jurisdictions. The whole 'banged up abroad' concept is scary '“ there are the ingredients of no interpreter, trumped up evidence, corrupt judiciary and corrupt lawyers. In turn we think of such a country in qualified terms, however much else about it is better than home. So, it is important that whatever else the public thinks of us as lawyers, the one charge that is not brought against us is that we are incompetent or corrupt or useless.

A sigh of relief

Recently, in a non-criminal context, a non-lawyer friend has spoken in glowing terms of the relief the intervention of lawyers and courts has brought in his private life. In another context, proper representation in an employment setting has made all the difference between politically brought allegations without substance leading to dismissal and ruin, and a quiet resumption to the status quo and water long passed quietly under the bridge. Such relief would not exist without committed professionals who do no more than apply the law as Parliament intended.

Nobody, except the career criminals, ever expects to get in trouble or need the law. The law is seen as something irksome or intrusive, like speed cameras or parking restrictions. But if suddenly you do find yourself on the wrong end of a situation, or you need something sorted out now or guarded against in the future, then the first thing you will feel is apprehension, to say the least. Thank goodness the one thing you do not have to worry about is whether your lawyer is corrupt, lazy, ignorant or useless. That makes our society a good one.

So, if your client says thanks, but I'd rather not see you again '“ you know he means it. He means that he was scared, feared the worst, and is grateful to you for doing your job well such that the danger is over and life can resume again. This will only have happened if you have applied yourself, not only technically but also holistically where required, and so done a good job. The thanks should also come from the rest of us '“ even if we did not agree with the verdict.