The Hey Legal Insights series brings you the chance to hear from leading professionals in the Scottish legal sector about the realities of the work that they specialise in.
In a powerful episode we hear from criminal defence lawyer Darryl Lovie, Solicitor and Partner in Keegan Smith Defence Lawyers. Darryl discusses “raising his head above the parapet”, outlines the realities faced by Scottish criminal defence lawyers in courts at the start of the pandemic and his refusal to conduct a trial until a proper risk assessment had taken place.
He discusses resorting to Twitter to highlight the realities of the situation at that time for him and his colleagues, the creation of the #weturnedup hashtag, his involvement in the creation of The Scottish Criminal Bar Association, industrial action and #gownsdown and more. The Resilience Fund, COP26 challenges, weekend courts, the backlog and recruitment challenges as solicitors leave private practice are all covered. If you wish to understand more about the role of Scottish criminal lawyers in the justice system and the challenges they have faced in recent times, and continue to face, then this is crucial viewing.
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