Both of my parents were in the medical profession but as a small child I remember listening to my mother talking about the iniquity of capital punishment – prompted by the Reginald Christie trial – and the likelihood that Timothy Evans had been wrongly hanged for a murder Christie had committed. This case, and the execution of Derek Bentley that took place at about the same time, instilled in me a deep fascination with miscarriages of justice.

The best preparation for my career was working closely with my senior partner, David Napley – the criminal solicitor of his era – on a series of high-profile cases throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The hardest challenge has been trying to ensure defence solicitors are acknowledged and treated by the authorities as equal partners in the administration of justice – and not just as a subordinate species whose views are not to be given serious consideration.

Holding part-time judicial office as a recorder in the Crown court provided me with an invaluable insight into the need for the judiciary to appreciate at first hand the practical difficulties faced by defence practitioners.

What makes a good lawyer? Courage, empathy, integrity and the technique of persuasion. Without a doubt, the hardest sort of client is one you know is innocent. The older I get, the more I question the concept of imprisonment. As a society we seem to be prepared, after stringent financial checks, to force the law-abiding tax-paying pensioner to sell his home and pay for his care, whereas we are prepared, without undertaking any form of cost-benefit analysis, to spend £100k on sending someone to prison for non-violent relatively minor offences.

The desire to save money has lead to ‘diversion-creep’ – the creation of criminal sanctions (cautions/conditional cautions/spot fines and so on) which are not subject to judicial oversight. Today’s undergraduate who ‘cops a caution’ to get out of the police station is tomorrow’s professional who cannot get a US visa. Too much specialisation favours the corporate client rather than the individual, and can sometimes encourage a lack of creativity.

The two branches of the profession need to stop their mutual sniping and combine forces to serve the public and provide justice. I often liken a solicitors’ firm to a duck swimming – while its solicitors glide effortlessly through legal waters, the support staff are paddling like mad to ensure they do. I would only advise someone starting their career to become a lawyer if I was sure he or she wanted to do it for the right reason.

Christopher Murray will retire as senior partner of Kingsley Napley, and from the partnership, next May