Taking on infamous clients such as Maxine Carr is not something lawyers do lightly.

Such a case can lead to bad publicity and security worries.

But even the most hardened criminal is entitled to representation, reports Grania Langdon-Down

Roy James was worried about security when he took on the task of defending Maxine Carr, but the only incident was a brick thrown through the window of the office where he had previously worked.

He recalls: 'It had a note attached saying "we know where you work" - thankfully they didn't.'

Taking on a notorious client is not something done lightly, particularly for a small firm.

Apart from the difficulty of juggling workloads, there are the inevitable demands from the media, which often expects lawyers to double as public relations agents.

However, Mr James did not think twice when he was called out under the duty solicitor scheme to advise Carr after she was arrested.

'As a criminal solicitor, my life is generally down at the local magistrates' court dealing with shoplifters.

When you get a case like this, it takes you to the pinnacle, so you are not going to turn it down.'

Mr James, a former sole practitioner who set up his two-partner firm Lewis James in Peterborough three years ago, says: 'We lost out on other work because there was no one to cover it and we had to employ agents to cover police station and court work.

We also had to face the prospect that new or long-established clients might not be happy that we were representing someone connected with this case.

In the event, we didn't lose any clients because of it, but there was no question of not taking her case on.'

Steven Barker, one of seven partners at London law firm Barker Gillette, admits to taking a deep breath before taking on Ronnie Biggs as a client.

'If it had not been a request to act from Nigel Sangster QC, someone I know and admire, I would have thought long and hard, and probably refused because the time and effort required outweighs the reward.

One of the issues was the inability to get public funding, so I knew there was a risk of not being paid when I took his case on.

It turns out I won't get paid, so I am doing it pro bono.'

He says the fact that a case might attract bad publicity would not make him turn it down.

While he mainly focuses on business crime, he also handles some general crime but would draw the line at rape, paedophilia or a terrible murder.

'Having said that, I have just taken on a case which has a child pornography aspect, but it will break new law to do with the Internet.

It is publicly funded and the other partners raised their eyebrows, but it is an area of law that interests me.

'We have recently been asked to represent an alleged murderer in a privately paying case.

I certainly wouldn't do it but, in terms of fee income, it has to be looked at twice.

We all have families and we have to sleep easy at night.

People think we are mercenaries but we are not and, fortunately, we don't have to take every case that comes in the door.'

Mr Barker acted for the Leeds footballers Lee Bowyer and two others in their trial over a street attack on a student.

The first trial was halted because of prejudicial reporting by a tabloid newspaper, with Mr Bowyer being acquitted after a second trial.

'I took that case on because I am a Leeds United fan and the club was paying my fees.

'But as a result I was not instructed in a major financial case in the City, because the board of governors of the company in question took the view that my firm acted for football thugs and they didn't want to be associated with that.

I had the horrible job of having to recommend another firm and the fees were enormous, more than I earned at Leeds, and it was the type of work I love doing, so these high-profile cases can have their downsides.

'However, everyone is entitled to good legal representation in the same way they are entitled to medical help - it is a fundamental civil liberty.

It does attract a lot of debate at parties, but I am personally comfortable with the situation.

What I do find tiresome at times is dealing with the media; they can be so persistent.'

David Corker is one of three partners in the London-based crime and regulatory litigation specialists Corker Binning.

He was rung by Michael Barrymore's agent on the day a young man was found drowned in the television celebrity's swimming pool.

'I had no misgivings about taking on his case,' he says.

'There are some cases where you do get sneered at by people outside the legal community.

But what is important is that you don't become associated with your client's cause and end up as some pseudo-public relations agent.

After the inquest, I took about 150 phone calls from the media and made 11 television appearances.'

Anne Ball is a partner with medical specialists Hempsons, a 32-partner firm with offices in Manchester, London and Harrogate.

She acted for Harold Shipman for 18 months.

'He came to us because medical matters are our speciality.

I am not conscious that I became the target of any moral reprobation as a result of taking on his case.

I certainly never had any hate mail.'

She says she would refuse a case if she felt she lacked the capacity or necessary skills to deal with it, or if personal circumstances made it difficult.

'But I wouldn't, for example, say I won't defend an alleged rapist as a matter of policy, because I feel very strongly that everyone is entitled to a defence, no matter how awful the alleged crime.'

By making it clear that she would not be giving any interviews, she was not pestered by journalists.

However, controlling pre-trial publicity is difficult.

'It is something defence lawyers worry about a lot.

Judges tend to take the view that, provided the media behave responsibly between the first court appearance and the trial, juries should be able to put out of their minds any comment made at the outset of the police investigation.

However, the more salacious the case, the more difficult this may be.

But we do have a free press and a balance has to be struck.'

Despite this, Ms Ball doubts she would ever recommend that a client use the media to put their side of the story ahead of a trial.

'The only people judging the case should be the jury, who will be told all the relevant information.

I suspect it ultimately comes down to whether people have confidence in the jury system - I do.'

Mr Corker is concerned that there will be a growing move by defendants to use US-style tactics to try to counter pre-trial publicity.

'The alternative is that judges will simply clamp down on any trial reportage - as is happening in several cases at the moment.

It is questionable whether that is going too far, but the Attorney-General has shown no will to do anything apart from issue a few warnings to editors.'

For Mr Barker, pre-trial publicity is no longer grounds for an abuse application.

'We just have to live with it.

We argued the issue in the Leeds footballers' case, but if it had succeeded, anyone notorious could say they couldn't have a fair trial, which can't be right.

There is a public policy element to this.'

Mr James agrees: 'We knew and the press knew with the Soham case that they had a free rein, because there was no way a judge would throw it out on the basis of publicity.

If you could have a system that would guarantee accurate reporting, there wouldn't be a problem.

Until then, there need to be restrictions.

The Contempt of Court Act is there, but it needs to have someone enforcing it as oppose to paying it lip service.

'The Crown Prosecution Service applied very early on at the magistrates' court stage for a complete ban on any reporting of the case but we objected because we felt it unnecessary.

Also, being limited in resources, we used press reports to identify potential witnesses, though in the event we didn't pursue them.'

For Mr James, there was a sense of anti-climax when the Soham trial finished - though he is still very involved in Carr's case in the lead up to her release.

So, does he have any regrets about taking on her case? 'Absolutely not - I wish I had another one starting tomorrow.'

Grania Langdon-Down is a freelance journalist