legal term

[chrismal]

legal term for a lawyers impromtu defence of someone in court

[Clanad]

Probably ad hoc...

[Peter Pedant]

Oh, in the eighteenth century, this was called a two-guinea brief. - Plain John Clarke made his name from one - I thought before Mr Clarke began he was wholly wrong and now I see he is wholly right - and later became Lord Eldon - he what Shelley described  in the Mask of Anarchy -  'and next came Fraud and he had on an ermine gown/ .......two blood hound followed him, one by one and two by two/ he tossed them human hearts to chew.......etc

Good Poem

[Quizmonster]

Possibly 'ad lib', an abbreviation of the Latin phrase 'ad libitum', meaning 'impromptu/extempore'.

[Sado]

It was known as a dock brief. Many years ago, working in a Crown Court, I asked a barrister what the flap was for that hung over the left shoulder of the gown. He asked me to place 50p into the pocket at the back, and with a deft tug of the strap at the front, it flew over his shoulder, where he retrieved the money, placed it in his pocket, and told me that was his standard fee for the demonstration. (Do you know any poor barristers?) He explained that, years ago, if defendants appeared without counsel, the judge would appoint one, for a small fee, and this was how they took payment.