Doomed defendant brought about lawyer's end (8)
I believe the answer is:
accursed
'doomed' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'defendant brought about lawyer's end' is the wordplay.
'defendant' becomes 'accused' (synonyms).
'brought about' is an insertion indicator.
'end' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letter of 'lawyer' is 'r'.
'accused' going around 'r' is 'ACCURSED'.
(Other definitions for accursed that I've seen before include "Detestable (colloq.)" , "Goddamn" , "Damned" , "Cue cards (anag) - doomed" , "Hateful" .)