In court, unscrupulous type gets years (8)
I believe the answer is:
chancery
'in court' is the definition.
'chancery' can be an answer for 'court' (I've seen this before). I am not sure about the 'in' bit.
'unscrupulous type gets years' is the wordplay.
'unscrupulous type' becomes 'chancer' (someone who exploits opportunities).
'gets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'years' becomes 'y'.
'chancer'+'y'='CHANCERY'
(Other definitions for chancery that I've seen before include "Public record office" , "in which a wrestler may be held" , "Division of the British courts" , "Embassy office" , "Court of public archives" .)