Lawyers assume anger as a form of defence (7)
I believe the answer is:
barrage
'form of defence' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'lawyers assume anger as a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'lawyers' could be 'bar' (I've seen this before) and 'bar' is found within the answer.
'anger' could be 'rage' (rage is a kind of anger) and 'rage' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for barrage that I've seen before include "Artificial obstruction in a river" , "flood protection" , "Battery, salvo" , "Onslaught" , "Deterrent to low-flying air attacks" .)