Like Rumpole we lay drunk on railway (8)
I believe the answer is:
lawyerly
'like rumpole' is the definition.
(Rumpole is a fictional lawyer)
'we lay drunk on railway' is the wordplay.
'drunk' is an anagram indicator.
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'railway' becomes 'rly' ().
'we'+'lay'='welay'
'welay' is an anagram of 'lawye'.
'lawye'+'rly'='LAWYERLY'
(Other definitions for lawyerly that I've seen before include "as brief?" , "like Perry Mason" .)