Crossword Genius

Required fellow attorney to join politician (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mandatory

'required' is the definition.
('mandatory' can be a synonym of 'required')

'fellow attorney to join politician' is the wordplay.
'fellow' becomes 'man' (I've seen this before**).
'attorney' becomes 'da' (District Attorney).
'to join' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'politician' becomes 'tory' (I've seen this before).
'man'+'da'+'tory'='MANDATORY'

(Other definitions for mandatory that I've seen before include "Not optional" , "Binding" , "allowing no option" , "required" , "Obligatory" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror and The Daily Express.
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