Solicitor arrived early with criminal (6)
I believe the answer is:
lawyer
'solicitor' is the definition.
(I know that lawyer is a type of solicitor)
'early with criminal' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'criminal' is an anagram indicator.
'early'+'w'='earlyw'
'earlyw' anagrammed gives 'LAWYER'.
'arrived' acts as a link.
This may not be right. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lawyer that I've seen before include "Legal adviser" , "One gives legal advice" , "Member of the legal profession" , "Legal eagle" , "A solicitor, barrister or the like" .)