Theatrical work showing American lawyer taking in batterer (5)
I believe the answer is:
drama
'theatrical work' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'american lawyer taking in batterer' is the wordplay.
'american lawyer' becomes 'DA' (abbreviation for 'District Attorney').
'taking in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'batterer' becomes 'ram'.
'da' enclosing 'ram' is 'DRAMA'.
'showing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for drama that I've seen before include "Exciting event sequence" , "Theatrical entertainment" , "Exciting series of events" , "theatre show" , "Play - crisis" .)