It is widely recognized that people experiencing homelessness (PEH) are profiled, (over)criminalized and face many obstacles when they find themselves in court. Many struggle to access justice, secure legal representation and negotiate bail conditions or therapeutic obligations (Bernheim et Laniel, 2013; Sylvestre et al., 2019; Roy et al., 2020). In this context, defense lawyers play an important role, helping clients negotiate, advocating for their rights and engaging with extrajudicial procedures (ex. referrals and collaboration with psychosocial services). Focusing on these issues, our article draws on semi-directed interviews conducted with criminal defense lawyers (n=65) who practice in Quebec in order to identify and understand their point of view on (1) their willingness to represent PEH, (2) obstacles to access justice, (3) the issues related to the formal and informal recognition of those obstacles and the social profiling experienced by their clients and (4) the defense strategies as well as the reactions of the court and the other actors. Our article highlights strategies deployed by lawyers (shopping, collaboration, resistance) to represent PEH, highlighting the important challenges caused by court culture, criminal justice system overload and lack of resources.