The article analyzes the relationship between the Corporate Standard for the Implementation of Defense by an Attorney in Criminal Proceedings, adopted by the VIII All-Russian Congress of Lawyers on April 20, 2017 (hereinafter — the Standard), and attorney’s discretion as a key element of the defender’s creative and independent activity in planning the tactics and strategy of a case. The paper explores the ongoing Russian discussion: arguments about “formalization” and the “narrowing of the space for defense” are contrasted with the position that the Standard represents only a minimum level of quality (soft law), which does not eliminate individualization of tactics and strategy. Based on the Federal Law “On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation” of May 31, 2002 No. 63-FZ (hereinafter — Federal Law No. 63-FZ), the Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers (CPEL), the Standard itself, as well as analytical judgments and academic publications by Russian authors, it can be concluded that the requirements of the Standard are structured around the principle of dependency — the defender’s actions must correspond to the circumstances of the case. The risks of restricting discretion arise primarily when minimal requirements are wrongfully transformed into rigid criteria at the level of disciplinary evaluation. The article proposes an interpretive model — “minimum standard + individualization” — and presents practical techniques for documenting tactical decisions that protect the lawyer from formalistic criticism while simultaneously improving the quality of legal assistance.