He is well known for a distinctive style of dress and manner, particularly the smoking of a pipe, as well as his staunch support for Unionism in Scotland and the Scottish Conservatives.
As a boy, Findlay was influenced to become a lawyer by following the trial of Peter Manuel and by watching the TV series Boyd Q.C..[8] A combination of high-profile controversies, acute legal skills and a well-cultivated image has generated Findlay a lot of coverage in the Scottish press in recent years and he now has one of the highest legal profiles in Scotland and widely considered to be Scotland's premier criminal law advocate.
In 2006, he was a defence counsel in the trial of Mohammed Atif Siddique, which saw the youth sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for collecting and sharing online information about terrorists.
[12] Glasgow based newspaper Daily Record reported that Donald Findlay was one of the highest paid lawyers in 2007, earning £350,000 from his high-profile cases.
St Andrews, allegedly, dropped plans to award him an honorary degree after one of his controversial outbursts, most notably being caught on film singing sectarian songs.
[16] Findlay is an atheist,[9] but is mostly noted in Scotland for his support of Rangers, a historically Protestant football club, and for engaging in controversial behaviour that has been widely interpreted as being anti-Catholic in nature.
Findlay was cleared of an allegation of misconduct before the Faculty of Advocates in 2007[23] following a complaint regarding his conduct at the Rangers Supporters Club in Larne and contribution to a book entitled How Soccer Explains The World – An Unlikely Theory of Globalisation.