His father, David Crisp, was a well-known lawyer in Hobart, and Harold served articles with his father before his admission as a practitioner of the Supreme Court on 16 April 1896.
He moved to the town of Zeehan on Tasmania's west coast where he practised for several years before returning to Hobart to join his father as a partner in the firm Crisp & Crisp.
[1] In 1914, on his 40th birthday, Crisp accepted an appointment as a puisne judge of the Supreme Court and took his seat on the bench on 2 August.
When Chief Justice Sir Herbert Nicholls retired on 31 October 1937, Crisp served as acting Chief Justice until he was officially appointed on 21 December.
[3] In May 1939, Crisp announced his retirement due to ill health, applying to take nine months of long service leave from July before the completion of his term in April 1940.