Criminal defense
AI intake for criminal defense firms
What our AI voice agent does with an arrest call at midnight, from the first ring to the record in your CRM. You can ring the live criminal desk before you read any of it.
Ring the criminal desk yourself
+1 930 203 1081 is a live criminal defense desk for Calloway & Reid, a made-up firm in Philadelphia, and it's the same system we run for paying firms. Call it as a mother whose son was picked up for a DUI last night, ask whether he should talk to the detective, and then read what it wrote down.
Why criminal calls come at the wrong hour
We pulled the City of Chicago's public arrest records to check, because no national study of arrest times exists. Of 17,702 DUI arrests in that data, 86.9% happened outside Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, and the busiest hour was midnight. It's one city, and anyone can rerun the query, which is set out with its caveats on our sources page. When a family member rings your firm at 1am and nobody picks up, the next firm on their list is one tap away.
What happens on an arrest call at midnight
- It picks up within two rings, and the caller hears straight away that they're talking to the firm's AI assistant and that the line is recorded.
- It asks your questions, in your order. The charge, whether the person is in custody right now, when and where the arrest happened, the next court date, whether bail has been set, whether police want to talk to them, and whether another lawyer is involved. It skips anything the caller has already said.
- It checks the matter against your intake criteria, the ones you gave us in writing at the build.
- It books the consult onto your calendar, or marks it urgent, with an attorney calling today, if it can't wait.
- Your team gets the record in Filevine, Litify or Clio, with the recording, the transcript and a disposition.
What it won't say to someone who's been arrested
The desk collects facts. It won't tell a caller whether to speak to a detective, whether to plead, what a charge is likely to carry, or what their rights are, and it gives no view on the law. When they ask, it says that's the first thing the attorney will go through with them, today if it can't wait. The rule is in the contract and every transcript is kept, and the compliance brief sets out how it's enforced.
Calls that can't wait
You decide what counts as urgent. For most criminal firms that's someone in custody right now, a court date today or tomorrow, or police asking to talk. The desk marks the call urgent, tells the caller an attorney will call today, and posts to Slack or texts whoever's on call, with what the caller said and a link to the recording. If someone says they're in danger right now, it tells them to call 911 and asks nothing else.
Calls from jail
We'd rather tell you this up front. Jail phone systems can't bill a collect call to an internet phone number, so a call from inside reaches a firm's line through a prepaid account set up against that number, and it has to be accepted with a keypad press. That's a per-firm setup we'd test with your facility's phone provider before we promised you anything, and it isn't on by default. Calls from family, bail agents and clients once they're out are ordinary calls and work as normal.
Spanish, the CRM, going live
The desk switches to Spanish mid-call when the caller does, and we'll tell you which other languages we can cover before you sign. It writes to Filevine, Litify and Clio directly. Going live takes weeks, you keep the numbers you already advertise, you listen to recordings of real callers first, and if the system ever goes down, calls fail straight back to your existing line.
Who it's for, and how you pay
For criminal defense we need five attorneys or more. A criminal matter is worth a fraction of an injury case, so the numbers need the volume, and if you're under it we'll say so on the call. Nothing is due, the build included, until the desk has booked five qualified consultations from your own inbound, and after that it's a flat monthly fee scoped on a call. We're never paid per case, because ABA Model Rule 5.4 bars a lawyer from sharing fees with a non-lawyer.
Questions criminal defense firms ask
Can an AI answer calls for a criminal defense firm after hours?
Yes. The desk answers every call at any hour, tells the caller it's the firm's AI assistant, takes the charge, custody status and court date, and gets the urgent ones to your on-call attorney with the details. It doesn't advise anyone on what to say to the police.
What does it do when a family member calls about an arrest?
It notes who's calling and who's been charged, takes the details the caller knows, such as where the person's held and whether bail's been set, and gets their number so an attorney can call back. If the person is in custody right now, the call is marked urgent.
Will it tell callers whether to talk to the police?
No. That's legal advice, and the desk never gives it. It tells the caller it's the first thing the attorney will go through with them, and marks the call urgent if police are waiting to talk.
How small a criminal firm is too small?
Under five attorneys. There usually isn't enough leaking out to pay for the desk, and we'd rather say so than take your money.
Does it work with Clio, Filevine or Litify?
Yes, all three directly. Every matter lands with the recording, the transcript and a disposition. If you're on something else, bring it to the call and we'll tell you honestly whether we can wire it.
Ring the desk, then talk to me.
Call the criminal line first. If what you hear would work for your firm, book 30 minutes and bring your call volume. I'll tell you on the call whether this is worth doing, including when it isn't.