Legal
Criminal defense answering service for the 1 a.m. arrest call
Short answer
A criminal defense answering service answers the calls that can’t wait for the morning, most of all the one from a family member whose son, brother or partner has just been arrested. Ours is 100% AI, and it says so on every call. It takes the arrested person’s full name and date of birth, where they’re being held and any court date, and puts the call through to your attorney on call. It never gives legal advice or talks about the facts, and you get a summary of every call.
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Example call: an arrest on a Friday night
Thibodeaux Defense Law · An arrest on a Friday night
- AI
- Thibodeaux Defense Law, this is AI Receptionist, the firm’s AI assistant. I can’t give legal advice. Who’s been arrested?
- Caller
- My son, Jalen Holloway. Tonight.
- AI
- His date of birth, and where is he held?
- Caller
- March 3rd, 2002. The county jail.
- AI
- Please don’t describe what happened; the attorney will ask. Your name and number?
- Caller
- Denise Holloway, 555-0154.
- AI
- Thanks, Denise. That doesn’t mean the firm has taken the case. Putting you through to the attorney on call now.
Summary sent to you
- Urgent, arrest tonight
- Jalen Holloway, born March 3, 2002, held at the county jail. No court date known yet.
- Caller
- Denise Holloway, his mother, 555-0154.
- Done
- transferred to the attorney on call. No advice, bail or fee information given. Told the firm hasn’t taken the case yet.
When criminal defense calls come at the wrong time
It’s 1:10 on a Saturday morning. The office has been dark since six, and the attorney on call is asleep with the phone on the nightstand. It lights up; nobody sees it.
A mother is in her car outside the county jail. Her son was arrested a few hours ago, and she has three defense firms’ numbers from a search. The first one goes to a recording: office hours start Monday at nine.
She won’t leave a message. She’ll call the second number.
How the call goes
-
Your firm’s name, and your two lines
It answers as your firm’s AI assistant and reads your legal advice line. Your second line, asking the caller not to describe what happened, comes right after it has the name, before the story starts.
The AI says: “Thibodeaux Defense Law, this is AI Receptionist, the firm’s AI assistant. I can’t give legal advice, and please don’t describe what happened. The attorney will ask.”
-
Who’s been arrested?
Full name and date of birth, spelled out: what an attorney needs to find someone in a jail’s records at 1 a.m. A booking number, if the caller has one.
The AI says: “What’s the full name and date of birth of the person who was arrested?”
-
Where are they, and is there a court date?
The facility, if known, and any first appearance or bail hearing. Recorded as heard, with no word on what happens next.
The AI says: “Do you know where he’s being held, or when he goes before a judge?”
-
Anyone else involved?
Only names: a co-defendant or another person in the case, for your conflict check. It doesn’t ask why.
The AI says: “Was anyone else arrested or involved? Just their names, please.”
-
The caller, and the hand-off
Name, number, relationship and whether a message is safe. Then the reminder that the firm hasn’t taken the case, and the transfer. Our legal intake script lists the questions in order; night calls follow the after-hours triage protocol.
The AI says: “Taking these details doesn’t mean the firm has taken the case. I’m putting you through to the attorney on call now.”
What counts as urgent
For a criminal defense practice, these are the rules we start from. Your rules replace them.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Someone arrested and being held right now | Put through to the attorney on call, with name, date of birth and facility |
| Police or detectives want the caller to come in or answer questions | Attorney on call now. The AI doesn’t say whether to go |
| The caller says there’s a warrant out for them | Urgent by your rule; attorney alerted with the caller’s number |
| First appearance or bail hearing inside your urgent window | Put through, or emailed at once with the date and the court |
| An existing client with a new court date, or a call from their probation officer | Their attorney, marked, by your rule |
| Sealing a record, an old conviction, a traffic ticket | Consultation request for the next business day |
What it never says on these calls
- Whether to talk to the police, agree to a search or turn themselves in.
- How much bail will be, or whether the person will be released.
- What a charge means, what the sentence could be or whether it will be dropped.
- A retainer amount, a fee or a payment plan, unless you’ve approved the words.
- Anything about a case to a relative or a stranger. Who hears what is your rule.
What you decide
- Who’s on call each night and weekend, and who’s next if they don’t pick up.
- What counts as urgent: an arrest, a warrant, police asking for an interview, a hearing tomorrow.
- Family members: whether your firm speaks with a relative who calls, or only with the person charged.
- Your lines, word for word: legal advice, not discussing the facts, and the firm not yet representing anyone.
- Fees and retainers: what the AI may say, if anything.
We set it up the way you want and you approve the final version.
Why this works for criminal defense
Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses, and a late-night arrest is the call an answering service for criminal defense lawyers exists for. It escalates real emergencies: the arrest call reaches a person now, with name, date of birth and facility, not an inbox on Monday. It never promises what you don’t: no bail figures, no “he’ll be out tomorrow,” no opinion on talking to the police. More on our method and how the setup works; how a call is passed live is on call transfer. If your firm takes civil matters too, start from the attorney answering service page.
What it costs
A criminal lawyer answering service has to pick up at 1 a.m., and here that call costs the same as a weekday consultation request: $0.99 per answered call on Pay As You Go, with no monthly fee and no night rate. A practice that gets arrest calls every week usually ends up on the 50-Call Plan. The details are on pricing.
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Your month, by plan
Best fit: 50-Call Plan, $29.00
- Pay As You Go Best fit $29.70
- 50-Call Plan Best fit $29.00
- 100-Call Plan Best fit $49.00
What the month would cost on each plan: the monthly fee plus each call past the ones included.
Questions criminal defense attorneys ask
What is a 24/7 criminal defense answering service?
It’s a line that never closes, so an arrest call at night or on a holiday reaches your attorney on call, not a voicemail box. The order is built for that call: who and where first, then the court date, and the caller’s story stopped before it starts, so the facts are told to the attorney.
Will it tell callers not to talk to the police?
Not on its own. That’s advice, and the AI doesn’t give advice. If your firm wants callers to hear a specific line, the AI reads your approved words exactly as written and adds nothing. Otherwise, the call reaches your attorney, and the attorney decides what to say.
What happens if the attorney on call doesn’t pick up?
Your backup is tried next. If nobody answers, the caller hears that the attorney has their details and that this doesn’t mean the firm has taken the case; the alert sits in both inboxes with the name, date of birth and facility. It doesn’t promise a callback time you haven’t approved.
Can a family member hire the firm through this call?
Whether your firm talks with relatives at all is your rule. If a mother insists on paying a retainer tonight, the AI takes her details and marks the call for the attorney; it never quotes a fee or says the firm represents her son.
Do answering services for criminal defense attorneys work in Spanish?
Ours does. A relative who starts in Spanish gets the whole call in Spanish, including your lines about advice and about not describing what happened. See bilingual AI receptionist, and the immigration page for firms that take both kinds of cases.
The arrest call, answered tonight
Press Get started and tell us who answers at 1 a.m. From that we draft your protocol, you read every line, and your firm’s number is forwarded only when you’ve approved it.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime