24/7 criminal defense answering service, with the full intake.
A 24/7 criminal defense answering service answers a defense firm's phone around the clock, including the arrest calls that come in at 2am. Call Della goes further than a message service: Della takes the full intake, capturing the charges, custody status, holding facility, bond and next court date, and emails the attorney on call when a hearing is close. In the 2024 Clio Legal Trends Report secret-shopper study, only 40% of law firms answered the phone, down from 56% in 2019, according to ABA Law Practice Magazine (2025).
"They picked him up at a checkpoint. He's never been arrested before. They said he blew over and they're holding him. I don't know what to do."
What should a criminal defense answering service capture on an arrest call?
A criminal defense answering service should capture who is in custody, where they are held, what they are charged with and when they next see a judge. Those four facts decide how fast the firm moves. Most arrest calls come from a spouse, parent or friend rather than the defendant, so Della records the caller's relationship and the best number to reach them.
She asks whether the charge is a DUI and, if so, whether there was a breath or blood test. She asks about bond: the amount, any conditions, and whether a bond hearing has been set. She asks whether a public defender has been appointed or another firm contacted. A message service writes down a name and a number. Della files a dossier that lets the attorney call back already knowing the case, which matters when the family is calling other firms too.
How is AI intake different from a criminal lawyer answering service?
AI intake runs the intake itself, while a traditional criminal lawyer answering service usually takes a message and passes it on. The difference shows up in the morning. With a message service, an attorney gets a name, a number and a line such as "husband arrested, call back". With Della, the attorney gets the charges, the facility, the bond status, the court date, a recording and a transcript, sorted by urgency.
Both options answer the phone. The question is how much of the intake is done before an attorney picks up. For a defense firm, that decides whether the callback is the first real conversation about the case or a second round of the same questions. The table below sets out the main differences. Our comparison of after-hours intake options covers voicemail, message services, in-house staff and AI intake in more detail.
| Message-taking service | Della | |
|---|---|---|
| What the attorney receives | Name, number and a short message | Dossier: charges, custody, facility, bond, court date and summary |
| Recording and transcript | Varies by provider | Every call |
| Urgent calls | Depends on the service's escalation rules | Emailed to the attorney on call straight away |
| Legal questions from callers | Should be deferred | Always deferred to the attorney |
| AI disclosure | Not applicable | Never claims to be human; says she is an AI if asked |
What will Della never say to a criminal defense caller?
Della will never give a criminal defense caller legal advice, never promise representation and never claim to be human. A family member at 2am often asks what the defendant should say to police, whether to post bond or whether the charge will stick. Della answers each of those the same way: the attorney will advise on that when they call back. She does not imply the firm has taken the case, because an intake call is not an engagement.
If a caller asks whether she is a real person, she tells them she is an AI intake specialist working for the firm. If a caller is in danger, Della tells them to hang up and call 911. These rules track the duties set out in ABA Formal Opinion 512, which our AI legal intake compliance guide explains alongside privilege and recording consent. For the fields to add to your own intake, see the law firm client intake form.
Who calls after your office closes?
A caller's husband has just phoned from the county jail after a DUI arrest, his first. She is panicking and calling every defense firm in the city. If your line goes to voicemail, she pays someone else's retainer before Monday. The ad that brought her to you did its job. Voicemail gave the case away.
Which arrest and court calls does Della handle?
A spouse, parent or friend calling for someone just arrested. Della captures the urgent details before the family member starts dialing other firms.
- Defendant name, holding facility and charges
- Breath or blood test status (DUI cases)
- Bond amount and hearing time
- Any prior record the caller knows of
The defendant or family calling after release. A standard intake: facts, charges, court date and current representation.
- Charges and arraignment date
- Bond conditions (no-contact, no-alcohol, GPS)
- Whether a public defender has been appointed
- Caller relationship and callback details
A caller with an upcoming court date who needs an attorney, often switching from a public defender or after another lawyer has withdrawn.
- County and court location
- Charges and the date of the next hearing
- Whether they are switching from a public defender
- Any prior representation in this matter
When the defendant calls, from a facility phone or after release, the call may be short. Della asks for the essentials first.
- Full name and holding facility
- Charges
- A contact person on the outside
- Anything urgent: a hearing, a medical need, child care
What does the dossier capture on every call?
- Defendant: full name, date of birth, holding facility, charges
- DUI details: breath or blood test, field sobriety test
- Prior record the caller knows of
- Bond: amount, conditions, hearing time
- Caller: relationship, callback phone, callback email, preferred time
- County and court location
- Current representation (private, public defender, none)
- Notes in the caller's own words
- Urgency score, with hearings within 24 hours flagged
- Summary of the call
- Recommended next step for the firm
What rules does Della follow on a criminal defense call?
- 01No legal advice. Della defers every legal question to the attorney.
- 02No impersonation. Della answers in your firm's name, never claims to be human, and tells any caller who asks that she is an AI.
- 03Recording disclosure at the start of every call, set for your firm's state. Consent rules differ by state, and some are mixed: Connecticut's civil statute requires all-party consent or a recorded notice before a phone call is recorded (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-570d), while its criminal eavesdropping law turns on the consent of one party (§ 53a-187). Check your state in our call recording consent by state guide.
- 04Confidential by default. Recordings and transcripts are encrypted in transit and at rest, belong to your firm, and are kept for the retention period you set. See security and data handling.
- 05No solicitation language. Della never implies that representation has begun.
How does Della take a criminal defense call?
- You forward your after-hours line to your own Della number and place a test call before you go live.
- Della answers in your firm’s name, introduces herself as Della, plays the recording disclosure for your state and runs the criminal defense intake.
- She scores urgency on every call. Urgent calls go to the attorney on call by email straight away.
- Every call lands in the Call Della dashboard as a dossier with a summary, recording and transcript, and a morning brief arrives by 7am.
The full walkthrough is in how AI legal intake works.
How much does criminal defense intake with Della cost?
Call Della has 3 plans, all month-to-month with no setup fee. Solo is $329 a month for 300 minutes, for solo lawyers. Practice is $598 a month for 600 minutes, for small and growing firms. Group is priced to your volume, for firms with more than one practice area or office, and adds a CRM webhook. Extra minutes are $0.50 each. See Call Della pricing for what every plan includes.
Where can I read more about criminal defense intake?
What are missed calls costing your firm?
The cost of a missed call is the fee from the criminal matter that caller would have signed. Work it out for your own firm: missed calls a month × share that are new matters × your sign rate × your average fee. The sliders start on example figures. Move them to your own numbers.
For the method and what to count as a missed call, see the full missed-call cost calculator.
What do criminal defense attorneys ask about Della?
Will Della tell my client what to say to the police?
No. Della never gives legal advice. When a caller asks what the defendant should say, whether to post bond or how a charge usually goes, she says the attorney will advise on that when they call back. She notes the question in the dossier, so the attorney knows what the family is worried about before the callback.
Do callers know they are talking to an AI?
Della answers in your firm's name and introduces herself as Della, the firm's intake specialist. She never claims to be human. If a caller asks whether she is a person or an AI, she tells them she is an AI. The recording and transcript of every call show exactly what was said, so your firm can check.
How does recording disclosure work in all-party consent states?
Della plays a recording disclosure at the start of every call, set for your firm's state. State rules differ: some require every party's consent, and Connecticut is mixed, with all-party consent or a recorded notice under its civil statute and one-party consent under its criminal law. Our call recording consent by state guide covers each state. Confirm the wording with your own counsel.
What happens when a hearing is within 24 hours?
Della asks for the court and the date of the next hearing on every call. A bond hearing or arraignment within 24 hours raises the urgency score, and Della emails an urgent-call alert to the attorney on call straight away. Calls without a near deadline go into the 7am morning brief, sorted by urgency.
How does Della know our local jails and courts?
You give us your service area, facilities and courts during setup. Della confirms the spelling of each facility name with the caller, records the county and court, and flags callers outside your area as referrals rather than new intakes, so your morning list holds matters your firm can take.
What if the caller is intoxicated or in danger?
If anyone is in immediate danger, Della tells the caller to hang up and call 911; safety comes before intake. If the caller sounds intoxicated, she still captures what she can, keeps her questions short and flags the call for attorney review. She does not refuse an intake because of how a caller sounds.
Does Della take criminal defense calls in Spanish?
Not today. Della takes criminal defense calls in English, and Spanish intake is live on the immigration flow only. A Spanish-speaking caller on your criminal line is still answered and recorded, and the call appears in your dossier list for your team to return.
- Only 40% of law firms answered phone inquiries in the 2024 Clio secret-shopper study, down from 56% in 2019. ABA Law Practice Magazine, "Law's New First Impression: Transforming Client Intake", March/April 2025, reporting the 2024 Clio Legal Trends Report
- 32% of calls to law firms went straight to voicemail, and 42% of the time the lawyer took three or more days to reply. Lawyers Mutual NC, "How Your Telephone Is Costing You Clients", 2019, reporting an ABA Law Practice Division secret-shopper survey
Hear Della take a criminal defense intake call.
Book a 30-minute demo. We run a live criminal defense intake call while you listen, then walk you through the dossier.