Updated October 2026

Criminal defense firms connect 35.1% of qualified callers on the call, and they transfer a larger share of callers to the firm than any other practice area, according to Smith.ai's Legal Intake Report, an analysis of 3.2 million answered calls to 4,210 U.S. law firms. Criminal defense firms that let their receptionists book consultations connect 66.8% of qualified callers.

Below: the criminal defense intake questions Smith.ai recommends, the conversion data behind them, and how the best-converting firms end the call. Every rate here is a share of qualified leads: callers the receptionist judged to be viable prospects under the firm's own criteria.

How many criminal defense callers connect with the firm?

About a third. Across live-receptionist calls from June 2022 to July 2026 and AI receptionist calls from December 2025, 35.1% of qualified criminal and DUI leads connected with the firm before the call ended: 19.8% booked a consultation and 15.3% were transferred to someone at the firm.

That 15.3% transfer rate is the highest of any practice area in the report. It fits the calls. Someone phoning about an arrest from last night, or a court date on Monday, often needs a lawyer today, and the report says as much: "Criminal defense and personal injury lean on transfers, because the caller may need a lawyer today."

A transfer has a weakness, though. It only works if someone at the firm is free to pick up. Across all practice areas, 33.7% of transfer attempts on qualified leads reached someone at the firm.

Criminal defense intake: share of qualified leadsCriminal / DUI firmsShare of qualified leadsBooked a consultation, all criminal firms19.8%Transferred to the firm, all criminal firms15.3%Connected (booked or transferred), all criminal firms35.1%Connected, criminal firms with scheduling enabled (207 firms)66.8%Connected, criminal firms without scheduling enabled (388 firms)18.7%

Source: Smith.ai Legal Intake Report, 2026. All-firm rows: live-receptionist calls June 2022 to July 2026 and AI calls from December 2025. Scheduling rows: live-receptionist firms, December 2025 to July 2026. Practice area is read from what the caller said the matter was.

Does booking consultations work for criminal defense firms?

Yes. Criminal defense firms with scheduling enabled connect 66.8% of qualified leads, against 18.7% at criminal firms without it, a gap of 48.1 points.

"Scheduling enabled" means the firm has asked its receptionists to book consultations for qualified callers. Without it, the transfer is the only way a caller reaches the firm on the call, and when the attorney is in court, the call ends in a message.

One caveat from the report's methodology: firms chose their own setups, so the gap describes what each setup delivers for the firms that run it. It isn't a controlled test of switching. For the same comparison in personal injury, family law, estate planning, and other areas, see our intake conversion benchmarks by practice area.

What questions should a criminal defense intake form include?

A criminal defense intake form should establish whether there was an arrest and whether the person is in custody, when it happened, the charges, any upcoming court dates, and the county. Smith.ai's account build guide for law firms (August 2026), published in the report, recommends six criminal defense screening questions. Five of them:

1. Was there an arrest, and is the caller currently in jail?
2. Date of the arrest or charge. Dates decide deadlines, so this one is recorded as a date, not a description.
3. What are the charges? Recorded in the caller's words.
4. Any upcoming court dates or deadlines? A yes with a date on it tells the firm how fast it has to move, and whether this is a transfer call.
5. County where the arrest took place. County and state often decide where a matter can be heard and whether the firm can take it at all, which makes this the question that can disqualify a caller fastest.

The sixth asks the type of case, and the answer branches the rest of the script. The full question set and methodology, including the answer formats a receptionist records, are in the report.

Many criminal defense calls come from a spouse, parent, or friend rather than the accused. The questions still work, as long as the intake records who is calling and who the client would be. That second name is the one the conflict check needs.

How should a criminal defense intake call end?

Transfer first, and book a consultation if no one at the firm answers. That's the end-of-call action the report recommends for criminal defense.

The booking offer is what keeps a missed transfer from becoming a lost client. Across practice areas, firms that offer a booking when a transfer fails connect 63.4% of qualified leads, against 17.7% for firms that only transfer; the Legal Intake Report has the full breakdown. Writing it into your intake instructions takes one line: if the transfer doesn't connect, offer a time on the calendar. Smith.ai's appointment booking puts that time on the firm's calendar while the caller is still on the line.

Some firms will want a stricter rule for urgent calls. A caller with a hearing tomorrow might get a transfer attempt, then the earliest available slot, then an urgent message to the on-call attorney. That routing lives in the firm's instructions, and it can differ by case type or by time of day.

What happens to a criminal defense caller who isn't transferred or booked?

They leave a message. In the report's words, "the firm starts the next morning where the call ended," and by then a caller with a court date may have hired someone else.

Some firms end every intake that way by design. Across all practice areas, 509 firms with at least 100 qualified leads connected none of them: 424,046 qualified callers screened, judged worth having, and left in a message. The receptionist did the qualifying work, and the firm's instructions gave the call nowhere to go. The report's comment is short: "Message-only intake instructions are a choice, too."

Who should handle criminal defense intake calls?

Whoever answers needs to stay calm with a frightened caller, ask the same questions every time, and know exactly when to try the transfer. The median call with a qualified lead in the report runs 6.0 minutes.

Smith.ai runs intake end-to-end for law firms. The AI Receptionist answers and screens routine calls, and 500+ North America-based live agents, many of them former paralegals and court staff, step in for the calls that need a person. Firms choose a hybrid AI + human setup or human virtual receptionists on every call. The report notes that its question sets "apply to live and AI receptionists alike."

The intake record then goes to the firm's practice management system, including Clio, Lawmatics, and MyCase, so the attorney who takes the transfer or the consultation already has the charges, the county, and the court date in front of them.

Where to go from here

Smith.ai has handled 25M+ calls since 2015 and runs intake for 5,000+ law firms, and criminal defense is one of the three practice areas that bring the most calls in the report. If your criminal intake converts closer to 18.7% than 66.8%, look at what your intake team is allowed to do at the end of the call before you look at your ad spend. See AI Receptionist pricing, or download the Legal Intake Report for the complete criminal defense question set. We've also published recommended questions for personal injury intake and family law intake.