AI receptionist for criminal defense
Never miss a
high-value lead
When someone gets arrested at 2 a.m., their family starts calling attorneys. The first one who answers books the retainer. Citadel answers every call, qualifies the lead, and books the consultation — so you never lose a client to voicemail again.
24/7
Call answering
< 2 rings
Average pickup
100%
Calls answered
Incoming call
Saturday, 2:14 AM
Thank you for calling the Law Office of Marcus Torres. How can I help you?
My son was just arrested for DUI. I need a lawyer right away.
I understand — let me get some details so we can help as quickly as possible. What county was he arrested in?
Lead captured
Every missed call costs you $5,000–$15,000
68% of callers won’t leave a voicemail. They’ll call the next attorney on Google instead.
2 a.m. DUI arrest
A panicked family member calls four attorneys. The first one who answers books a $10,000 retainer.
Your phone goes to voicemail
You're in court, asleep, or with a client. The caller hangs up and moves on. You never know they called.
Revenue lost forever
That retainer goes to a competitor. Multiply that across nights, weekends, and holidays.
Try it yourself
Talk to Citadel right now
Try a live conversation with our AI receptionist, or watch a sample call to see how it handles a 2 a.m. DUI intake.
Live demo
Talk to Citadel
Use your microphone to have a live conversation
Sample call
Saturday, 2:14 AM — Incoming call
Listen to Citadel handle a real DUI intake call
How it works
From missed call to booked consultation
Citadel answers
Every call picked up instantly. Nights, weekends, holidays. A professional voice that understands criminal defense.
Qualifies the lead
Charge type, jurisdiction, urgency, arraignment status. No wasted consultations on cases you don't take.
Captures intake
Contact info, case details, notes — all captured. You get a full summary before speaking to the client.
Books the consult
Qualified leads booked directly onto your calendar. You wake up to consultations, not voicemails.
Built for criminal defense
Everything your front desk should do
Citadel isn’t a generic answering service. It’s trained on criminal defense workflows — charge types, jurisdictions, arraignment timelines, and how to triage urgency.
Get started24/7 call answering
Every call answered in under two rings. No exceptions.
Criminal defense intake
Asks about charges, court dates, custody status, jurisdiction.
Lead qualification
Screens for case type, budget, and urgency automatically.
Calendar booking
Syncs with your calendar and books qualified leads directly.
Transcripts & summaries
Full transcripts and AI summaries after every call.
Bilingual support
Handles calls in English and Spanish.
Ethics & compliance
Built for the standard your bar requires
AI in legal raises real questions — confidentiality, privilege, supervision, consent. We built Citadel around the ABA’s guidance on AI use and the latest state bar ethics opinions, so you can adopt it with confidence.
End-to-end encryption
All calls encrypted in transit and at rest. Your client communications stay protected.
No AI training on your data
Call data is never used to train models. Your conversations remain yours — period.
Privilege-aware design
Callers are informed they're speaking with an AI assistant. Consent and disclosure built into every call flow.
BAA & compliance support
We sign Business Associate Agreements and work with your firm to meet state-specific ethical obligations.
From attorneys like you
“A family called at 1 a.m. after their son's DUI arrest. Citadel answered, got the details, and had a consultation booked before I woke up. That's a $10K retainer I would have lost to voicemail.”
Marcus T.
Solo practitioner, Houston TX
“I was paying a service $600/month and they couldn't tell a felony from a misdemeanor. Citadel actually understands criminal defense — it asks the right questions.”
Sarah K.
Managing partner, Atlanta GA
“Weekends and holidays used to mean missed leads. Now I check my phone in the morning and the consultations are already booked.”
David R.
Criminal defense, Phoenix AZ
Simple pricing
One missed retainer pays for a full year
Human receptionist services charge $500+/mo with per-call fees and can’t tell a DUI from a traffic ticket.
Everything included. No per-call fees. Cancel anytime.
- Unlimited 24/7 call answering
- Criminal defense-trained AI
- Lead qualification & intake
- Calendar integration & auto-booking
- Call transcripts & summaries
- Bilingual (English & Spanish)
- Dedicated business phone number
- Email & SMS notifications
- End-to-end encryption & BAA
One $5,000 retainer covers Citadel for over a year
Frequently asked questions
Can Citadel handle Spanish-speaking callers?
Yes. Citadel supports bilingual calls in English and Spanish. The AI detects the caller's language and responds accordingly.
What if the caller needs to speak to a human?
Citadel routes urgent calls directly to you or your on-call attorney based on rules you set. You define what counts as urgent — active warrants, in-custody calls, or any criteria you choose.
How does it integrate with my calendar?
Syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Calendly. Qualified leads are booked directly into your available slots with buffer times and blackout hours.
Is this compliant with attorney-client privilege?
Yes. All calls are encrypted end-to-end. We never use call data to train AI models. Callers are disclosed upfront that they're speaking with an AI assistant, consistent with ABA guidance on AI use and recent state bar ethics opinions on recording and summarizing client communications. We sign BAAs and work with your firm to meet your jurisdiction's specific ethical requirements.
How is this different from a generic answering service?
Generic services use scripts. Citadel understands charge types, jurisdictions, arraignment timelines, and how to triage urgency. It asks the questions a good paralegal would ask.
Stop losing clients to your voicemail
We’ll walk you through setup, customize the intake for your case types, and have you live in under a week.
- Free 15-minute consultation
- Custom intake setup for your practice
- Live in under a week