Marketing, websites and 24/7 intake built for criminal defense firms.
How can we help you get found?
Then your name and website.
Questions this page answers
- Criminal defense marketing agency
- How do criminal defense lawyers get clients
- DUI lawyer marketing that works
- Who should run marketing for my criminal defense firm
- Are Local Services Ads worth it for criminal defense
- Criminal defense lawyer leads
Where growth is won or lost in criminal defense.
A criminal defense case usually starts with someone else's phone. A person is arrested, gets a call from the jail, and a parent or partner starts searching for a lawyer on their phone in the middle of the night. They want to know how bail works, when the first court date is and whether the person will lose their license or job. They call several firms. The first one that picks up, sounds confident and explains the next forty-eight hours in plain words has a strong chance of being hired by morning.
Fees in this practice are commonly flat and vary by charge type, from a first-offense misdemeanor to a serious felony headed to trial. That makes the intake call a pricing conversation as much as a legal one. Firms lose cases when calls roll to voicemail overnight, when staff cannot quote a fee range, or when marketing attracts charges and counties the firm does not handle. Many past vendors bought broad criminal lawyer keywords during business hours only and reported calls, not retained fees, so the firm never saw which spend actually worked.
Theory Road builds criminal defense marketing around the phone. We set up 24/7 answering or on-call routing first, then write charge and county pages, run Google Ads with overnight coverage, and manage Local Services Ads so Local Services Ads calls are answered live. Every call is tracked into Clio, MyCase or Lawmatics with charge and county, and followed to the signed fee agreement. Weekly reviews move budget toward the charges, courts and hours that retain, and cut the rest.
The problems we fix in criminal defense firms.
After-hours calls roll to voicemail
Arrests happen at night and on weekends. When a family member calls at 2am and hears voicemail, they call the next firm in the results, and that firm usually retains the case before breakfast.
Generic pages for very different charges
A single criminal defense page cannot rank for DWI, drug possession, assault and theft in five counties. Families search by the charge on the paperwork and the county where the person is held.
Paying for calls you cannot take
Ads pull in charges you do not handle, jurisdictions you do not cover, and people who want free advice about a friend. Every one costs the same as a retainable case.
No link between spend and retained fees
Calls are logged loosely, fee agreements live in another system, and nobody can say which keywords or counties produced the flat fees that actually paid the firm this quarter.
Web, marketing, creative and systems for criminal defense firms.
Built on your accounts, wired into the tools your team already runs, and measured to booked work.
- DWI and DUI pages by county
- Charge pages for each offense
- Arrested today page
- Fees and payment plans
- Courts and jurisdictions page
- Attorney profiles
- Juvenile and student charges
- Contact page with live answering
Each page answers one intent, carries one call to action, and lands the lead in your CRM with the page attached.
Websites and digital product.
Separate pages for DWI or DUI, drug charges, assault, theft, domestic violence and warrants, each tied to the counties you cover and explaining what happens between arrest, bail and arraignment.
- What to do right now pageA mobile-first page for the family member who just got the jail call, covering bail, holds, the first court date and what not to say, with a call button pinned on screen.
- Fee structure explainerA plain description of how flat fees differ by charge type and stage, with payment plan options, so callers arrive ready to talk about retaining rather than shopping.
- Attorney pages with trial backgroundBios that describe courtroom experience, former prosecutor or public defender history where true, and the courts each attorney appears in most.
- Google Search AdsAlways on, 24/7
- Local Services AdsAlways on
- Local SEO and Google Business ProfileAlways on
- Charge and county contentMonthly additions
- RemarketingAlways on, low budget
- Lawyer and past client referralsAfter every closed case
Demand, search and reputation.
Campaigns split by offense and jurisdiction, with dayparting that keeps overnight budgets on, negative lists for expungement forms and free advice, and bids set against retained fees.
- Local Services Ads managementWe manage the Local Services Ads listing for criminal defense, keep the profile and reviews current, dispute invalid leads and make sure every LSA call is answered live.
- Local SEO for each courthouse marketGoogle Business Profile work, county and courthouse pages, and review requests within bar rules so the firm shows up in maps near the jail and the courthouse.
- Remarketing for the slow decisionSome cases retain days after the first call, once charges are filed. Low-budget remarketing keeps the firm in front of families still comparing lawyers.
- Short attorney video answersBrief clips on questions like what happens at arraignment or whether a license can be saved after a DWI arrest, used on pages and in ads.
- Call scripts for intake staffTested scripts for answering services and staff covering the charge, county, custody status and next court date, then moving to a fee conversation.
Brand, photography and collateral.
Copy that tells a frightened family exactly what to do next and when to call, without promises about outcomes or dismissals.
Comes in from
- Website forms
- Tracked calls
- Ads and LSA
- Google Business Profile
Lands in
- Clio Manage and Clio Grow
- MyCase
- Lawmatics
Comes back as
- Per-source attribution
- Automated follow-up
- One weekly scoreboard
Built to your system of record, not around it. Nothing is re-keyed by hand.
Integration, automation and data.
A live answering service or on-call rotation receives every call, captures charge and county, and pages the on-call attorney for anyone in custody with a hearing soon.
- Call tracking tied to fee agreementsCallRail numbers by campaign and county, call scoring for retainable charges, and qualified-call conversions sent back to Google Ads so bidding learns from real cases.
- Intake into your practice systemEvery call and form lands in Clio, MyCase or Lawmatics with source, charge and county fields, then follows to signed fee agreement and payment.
- Court date remindersOnce retained, automated reminders for hearings and document requests go only to the channels the client approved, reducing missed dates.
What a great criminal defense website contains.
The pages that do the selling for this kind of company, and what each one has to do to turn a visit into a call.
DWI and DUI pages by county
Covers arrest, license suspension deadlines where applicable, and first court date for each county, with a sticky call button for the family member searching.
Charge pages for each offense
Drug, assault, theft, domestic violence, weapons and warrant pages that explain the process and what the firm does first, each linking to a call.
Arrested today page
Step-by-step guidance for the first hours after an arrest, including bail and holds, designed for mobile visitors under stress and ending in a call.
Fees and payment plans
Explains flat fees by charge type and stage in general terms and describes payment plan options, preparing callers for a fee conversation.
Courts and jurisdictions page
Lists the courts and counties the firm appears in, which reassures families and helps search engines map the firm to each location.
Attorney profiles
Trial experience, prior prosecutor or defender roles where true, and the courts each lawyer knows, answering the question of who will actually stand up in court.
Juvenile and student charges
A separate page for parents of minors and college students, a distinct audience with distinct fears about school discipline and records.
Contact page with live answering
States that calls are answered around the clock, offers text or form options with consent, and routes urgent custody situations to the on-call attorney.
Where the demand comes from, and when.
The tools criminal defense firms already run on.
We build to your system of record rather than around it. Leads, calls, jobs and revenue land where your team already works, with the attribution attached.
Clio Manage and Clio Grow
Intake with charge, county and source fields, then retained matters and fees synced to Manage.
MyCase
Lead capture with source attribution and fee agreement status tracked against the originating campaign.
Lawmatics
After-hours intake forms, follow-up sequences and retained-fee reporting by source.
CallRail
Tracking numbers per campaign and county, call scoring and qualified-call conversions to Google Ads.
Google Local Services Ads
Profile setup, lead disputes, review requests and LSA calls logged into your intake system.
LawPay
Fee and payment plan links sent after the consult, tracked back to the source.
Legal answering services
Scripts, charge and county capture, and call handoff notes written directly into intake.
What we run the account by
Cost per retained case.
Marketing spend divided by signed fee agreements from that spend, broken out by charge type and county.
Live answer rate.
Share of inbound calls answered by a live person, measured separately for business hours, nights and weekends.
Call to consult rate.
Share of qualified calls that reach a consult with an attorney, by source and time of day.
Consult to retain rate.
Share of consults that sign a fee agreement, tracked by attorney, charge and channel.
Average retained fee by source.
Mean fee collected per retained case from each channel, showing which sources bring the more valuable charges.
Rules we respect
No guarantees of outcomes.
Bar rules generally bar misleading claims, including promises of dismissals or acquittals. Past results, where allowed, typically need disclaimers. We write to the strictest applicable rule.
Solicitation of arrested people.
Live solicitation is broadly restricted, and some states limit written contact with accused people for a set number of days after arrest or require labeled mailers.
State bar advertising rules.
Advertising rules vary by state on disclaimers, specialist claims and testimonials. The firm keeps final approval over every ad, page and script we produce.
Local Services Ads verification.
Local Services Ads require the firm and its attorneys to pass Google's license and background checks before ads can run, which we help assemble.
The criminal defense playbook.
Answer every call first.
Before any new spend, we test the phones at 2am, on Sunday and during court hours. Answering coverage, scripts and on-call routing get fixed so no paid call reaches voicemail.
Choose charges and courts to own.
We set which offenses, counties and fee levels the firm wants more of. DWI in two counties is a different campaign than felony drug work across a region, and the budget reflects that.
Build charge pages and launch narrow.
Charge and county pages go live with tracking into your practice system. Paid search and Local Services Ads start on the most retainable charges with overnight coverage switched on.
Tune weekly on retained fees.
We review recorded calls, retained fees and lost cases by charge and county every week, cutting keywords and hours that do not retain and adding budget where they do.
- Strategy and brandwe lead it or back your team
- Paid mediamanaged day to day
- Search and AI visibilityrun and reported monthly
- Websites and hostingbuilt, hosted and cared for
- CRM and lead systemsrun for you or with you
- Creative and contentproduced in-house
Fully managed, alongside your team, or built and handed off. Month to month after the initial term.
Why criminal defense firms choose us.
In criminal defense the phone call is the sale. We build the answering coverage, scripts and routing alongside the ads, instead of sending traffic into a phone nobody answers at night.
- We run Local Services Ads directlyWe manage LSA accounts, including profile, reviews, lead disputes and answering standards, so the Local Services Ads channel works with your search campaigns rather than competing with them.
- Reporting ends at the fee agreementWe measure retained fees by charge, county and keyword from your practice management system, so budget decisions follow cases that paid rather than call counts.
Reading for criminal defense firms.
- Agency Guide · Takeaway
A good law firm marketing agency reports cost per signed case by practice area and source, read from your intake and case management system, not cost per lead from an ad platform.
Agency Guide · 11 min read
Best Law Firm Marketing Agency: How to Choose One That Fits.
Legal marketing breaks in places a generalist never looks: bar advertising rules, fee-sharing limits, intake that misses calls, and reports that stop at leads. Here is how to judge an agency against what actually signs cases.
Read - Systems & Integration · Takeaway
Clio vs MyCase comes down to ecosystem vs simplicity: Clio pairs Clio Manage with Clio Grow and a very large integration directory, while MyCase puts more features in a single, easy product.
Systems & Integration · 11 min read
Clio vs MyCase: Intake, Billing and Fit for Growing Law Firms.
Clio and MyCase both run a law practice well. The real differences show up in intake, integrations, how the bill grows and how much a firm wants in one box. Here is how we help firms decide and switch.
Read - Paid Media · Takeaway
Local Services Ads bill a law firm per call, message or booking rather than per click, and show a Google Verified badge only after background and bar license checks clear.
Paid Media · 9 min read
Local Services Ads for Lawyers: How Verified Leads Work.
How Local Services Ads verification works for law firms, what you pay for and how to dispute it, the signals that decide your rank, why LSA leads never reach Google Ads tracking, and the weekly routine that keeps the unit profitable.
Read
Hiring an agency for a criminal defense business.
- Who is the best marketing agency for criminal defense firms?
- A defense firm needs a partner that tracks live answer rate after hours and cost per retained case, since the caller is often a relative who just got a jail call. Its copy must never promise dismissals, it should respect state limits on contacting people after arrest, and it should help you pass Local Services Ads verification. Ask how they connect a first ring to a signed fee agreement. We build charge and county pages, paid search and LSA, answering coverage, and tracking into Clio, MyCase or Lawmatics.
- Do you run Google Ads and Facebook and Instagram ads for criminal defense firms?
- Yes. Google Search Ads target charge and county searches from families, with overnight and weekend budgets kept on because arrests do not wait for office hours. Local Services Ads add pay-per-lead calls above search ads once the firm and its attorneys pass Google's license and background checks. Facebook and Instagram are used for remarketing to families still deciding while charges are filed. Ads never promise dismissals or acquittals, and state bar rules on disclaimers and solicitation of arrested people apply. We measure live answer rate, consult to retain rate and cost per retained case.
- How do criminal defense lawyers get clients?
- Mostly through search at the moment of crisis, plus referrals from past clients and other lawyers. Families search by charge and county after an arrest, often at night. Firms that win combine charge-specific pages, Google Ads and Local Services Ads with live 24/7 answering and a clear fee conversation. Referrals and reviews then compound over time, but the phone decides most retains.
- Are Local Services Ads worth it for criminal defense?
- Often, yes, as one channel among several. LSA places Google Verified firms at the top of results and charges per lead, with a dispute process for invalid ones. It only pays when calls are answered live and quickly, since responsiveness appears to affect ranking. We run LSA alongside search campaigns and compare retained fees from each.
- Can marketing promise results like dismissed charges?
- No. State bar rules generally prohibit misleading statements, and promising outcomes is a common violation. Past results, where allowed, usually need disclaimers. We write ads and pages that explain process, experience and next steps without guarantees, build to the strictest bar rule that applies, and leave final approval to the firm. We do not give legal advice.
- Can we contact people right after they are arrested?
- Rules on reaching out to arrested people vary. Bar rules broadly restrict live solicitation, and some states limit written solicitation of accused people for a set number of days after an arrest or require specific labels on mailers. We build inbound programs that bring families to you instead, and we check your state's rules before any outbound campaign.
- Which systems do you connect for criminal defense intake?
- We typically connect CallRail, a legal answering service or on-call rotation, Google Local Services Ads and your web forms into Clio, MyCase or Lawmatics, with LawPay for fees and payment plans. Each record carries charge, county and source from first call to signed fee agreement, which is what lets us report cost per retained case.
Running ads? Check the Google Ads and Meta rules that apply to criminal defense firms in our free Ad Policy Map, or work out your break-even cost per lead.
Get in touch
Let’s grow your criminal defense business.
Tell us what you sell and what you want more of. A senior strategist will be in touch, by email or phone.