A criminal defense practiceAI Receptionist

Answering the 2am call that used to go to voicemail

An AI receptionist now answers every call in a natural voice, screens for urgency, books consultations, and transfers genuine emergencies straight to the on-call attorney.

24/7
coverage including holidays
Every call
transcribed and logged
Immediate
transfer on genuine emergencies

The situation

Arrests do not happen during office hours. Calls arriving at night and over weekends reached a voicemail box that callers rarely used—they simply called the next firm listed.

Where the money was going

The practice's highest-intent callers were the ones least likely to reach anyone. A person calling from a holding cell or on behalf of a family member does not leave a message and wait for a callback, and nothing in the firm's reporting captured that these calls had ever happened.

Nights
and weekends going to voicemail
No record
that the call ever occurred
Highest intent
callers lost first

The fix

  1. 01Scripted the intake and escalation rules with the firm's attorneys before anything went live.
  2. 02Built a natural-voice agent on Vapi and ElevenLabs with calendar and CRM access.
  3. 03Tested against difficult real-world calls—distressed callers, unclear matters, active emergencies.
  4. 04Launched with weekly transcript review so weak handling gets fixed rather than excused.

System architecture

TelephonyTwilio number with after-hours routing
VoiceVapi agent with ElevenLabs speech
QualificationFirm's own intake and urgency questions
EscalationWarm transfer to on-call attorney on trigger
RecordFull transcript and matter written to CRM
The payback

Every after-hours call is now answered, screened, and logged rather than lost silently.

What should your business stop doing manually?

Book a 30-minute strategy call. We'll identify the repetitive workflow costing you the most time or opportunity and map a practical path to automate it.

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