Form templates / Legal Services
Criminal Defense Intake Form
A criminal defense intake form has to establish urgency in the first two questions: is there a court date, and is the person in custody. Everything else can wait a few minutes; those cannot.
For solicitors, attorneys, paralegals and small firms.
A court date is a deadline you cannot negotiate
Criminal matters have hard dates attached, and an enquiry that sits in a queue for two days can cost someone their representation at a first hearing. Custody status is the same: the response to a person held overnight is different in kind, not degree.
So both are near the top here and both are required, and the form says plainly that it is not the right channel for someone currently detained or about to be interviewed - with a phone number instead. That sentence is the most important one on the page.
What a good intake form saves you
The first message from a new client almost never contains what you need. You reply asking one question; they answer a different one; a week later you still can't start. Every round trip is a day, and the clients who go quiet are usually the ones who got tired of answering.
One form ends that. Ask everything once, get a complete picture, and start the same day. The questions in this template are the ones you end up asking anyway - the form just gets them asked up front.
Conflict checks and the facts, before the first meeting
The initial consultation is expensive time. Names of other parties, dates, what has already happened - collected in advance, they let you run a conflict check and arrive knowing the matter.
A written intake is also a cleaner file note: what the client said at the outset, dated, unedited, in their own words.
Fast enough that people finish it
Abandonment is mostly a speed problem. A form that takes a second to appear and submits in one request gets finished; one that loads a framework first does not. This is a single self-contained page - no scripts to download, nothing to wait for.
One minute to make it your own
Every label, option and placeholder on this template is editable, and you can add whatever this template doesn't ask. Save to publish, share the link, and export the responses whenever you need them in a spreadsheet.
What this template asks
- Are you or the defendant currently in custody?
- Defendant's full name
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
- Who is making this enquiry?
- What stage is it at?
- What is the alleged offence?
- Date of the alleged offence
- Which police force or station?
- Custody, charge or URN reference number
- Is there a court date?
- Court date
- Which court?
- Are there bail conditions?
- Are you represented at the moment?
- How would fees be met?
- Are there previous convictions?
- I understand not to send detailed case information yet
- Anything urgent we should know?
More Legal Services forms
Questions
Should someone in custody use a web form?
No. Say so at the top with a phone number. A form is right for someone bailed, summonsed, or seeking representation for a future hearing - and wrong for anyone in a police station now.
How much detail about the allegation should we ask for?
Enough to identify the matter and check for conflicts - the charge, the date, the court. Warn people not to send a detailed account before you're instructed, because privilege may not attach yet.
Can I add or remove questions?
Yes - every question here is a starting point. Add your own, delete what doesn't apply, reorder by dragging, and make anything required or optional. Saving publishes the change immediately.
Where do the answers go?
Into your dashboard, where you can read, filter and export them as a spreadsheet. You can also have every response emailed to you the moment it arrives, or as a daily or weekly digest.
Do I need a website?
No. Every form gets its own link you can paste into an email signature, a text message, a QR code or a social profile. If you do have a site, you can link to it from anywhere on it.
Is a web form confidential enough for a legal enquiry?
Pages are served over encrypted connections and responses stay in your account. Even so, say plainly on the form that submitting it does not create a lawyer-client relationship, and ask people not to send privileged detail until you've engaged.
Publish your criminal defense intake form today
Start from this template and change anything you like. Free to begin.