Client intake for criminal defence.

Nothing in criminal work waits. A first appearance is days away, a bail hearing may be tomorrow, and the person is often calling from the worst day of their life with the paperwork in their hand. The intake has to get the charge exactly as written, the date and courthouse, and the conditions of release, and it has to get the complainant's name before the firm says anything at all, because a firm that has acted for the complainant cannot act. The intake also has to know when to stop: a person in custody, or facing a hearing within a day, needs a lawyer on the phone, not a form.

• The charge, read out exactly as it appears on the document the person was given.
• Whether the person is in custody, released on conditions, or not yet charged. If on conditions, what they are, as written.
• The next court date, the courthouse, and what the appearance is for, as the person understands it.
• The date of the arrest or the notice.
• Whether the person has spoken to police or given a statement, and whether police have asked for an interview.
• Who the complainant is, and the person's relationship to them.
• Which documents the person holds: the release order, the charge sheet, any disclosure.
• Whether there are co-accused or witnesses the person can name.
• Whether there is a prior record, yes or no, as the person states it.
• Whether the person has applied for, or has, legal aid.

• The complainant, by full name. This one name decides whether the firm can act.
• Any co-accused.
• Witnesses the person names, including family members.
• Any lawyer who has already been involved, including duty counsel.
• The police service and the officer named on the paperwork, for the file rather than the conflict check.

Someone in custody, a bail hearing within a day, a court date within days, or police asking for an interview. A person in custody or facing a hearing tomorrow is told to call the firm now, with the number on screen, and the intake stops. Everything else is flagged to the lawyer as urgent with the dates recorded exactly as given. The intake never tells the person whether a deadline has passed or what will happen at the appearance.

• It never advises the person on what to say to police, or whether to give a statement.
• It never advises on a plea, and it never predicts a sentence or an outcome.
• It never says whether an appeal window, a disclosure deadline or any other date has passed.
• It never tells the person to contact the complainant or anyone named in a no-contact condition, and it never contacts them itself.
• It never asks the person whether they did it. The lawyer decides what to ask and when.

The machine takes the statement. The lawyer takes the case.