Criminal defense practice management, from the first inquiry to sentencing
Compass by WattReach takes your website's inquiries at any hour, files the court notices your attorneys forward on the right case, and links each charge to the law library.
Built first for defense work
Compass by WattReach is practice management built first for criminal defense: inquiries from your site at any hour in one inbox, the court notices your attorneys forward filed on the right case, and each charge linked to its entry in the law library. Each matter keeps its charges, judge, prosecutor, fines and court dates, and the firm is reminded before each hearing on its calendar and three business days before a plea or a sentencing. The court features and the law library cover one state today, and the walkthrough tells you whether it is yours.
What a defense firm gets
The midnight inquiry, ready by morning.
A form sent at any hour gets its confirmation email, in English or Spanish depending on the page. By the time the office opens, the lead has a one-line summary with its urgency and a drafted reply for an attorney to send, and its owner is nudged once office hours start.
The caller is often not the client.
Record the parent or partner who called and the person charged, and your staff run one conflict check on both, plus any co-defendants, victims or witnesses you name, against every client, archived ones too, and every past lead.
The court's notices, on the right case.
Your attorneys set the court's e-filing system to copy notices to the firm's Compass address, and each one is filed on its matter by case number and court, in the court's own words, with the attorney told. Any that match no case wait in "Needs a look". A hearing notice raises a step to enter the new date, and a judge that does not match the file is raised as a question, never overwritten.
The law on the charge.
Charges link to their entries in the law library, which is built from the sections your clients are charged under: the statute, the elements from the official jury instructions, and the appellate decisions that cite it. The client's file asks the library about that client's own sections first.
Fees and payments.
The flat fee on each matter, every payment against it and the balance owed. Where invoicing is switched on, payment plans run on autopay, and LawPay links, where set up, take payments into trust or operating. Compass marks each payment trust or operating but keeps no trust ledgers.
A matter built for a criminal case
- Case number, court, charges, judge, branch and prosecutor.
- Fines assessed, paid and still due.
- Every past court date with its outcome, and the next one.
- A starter checklist for criminal matters, whose steps count back from the next court date and move when it moves.
- Paste a supported court's public case page, and the events, charges, pleas, outcomes and next date are read into the file.
A client's file with two criminal matters, their phases, the next hearing and what is owed.
How it connects to the rest of Compass
Your website carries the pages people find when they search for a defense lawyer, and every form lands in lead management. The matter lives in case management, the court's notices arrive through court integration, and the charges link to the law library.
Questions
What is the best practice management software for a small criminal defense firm?
The best practice management software for a small criminal defense firm catches inquiries at any hour, keeps every court date on the right case, and puts the law on each charge at hand. Compass by WattReach is built first for that work, with the firm's website and intake included, and its court features and law library cover one state today.
Does Compass track court dates for criminal cases?
Yes, once a court date is on a matter, entered by your staff when a notice prompts it or read from the court's public case page, Compass by WattReach reminds the firm before the hearing and three business days before a plea or a sentencing. It does not pull court dates from the court on its own.
Can Compass check conflicts on co-defendants and witnesses?
Yes, your staff run the conflict check from the lead, and it searches the caller, the person charged and any other parties you name, such as co-defendants, victims or witnesses, against every client, archived ones too, and every past lead. The result is recorded on the lead.
How does Compass handle flat fees and payment plans?
Compass by WattReach records the flat fee agreed on each matter, every payment against it and the balance owed. Where invoicing is switched on, payment plans run on autopay, and LawPay links, where set up, take payments into trust or operating; Compass keeps no trust ledgers.
Does Compass manage discovery?
No, Compass by WattReach does not manage discovery or evidence, and by design it never reads evidence. It keeps the client's own documents, up to 25 MB each, on the file.
Will Compass work with our courts?
Compass by WattReach reads one state's court notice formats today, and the walkthrough confirms whether your courts use them. Matters, phases, reminders and the calendar work for any court.