For criminal defence lawyers

Turning the panicked call into a sorted case file

Suspects call in distress — summons, search, deadlines, all jumbled. The confidential online form captures the decisive points in a structured way before you call back: which authority, which allegation, which deadline, has a statement been made?

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The typical first contact in criminal defence

Panic instead of facts

Anyone who finds a summons in the letterbox or has just experienced a search calls in distress. The conversation jumps around — you have to tease out file number, authority and allegation while emotion dominates the call.

Critical deadlines surface late

The hearing form contains a response deadline, the penalty order a two-week objection period — but the caller mentions it as an aside or not at all. What is not asked systematically falls through.

Already made a statement before you know it

The defence's most important question — "Have you said or signed anything yet?" — often comes too late in a chaotic first call. Without it you can assess neither risk nor strategy.

How Questee brings order to first contact

  1. 1

    Structure your defence questions once

    You build the form along your initial review: what happened (summons, search, hearing form, penalty order, relative in custody)? Which authority, which file number? Is there a deadline in the letter? Has a statement been made? The letter itself is uploaded alongside.

  2. 2

    The suspect answers, protected

    After the first call, the caller receives the link — one question per screen, on the phone, no hold music. Conditional logic guides them only through the questions matching their situation. Transfer is encrypted, the data stays in Germany.

  3. 3

    You call back prepared

    When you call back, allegation, authority, deadline and the scanned letter are in front of you. You see immediately whether urgency is required and use the call for reassurance and strategy — not for reconstructing the facts.

Confidentiality is not a feature here — it is the foundation

Hosted in Germany

Suspect data on German servers with an Art. 28 GDPR DPA — no US cloud, no CLOUD Act exposure.

Password protection

The intake form can be restricted to an access code you give over the phone.

File upload with malware scan

Attach the summons, hearing form or penalty order directly — automatically scanned on receipt.

Conditional logic

Search questions only after a search, custody questions only for custody — no question marathon for anyone.

Instant notification

Incoming intakes announce themselves by email — decisive when deadlines are running.

Your firm's branding

Logo, colours, your wording (Pro) — the form feels like your firm, not a third party.

Defence-ready from the free plan

Free: 3 forms, 100 responses/month. Pro: unlimited forms, your branding, AI included — €12/month, €9/month billed annually. No setup, no minimum term.

Free

3 forms, 250 responses/month

Pro

Unlimited, 10,000 responses/month, AI included

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Questions from defence practice

How confidential is a suspect's information with Questee?
Data is transferred encrypted, stored tenant-isolated on servers in Germany and accessible only to your firm. We provide the Art. 28 GDPR DPA. Unlike US providers there is no CLOUD Act access risk — the decisive difference for suspect data covered by your duty of confidentiality.
Does the form advise the suspect or give legal counsel?
No. The form asks questions and collects facts — every instruction, assessment and defence strategy comes from you in the callback. You can include neutral guidance texts, e.g. that no statements should be made to authorities before your callback, if that matches your firm's standard. The wording is entirely yours.
Why not just the contact form on the firm's website?
A free-text field delivers exactly what the panicked call delivers: an unsorted stream — just in writing. A structured form asks specifically for authority, file number, deadline and prior statements, enforces required fields and takes the official letter as an upload. Many website forms also run through mail servers or US services — without a DPA or encryption concept.
What should a criminal defence intake form ask?
Proven: type of first contact with authorities (summons, hearing form, search, penalty order, arrest of a relative), competent authority and file number, the allegation in their own words, deadlines stated in the letter, whether statements were made or documents signed, and availability for the callback. You determine the structure — the template is your starting point.
Will someone in acute crisis really complete a form?
Yes — when it is the path to the defence lawyer. The form is not used instead of the call but after it: "I will call you back in an hour. Until then, please complete these five minutes so I can check your deadline immediately." It gives the suspect a concrete action against helplessness — and you a sorted basis.
Can relatives complete the form for someone in custody?
Yes — in custody cases the first contact is almost always a relative. With conditional logic you build a dedicated branch: who is detained, since when, in which facility, what allegation is known, is there a detention hearing date? So even in custody cases you get structured initial information.
Can I delete the response after taking on the mandate?
Yes. Once you have transferred the details into your case file or practice software, you can delete the response including uploads in Questee. Data storage stays lean and you keep control over where suspect data lives — something your data protection documentation appreciates too.

The next panicked call meets a prepared defence

Set up the form, send the link after the first call, call back prepared. Free to try, no contract.

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