Free tool · Firm operations
25 policies every criminal law firm needs
Not a list of policies you should have. The policies themselves, written out, with a placeholder where your firm name goes.
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How to use it
- 01Find and replace INSERT YOUR FIRM NAME HERE. That is the only edit most of them need to read as yours.
- 02Cut the ones that do not apply. A four person firm does not need all twenty five, and a policy nobody follows is worse than no policy.
- 03Send the set to your employment counsel before you adopt it. Employment law is state law, and these are drafts to start from rather than finish with.
What is in it
- At-will employment, and the language that keeps a handbook from reading as a contract
- Remote and hybrid work, written for a firm with staff who are not in the building
- Confidentiality and client information, which is the one that differs most from a general business handbook
- Social media, including what a paralegal can and cannot post about a pending file
- Workplace conduct, harassment, and the reporting path
- Time off, court coverage, and who answers the phone when someone is out
These are drafts, not advice about your firm
They were written for a criminal defense practice rather than borrowed from a personal injury shop, which is why they cover things like discussing a pending case online. They still have to clear your own state’s employment law and your own insurance carrier before you hand them to staff. Adopting a policy you have not read is how a handbook becomes evidence against you.
Where this came from
These are adapted from the set my own firm runs on. The Criminal Mastermind is where the rest of it lives: intake systems, hiring, pricing, and the operations work nobody teaches criminal defense lawyers because every coaching program is built for personal injury.
See what is insideThe Criminal Mastermind is a program of DMI LLC. Terms and privacy policy