CourtRemind › Criminal defense
For criminal defense attorneys
Court date text reminders for criminal defense clients.
A missed court date can mean a bench warrant, a revoked release, and a client back in custody. CourtRemind™ sends a text reminder to your clients, and the family who gets them there, before every hearing on your calendar. Automatically.
- 20% fewer bench warrants with text reminders in a randomized trial of public defender clients (Science Advances, 2025)
- Reads court dates from your Google or Outlook calendar. Nothing new to learn.
- English or Spanish, chosen for each phone number
Why it matters
Most missed court dates aren't defiance. Clients forget, or get the details wrong.
Researchers who studied missed court dates found that many come down to memory and confusion about when and where to go. A short text with the date, time, courthouse, and department fixes most of that. See the research.
Keep using your calendar
You or your staff keep adding hearings to Google Calendar or Outlook. CourtRemind™ reads them (read-only) and matches each one to the client.
Add each client once
Client phone, plus a parent, spouse, or anyone else who helps them get to court. Import a whole caseload from a spreadsheet.
Reminders go out on their own
7, 3, and 1 day before each hearing, the same schedule used in the study. Continue a hearing and the reminders move with it.
Built for defense practice
Every hearing type, without exposing the case.
Arraignments to sentencing
Arraignments, readiness and status conferences, preliminary hearings, motions, trial dates, sentencings, and self-surrender dates. Office appointments can get their own reminder too.
Only the essentials in the text
Date, time, courthouse, and department. Never charges, case numbers, or your notes. STOP is honored automatically and every consent is recorded.
Know who's coming
Clients reply C to confirm. Your calendar view shows who confirmed and flags court dates with no phone number or a missing courthouse address.
Courthouse addresses filled in
Pick from California superior courts and federal courthouses and the street address fills in, so clients go to the right building.
Questions
Criminal defense FAQ
Will sending court date reminders by text create a confidentiality problem?
CourtRemind™ reminders include only the date, time, courthouse, department, and judge if you entered one. It never includes charges, case numbers, or your calendar notes. You decide which phone numbers get reminders, and you certify that each person agreed to receive them. Check your own state bar's guidance on text messages with clients.
Does it work for CJA panel and appointed cases?
Yes. It works the same for retained, appointed, and CJA panel clients. Any court date on your calendar can get reminders, including federal hearings and self-surrender dates.
What if the court continues the hearing?
Move the event in your calendar as you normally would. CourtRemind™ sees the change and reschedules the reminders. Delete the event and the remaining reminders are cancelled.
Can my assistant manage the reminders?
Yes. On Pro and Firm, staff members get their own login and see the same clients and court dates. Anyone who adds court dates to your calendar is already using it.
How much does it cost?
Plans start at $19 a month for 100 texts. Solo is $49 a month for 500 texts. Each full reminder counts as one text, no matter how long. You can try it free with 25 texts and no credit card.
Your clients never miss court.
Connect your calendar once. Every court date gets its reminders.
No credit card for the free trial. Cancel anytime.
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