Good morning.
Something subtle is happening in criminal defense right now.
Not in any major headline.
But in the background of how cases are being worked.
Over the weekend we saw another example.
Federal prosecutors just urged a judge to uphold the felony conviction of former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan.
On the surface it looks like ordinary post-verdict motion practice.
But this is where the real story starts...
Because these filings are where credibility narratives get locked in for appeal.
What matters isn’t just the ruling.
It’s the record.
How the government frames the integrity of the trial…
How aggressively they defend the verdict…
And what standard the court applies when reviewing the challenge.
Those decisions start to determine whether a case has any real appellate runway.
Criminal defense lawyers know this.
But something else is changing around it.
More firms are starting to build internal systems.
Tracking filings, flagging inconsistencies, and summarizing records faster than a human can.
Not because they’re “AI people.”
Because friction inside a case file is expensive.
This week we’re looking at those internal workflows…
And how they're starting to change how defense work gets done.
More on that soon.
On Thursday we’re opening a private working lab.
A place where attorneys compare notes on these kinds of things.
You'll get access to free workflows and tools.
Curious to know if you’ve seen AI used inside a criminal defense case yet?
Send us back a yes or no.
And watch for the invitation headed your way.
Until next time,
-The Criminal Defense Brief
P.S. Criminal defense isn’t the only area trying to work this out.
We’ve been tracking how firms across multiple practice areas are interacting with AI…
And documenting it each week in The Legal Brief.
You can explore the archive here → www.thelegalbrief.co/archive