Matter-centered work
Clients, charges, courts, contacts, notes, documents, tasks, and billing context stay attached to the matter record instead of scattering across separate tools.
Legal Core
Built for the way criminal defense actually works.
Private matter management, court-calendar discipline, document workflow, trust-account visibility, and migration support for criminal defense practices.
What Legal Core does
Legal Core is Butler Solutions software for criminal defense practices that need private matter management, court-calendar discipline, document workflow, trust-account visibility, and migration support in one system. It is built for firms that manage sensitive client facts, fast-changing hearing dates, motion deadlines, investigator coordination, payment decisions, and communication records every day. The product keeps the matter record at the center: clients, charges, courts, opposing parties, documents, notes, deadlines, invoices, and trust balances stay connected instead of spreading across email, spreadsheets, calendars, and separate document tools. Legal Core is not a generic CRM with legal labels added later. It is organized around criminal defense work: intake, case setup, deadline control, motion drafting support, evidence and document review, billing context, and handoff points with bail and investigation workflows. Founding customers receive direct migration support, predictable pricing, and a product roadmap shaped by real practice needs. The system helps staff see the next case action, the documents involved, the money context, and the handoff risk without hunting through unrelated software. The goal is simple: give defense firms a private, auditable operating system that respects the work and reduces administrative drag without asking the firm to surrender control.
Fit
Built around criminal defense workflow patterns.
Criminal defense practices do not run like generic professional-services teams. A defense matter can move from intake to arraignment, discovery review, motion deadlines, investigator coordination, payment decisions, and urgent client communication in a short window. Legal Core keeps those operating details close to the case so the firm can see what changed, who is responsible, and what still needs attention.
Legal Core is organized around the work that has to stay coordinated when a defense practice is moving quickly: new client intake, matter setup, court dates, motion deadlines, document drafts, billing decisions, and trust balances.
Workflow patterns
Organized for the way criminal defense practices actually work.
Court calendar discipline
Hearings, filing deadlines, follow-up tasks, and attorney availability are treated as operating controls, not just calendar entries.
Document and motion flow
Templates, drafts, supporting facts, and review steps stay close to the case so motion work is easier to track before a deadline arrives.
Trust and billing visibility
Fee agreements, trust activity, invoices, payment status, and internal notes sit where the firm can review them without losing the legal context.
Features
The product surface stays close to the work.
Case management
Matters, clients, charges, courts, contacts, notes, tasks, documents, and billing context stay tied to the case record instead of drifting into separate tools.
Court calendar
Hearings, filing deadlines, attorney availability, reminders, and follow-up tasks stay visible to the people responsible for moving the matter forward.
Document automation
Templates, drafts, supporting details, review notes, and motion workflow are organized to reduce repeated entry while keeping attorney review in the loop.
Trust accounting context
Fee agreements, trust balances, payment records, invoices, and internal notes sit near the matter record so financial context is easier to review.
AI assistance with review
Intake organization, summaries, draft support, and document review assistance are designed around customer control, auditability, and human approval.
Bail and PI handoffs
Legal Core is designed to work beside Bail Core and PI Core so defense, bail, and investigation workflows can share context where the customer permits it.
Comparison
Compared with general legal practice platforms.
Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball, Filevine, and Rocket Matter are mature general legal systems with broad feature sets. Legal Core is narrower by design: criminal defense workflow, private records, audit visibility, migration support, and predictable pricing are the center of the product instead of add-ons around a generic case-management core.
Preview the Clio comparisonPricing
Pricing without surprises.
Legal Core starts at the same predictable tiers used across Butler Solutions: Starter at $49 per month, Small Team at $399 per month, Firm at $749 per month, and Large Firm at $1,499 per month for larger teams. Add-ons and migration pricing are shown before implementation work begins.
Review pricing detailsMigration
Migration is part of the product, not an afterthought.
The first Legal Core customers will receive hands-on migration support from current tools, spreadsheets, and document libraries. The migration path is designed to preserve case context, reduce duplicate entry, and give the firm a review step before going live.
Review migration approachFAQ
Questions criminal defense firms ask before switching.
Who is Legal Core built for?
Legal Core is built for solo attorneys, small defense teams, and growing criminal defense practices that need stronger operating discipline without adopting a heavy enterprise platform. The product is especially relevant for firms managing high client sensitivity, frequent court events, and migration pain from scattered tools.
How is Legal Core different from Clio or MyCase?
Clio and MyCase are mature general legal platforms with broad ecosystems. Legal Core is narrower. It focuses on criminal defense workflow, private records, audit visibility, direct migration help, and predictable pricing instead of trying to serve every kind of legal practice equally.
Does Legal Core replace document management?
Legal Core is designed to organize documents around the matter record, not to force a firm to abandon every existing storage habit on day one. Founding customers can migrate gradually, attach documents to case context, and standardize the documents that matter most first.
How does Legal Core handle court calendars?
Court dates, motion deadlines, follow-up tasks, and attorney availability are treated as case controls. The goal is to make the calendar useful for daily work, not just a list of events. Calendar details stay connected to the matter and the responsible team members.
Does Legal Core support trust accounting?
Legal Core is designed to keep trust-account context visible beside the matter record, including fee agreements, payments, balances, and review notes. The product is not a substitute for professional judgment or accounting oversight, but it reduces the distance between financial records and case context.
What migration support is included?
Founding Legal Core customers receive hands-on migration support for client records, matters, contacts, documents, calendars, and structured data from current systems or spreadsheets. The process includes review steps before go-live so the firm can catch issues before staff depend on the new system.
Does Legal Core include AI assistance?
Legal Core includes assistance for tasks such as intake organization, document review, summaries, and draft workflow where the firm enables it. The product is designed around customer control, review, and auditability. It does not replace legal judgment or publish work without human approval.
How does Legal Core work with Bail Core and PI Core?
Legal Core is part of the Butler Solutions product family. Where a firm also works with bail or investigation workflows, the product direction supports cleaner handoffs, shared context where appropriate, and less duplicate entry between defense, bail, and investigative operations.
What is the founding customer cohort?
The founding cohort is the first group of firms helping shape Legal Core before broader launch. Founding customers receive closer migration support and direct product feedback loops. The cohort is capped so the team can stay focused on real implementation work.
How does Legal Core pricing work?
Legal Core pricing is designed to be predictable before a firm commits. The pricing page breaks down firm sizes, included usage, add-ons, and migration pricing. Founding customers can review costs up front instead of discovering platform fees during implementation.
Is Legal Core available outside Michigan?
Yes. Legal Core is built for criminal defense practices nationally. State-specific pages will explain court, professional, and procedural context where it matters, but the product is not limited to Michigan firms.
Legal Core
Review Legal Core with the team building it.
Talk through your current tools, your migration path, and whether the founding cohort is the right fit for your firm.