DUI in Denver. Federal RICO in DC. Different cases — same playbook that keeps both profitable.
We run paid media exclusively for legal firms — and we've built ad systems across nearly every criminal defense sub-niche: DUI, DV, federal, drug, RICO, white-collar. Multi-location LSA orchestration. PPC budget allocation by ROAS. Affordability-filter copy that screens out the price shoppers.
"Criminal defense" isn't one thing.
Your agency treats it like it is.
DUI converts differently than Domestic Violence. Federal cases need different copy than drug charges. Multi-location firms need separate campaign architecture per office. Generic legal-marketing shops run one Google Ads campaign and call it "criminal defense" — then wonder why your CPL is high and your conversion is low.
The affordability shopper tax.
Half the search clicks come from people who can't afford private representation. Your spend is paying for "DUI lawyer cheap" and "free criminal lawyer" traffic. Without proper negative keywords and ad copy that screens for ability-to-pay, you're subsidizing public defender intake.
One campaign, eight sub-niches.
Your agency runs a single "criminal defense" Search campaign with broad keywords. DUI, DV, drug, federal, theft, assault — all in one bucket, all bidding against each other, all sharing one landing page. You can't optimize any of it because everything's contaminated.
Multi-location overspend.
Two offices in two cities? Most agencies use one Google Ads account with shared geo-targeting. Result: one market eats all the budget, the other dies starved. No separate Quality Score tracking, no per-office case-type allocation, no clean attribution back to which office signed the case.
"I'm still getting people that can't afford any kind of private lawyer. I can reduce prices but I can't reduce them to $100/month for 3 years."
Two firms. Two cities. Two case types.
One system under both.
Boyle & Jasari, LLP
DC + Philadelphia
since Aug 2025
ad budget
Started with the DC office in 2025 running LSA against federal crime keywords — the kind of cases generic agencies can't run because Google's LSA category structure for criminal defense is finicky. We did weekly category testing to find what generated quality leads vs. what didn't. By February 2026, we launched a second LSA page for their Philadelphia office. Both offices now run with separate budgets, separate Quality Score tracking, separate intake routing.
Federal crimes practice · DC + PA
Prager Law, LLC
conversion rate
signed case
DUI + DV split
Steve runs a niche practice — DUI and Domestic Violence only. We built two separate campaigns with separate ad copy, separate negative keyword lists, separate landing pages, and separate Quality Score tracking. When we noticed DV was outperforming DUI on signed-case ROAS, we shifted budget toward DV. Steve digs into Google Ads UI himself — and the data holds up to that level of scrutiny.
DUI & DV specialty · Denver, CO
Built for the sub-niche reality of criminal defense.
Every criminal defense firm we run has at least 2 campaigns, often 4+. Per sub-niche. Per location. Per Quality Score profile. The system below is what makes that scalable — without your account manager juggling 15 dashboards.
Same six layers across every client. The parameters are what change.
Affordability filtering at the keyword level
Negative keyword lists for "cheap," "free," "public defender," "pro bono," "payment plan only." Ad copy that emphasizes experienced private representation over price. We screen the price shoppers out before they ever click — your CPC stays focused on people who can actually retain.
Sub-niche campaign architecture
One campaign per case type. DUI in its own campaign, DV in its own, federal in its own, drug in its own. Separate ad copy, separate landing pages, separate lead scoring. Your per-niche ROAS becomes visible — and budget can flow to whichever sub-niche is signing cases this month.
Multi-location budget orchestration
Each office gets its own ad account, its own LSA page, its own GBP, its own intake routing. We allocate budget weekly across offices based on lead quality, not just lead volume. When DC ate its budget in week one, we frontload it; when Philadelphia ramps slower, we backload. Same client, two operations.
LSA category testing
LSA for criminal defense has narrow category coverage and finicky qualification rules. We test one category per week to find what generates quality leads — drug, assault, federal, white-collar — and shut down the categories that bring back too many charged-back inquiries. Same approach we used to take Boyle & Jasari to 92 calls/month.
ROAS-led attribution to signed retainer
Case values vary wildly in criminal defense — a misdemeanor is $1K, a federal is $30K+. CPL doesn't tell the story. We track lead lifecycle in HubSpot all the way to signed retainer dollars, then feed that back into Google for bid optimization. You'll know which keyword paid for itself in fees.
Quality Score management
Criminal defense queries get flagged by Google more often than other legal verticals — disapprovals, low QS scores, occasional account suspensions. We manage QS proactively: rewriting ad copy when scores drop, appealing disapprovals within 24 hours, monitoring impression share weekly. QS 4/10 doesn't kill an account — ignoring it does.
Numbers from actual criminal defense accounts.
Not stock screenshots.
From live or recently-active criminal defense accounts. Different cities, different case mixes, same operating system. Every number tied to a signed case or LSA charge-back wherever your firm tracks one.
A different posture on your account.
Simple. Transparent.
No "plus a percent" games.
You're on one plan or the other. Never both. No per-channel surcharges. No mystery line items in month three.
- One channel: LSA, PPC, or Meta
- Up to $10K/month ad budget
- Sub-niche campaign build
- GTM, CallRail & HubSpot integration
- Affordability-filter negative keyword lists
- Weekly & monthly written reports
- Real-time AgencyAnalytics dashboard
- All channels: LSA + PPC + Meta, orchestrated
- $10K/month per channel ($15K min for 2)
- Everything in Starter, plus —
- Per-office campaign architecture
- ROAS-led budget reallocation (weekly)
- Quarterly per-niche strategy review
- Slack access for priority response
- Founder-led account stewardship
If you run criminal defense — these will sound familiar.
Pulled directly from intake calls with criminal defense partners over the past 18 months. If yours isn't here, the founder will answer it live.
Can you actually filter out price shoppers?
Yes. Three layers: aggressive negative keyword lists ("cheap," "free," "payment plan," "pro bono," "low cost," dozens more); ad copy that emphasizes experience and outcomes over price; and per-keyword performance monitoring so we catch new shopper-intent terms as they emerge. You'll still get the occasional price tire-kicker — but they'll be the exception, not the rule.
What if I run multiple sub-niches?
That's the default for criminal defense. Most of our criminal-side clients run at least 2 sub-niches (DUI + DV is the most common pair). We build them as separate campaigns from day one — separate ad copy, separate landing pages, separate negative keyword lists, separate lead forms. You'll see per-niche ROAS in monthly reporting and we'll recommend budget shifts based on which is signing cases.
I have offices in two cities. How does that work?
One ad account per office. Separate LSA pages, separate GBPs, separate budget allocations. We don't try to run one campaign with shared geo-targeting — that's the trap most agencies fall into, and it's why one of your offices always ends up starving for spend while the other overspends. Boyle & Jasari runs DC + Philadelphia exactly this way, and we pace budget weekly based on which office is generating quality.
What budget do we need to see real movement?
$5K/month per channel is the operational minimum — below that, Google doesn't have enough data to optimize. For criminal defense specifically, we see clean signal at $7.5K–$15K/month per sub-niche, with the most predictable results at $12K–$25K/month total across 2–3 campaigns. Steve Prager runs $15-16K/month across DUI + DV combined.
What about LSA — does it work for criminal defense?
Yes, but you have to know which categories work and which don't. LSA's criminal category structure is narrow and finicky — some sub-niches qualify, others don't. We test one category per week to find what generates quality leads. Boyle & Jasari runs LSA-led with 92 calls/month in DC alone; some other clients run LSA at lower volume because their specific sub-niche has weak LSA coverage. We'll tell you on the intro call whether LSA makes sense for your case mix.
What if my Quality Score gets flagged?
Criminal defense queries get flagged more than other verticals. When QS drops or an ad gets disapproved, we rewrite copy within 24 hours and re-submit. We've handled disapprovals on DUI, drug, federal, and even DV campaigns. The trick is knowing what wording Google flags and what survives — that's a learned skill, not a guess. We've been doing it for years.
I'm already running with another agency. How does the transition work?
30 days' notice to your current vendor. We use that window to take ownership of accounts (Google Ads, LSA, GA4, GTM, HubSpot, CallRail — always in your name), audit existing campaign structure (usually consolidated into one campaign — we rebuild as per-niche), and stage new campaigns. Day 31, we go live. No double-spend month.
Who exactly will I be working with?
You'll meet Davor (founder) on the intro call, and he stays on every account. Day-to-day you'll work with him plus a senior media buyer on your campaigns. Total team you'll interact with: 2–3 people, same every week. No account manager rotation.
Let's see which sub-niches would actually work for your firm.
30 minutes with the founder. No deck. We'll look at your last 90 days of spend, your case mix, your locations, and your average retainer — and tell you, honestly, what we'd run differently and whether we'd take you on.
Book a 30-min strategy call →