Benjamin C. Wenzel Legal-Tech Platform Berlin |…

Client

Benjamin C. Wenzel Specialist Criminal Defense Attorney (Fachanwalt fuer Strafrecht), Berlin www.anwalt-wenzel.com

Status

Platform built and launched from scratch, with ongoing SEO and public content operations

Context

The assignment was not to deliver a simple attorney website. It was to design and build a digital platform that could establish authority at the first touchpoint and then carry the case forward through a controlled operating system.

Criminal defense is a high-trust, high-stress legal environment. The public layer has to communicate authority, clarity, and urgency, while the operational layer has to support intake, document exchange, reviews, agreements, deadlines, billing, and sensitive internal workflows without collapsing into email chaos.

So the platform was structured from day one as a product, not as a brochure site with add-ons. We built the public authority layer, SEO architecture, intake logic, secure client access, and internal case operations as one connected system.

Primary domain: www.anwalt-wenzel.com
Focus market: Berlin criminal defense
Scope: custom-built public authority layer + secure case workflow platform

Public authority layer and criminal defense positioning on the Benjamin C. Wenzel platform

What We Built

The result is not a marketing website with a contact form. It is a purpose-built platform that connects first inquiry, structured case intake, secure client access, internal staff workflow, agreements, payments, and close/archive lifecycle inside one system.

Digital case review flow: Fall pruefen -> guided questions -> registration/login -> personal client portal

Secure client workspace tied directly to the live case record

Internal dashboard for staff and attorney with new cases, unread messages, deadlines, tasks, and case activity

Managed case entities for document requests, client tasks, consultations, agreements, billing state, and audit events

Role-based product logic across client, staff, and admin flows

The platform combines acquisition, intake, case handling, governance, and billing in one operational product.

Structured intake and secure client portal entry on the Wenzel legal-tech platform

Product Layer

A client can now begin with a structured digital case check, upload documents before full onboarding, create secure access, and continue the matter inside a dedicated portal. Once inside, they see case status, messages from the office, requested documents, assigned tasks, consultations, agreements, and billing events in one place.

On the firm side, every case now behaves like a managed work unit. Staff and attorney users operate through dashboards and case workspaces that support review, conflict checks, deadlines, office tasks, document governance, mandate onboarding, agreements, audit records, and lifecycle transitions up to closure and archive.

Digital intake with structured qualification instead of unstructured lead capture

Real-time client portal connected to case state

Case messaging, document exchange, and managed client tasks

Consultation requests, scheduling, and acceptance inside the product flow

Mandate onboarding, agreements, invoices, payment requests, and status tracking

Notification layer driven by database state rather than fragile UI state

Public Platform and SEO Layer

The public authority and SEO layer was designed as a core part of the platform, not as a separate marketing shell. These screens show the structured legal front-of-house that supports trust, discovery, and urgent conversion.

Client workspace and case-linked product layer on the Wenzel legal-tech platform

Technical Architecture

The platform is built on Next.js App Router, Neon Postgres, and Prisma. Neon acts as the source of truth for cases, documents, messages, tasks, consultations, agreements, billing records, events, and audit trails.

Next.js App Router for public, authenticated, and internal product flows

Neon Postgres + Prisma for case, workflow, and governance data modeling

External object storage for files, with metadata and permissions handled in the database

Role-based route protection and case-level access checks

Payload validation, audit logging, and explicit flow separation for client/admin/staff

The key architectural decision was to keep business logic and traceability in the product layer, while treating files as managed assets rather than the system of record.

Internal case workflow and operational workspace inside the Wenzel platform

Security and Access

Because the system touches sensitive legal data, access design had to behave like a real operational product rather than a basic website account area.

Email verification code flow for user access

Password recovery, password change without forced logout, and soft-delete profile removal

TOTP second factor for staff/admin with recovery codes

Case access validation by role and relationship to the matter

Audit trail for sensitive actions and workflow state changes

Operational Layer

The new system does not stop at lead generation. It supports the full downstream operating model of criminal defense work, with explicit product entities and controlled state transitions.

Formal review layer and decision-making on new matters

Conflict check as a dedicated entity

Client tasks and office tasks as tracked workflow objects

Deadline management and timeline events

Admin dashboard, notification logs, and audit logs

Billing state, mandate state, and close/archive lifecycle for every case

That means the platform helps the firm not only win the mandate, but continue the matter as a structured process inside its own system.

UX and Product Design

A major product challenge was to make the new secure product layer feel native to the criminal defense brand rather than like a generic SaaS bolted onto a law firm site.

Unified visual language across public pages, intake flow, auth layer, client portal, and internal screens

Calm, restrained interface system aligned with legal trust expectations

Operational density without losing clarity for stressed end users

Shared design language between client-facing and internal tools

Product Layer Screens

Selected product screens from the intake, client portal, internal workspace, and operational case management layer.

Result

The finished product is a working digital platform for criminal defense matters, designed and built from scratch around the firm's real operating model.

Clients get a clear and secure digital path. The firm gets an internal system for handling the matter beyond first contact. The business gets more than lead generation: it gets authority, intake, delivery, and governance inside one product.

Public authority layer for search, trust, and urgent conversion
Secure client product layer for ongoing case handling
Internal workspace for review, operations, governance, and billing
Single-system logic instead of fragmented handoffs between forms, email, and office operations

Live domain: www.anwalt-wenzel.com