System and method for legal document authoring and electronic court filing

Abstract

A system for legal document authoring for a legal action and electronic court filing of such legal documents provides an online network for subscribers. The system provides a direct mechanism (and a web portal mechanism) for submitting a claim file containing party and claim information necessary for automatic legal document generation based on an auto-selected destination court (in some embodiments) and further based on at least certain party and claim information. The automatically-generated legal documents are compliant with the requirements of the destination court, providing end-to-end automation for improved efficiency in judicial debt collection. The system also provides an online network for facilitating communications between subscribers (litigants) and the court systems.

1 - 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A method of providing electronic communication for a subscriber and a court regarding a legal action, comprising:
 (A) registering a subscriber using a host computer;   (B) receiving from the subscriber, using the host computer, claim information in electronic form sufficient to institute a legal action in a court;   (C) generating, using the host computer, a legal document in electronic form configured to institute the legal action using at least the claim information;   (D) establishing a web portal interface on the host computer that is configured to allow a court computer associated with the court to electronically interact with the host computer; and   (E) enabling the court computer via the web portal interface to retrieve the generated legal document from the host computer for filing with the court.   
     
     
         30 . A method for receiving and processing a claim file and authoring and electronically filing a legal document for a legal action in a court, comprising:
 (A) electronically receiving at a host computer a claim file in electronic form wherein the claim file includes a first plurality of fields corresponding to party information and a second plurality of fields corresponding to claim information;   (B) associating, at the host computer using a processor, one or more supporting documents with the claim information portion of the claim file wherein the supporting documents are selected from the group comprising a contract, a credit application, an account statement, an account summary and a legal notice, wherein the supporting documents are those documents needed or desirable to support a legal claim in the legal action.   (C) selecting a court, using the processor, based at least in part on data included in the claim file and predetermined court selection criteria;   (D) generating, using the processor, a legal document in electronic form configured for electronic filing in the selected court and which is compliant with requirements of the selected court, using the claim file and predetermined filing requirements data associated with the selected court; and   (E) electronically filing the generated legal document in the selected court.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  further comprising:
 establishing said party information so as to include at least one from the group comprising a plaintiff name, a plaintiff address, a defendant/debtor name, a defendant/debtor address, assignee name and assignee address and wherein said claim information includes at least one from the group comprising a creditor name, a creditor address, a debt type, an account type, an account identification number, a principal balance, an interest balance, payment history information and a last payment date. 
 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the predetermined filing requirements data associated with the selected court includes legal reference documents, further comprising:
 detecting, using the processor, a change in the approved versions of said legal reference documents, and automatically alerting subscribers of the change. 
 
     
     
         33 . A method of providing electronic communication for a subscriber or a court regarding a legal action, comprising:
 (A) configuring a host computer to allow entities to register therewith to define at least one subscriber;   (B) providing an electronic interface configured to allow a court to interact with the host computer;   (C) servicing, using the processor, a message from the subscriber directed to the host computer regarding the legal action; and   (D) charging a service fee to the subscriber for servicing the message.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein charging the service fee comprises determining the service fee based on a per-message basis. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 33  wherein charging the service fee comprises determining the service fee based a subscription basis. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the service fee is a message service fee, and wherein the message requests a value-added service, further comprising charging a value-added service fee in addition to the message service fee. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the value-added service involves a transaction, said value-added service fee comprising a transaction-based value-added service fee. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the value-added service involves a transaction, said value-added service fee comprising a subscription-based value-added service fee that would cover at least the transaction. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 33  further comprising:
 charging court fees to the subscriber in accordance with court fees charged by the court relating to the legal action. 
 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  further comprising:
 electronically settling the court fees charged to the subscriber. 
 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein electronically settling the court fees comprises automatically electronically settling the court fees with electronic payments made on behalf of the subscriber when a transaction relating to the legal has been completed.