Collaborative Document Creation by a Plurality of Distinct Teams

Abstract

A collaborative document creation platform includes a database storing documents. Each document specifies members of a first team and a second opposing team; objectives for each of the teams; expense entries for tasks performed by the team members in connection with the respective document; document versions; point in time status indicating a current document version and which of the two teams has edit access to the current document version; and local and global comments directed to portions of text in the respective document. The platform has a graphical user interface, including windows configured to specify the members of the two teams, specify the objectives for each of the teams, enter and display expense entries for the tasks performed related to the respective document, review document versions and edit live document versions, review point in time status for the document, and review and enter local and global comments for the document.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A collaborative document creation platform, comprising:
 one or more processors;   memory;   a database storing a plurality of documents, wherein each document specifies:
 (i) members of a first team and a second opposing team; 
 (ii) objectives for each of the teams; 
 (iii) expense entries for tasks performed by the members of the two teams in connection with the respective document; 
 (iv) document versions; 
 (v) point in time status indicating a current document version and which of the two teams has edit access to the current document version; and 
 (vi) local and global comments directed to portions of text in the respective document; and 
   a graphical user interface for modifying a document of the plurality of documents, including user interface windows configured for users to (i) specify the members of the two teams, (ii) specify the objectives for each of the teams, (iii) enter and display expense entries for the tasks performed related to the respective document, (iv) review document versions and edit live document versions, (v) review point in time status for the document according to document version and team membership of the users, and (vi) review and enter local and global comments for the document;   wherein a member of the first team is granted access to (i) information regarding members of both teams, (ii) objectives for the first team, (iii) expense entries for the first team, (iv) a limited subset of the document versions, (v) status information representing moments of time when the first team has edit access to the respective document, and (vi) all global comments and any local comments entered by members of the first team, and the member of the first team is denied access to corresponding data that is limited to members of the second team.   
     
     
         2 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , wherein, for a first document of the plurality of documents, the first team comprises a plurality of sub-teams. 
     
     
         3 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 2 , wherein the sub-teams include (i) a party team comprising one or more workers of a party to the first document and (ii) a lawyer team comprising one or more attorneys working on behalf of the party. 
     
     
         4 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , wherein, for a first document of the plurality of documents, the document specifies a third team, distinct from the first team and the second opposing team. 
     
     
         5 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , wherein, in response to a user initiating access to a first document of the plurality of documents, the user interface generates a unique view for the user according to the user's team membership for the first document and point in time status for the first documents. 
     
     
         6 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 5 , wherein the unique view for the user includes one or more of:
 a name of the first document;   a role of the user with respect to the first document;   a number of notifications in the first document relevant to the user;   a number of action items in the first document relevant to the user;   a type of the first document; and   a timestamp indicating when the first document was most recently updated.   
     
     
         7 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , wherein each document includes one or more configurable parameters to limit visibility of team information by opposing teams. 
     
     
         8 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , wherein the platform automatically logs time spent reviewing and editing documents, and the time logged generates expense entries according to duration of time and individual user billing rates; and
 wherein the graphical user interface includes a window for reviewing expense entries according to team membership of users.   
     
     
         9 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , wherein the database stores a print log, which tracks each time a portion of a document is printed, including who initiated printing the document, which printer was invoked to print the document, and what portion of the document was printed; and
 wherein the graphical user interface includes a window for reviewing the print log according to team membership of users reviewing the print log.   
     
     
         10 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , wherein all local comments, all global comments, and all document modifications are stored in a log. 
     
     
         11 . The collaborative document creation platform of  claim 1 , further comprising a communication module for transmitting messages about the document among users of teams associated with the document. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a computing device having one or more processors and memory, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
 a database storing a plurality of documents, wherein each document specifies:
 (i) members of a first team and a second opposing team; 
 (ii) objectives for each of the teams; 
 (iii) expense entries for tasks performed by the members of the two teams in connection with the respective document; 
 (iv) document versions; 
 (v) point in time status indicating a current document version and which of the two teams has edit access to the current document version; and 
 (vi) local and global comments directed to portions of text in the respective document; and 
   a graphical user interface for modifying a document of the plurality of documents, including user interface windows configured for users to (i) specify the members of the two teams, (ii) specify the objectives for each of the teams, (iii) enter and display expense entries for the tasks performed related to the respective document, (iv) review document versions and edit live document versions, (v) review point in time status for the document according to document version and team membership of the users, and (vi) review and enter local and global comments for the document;   wherein a member of the first team is granted access to (i) information regarding members of both teams, (ii) objectives for the first team, (iii) expense entries for the first team, (iv) a limited subset of the document versions, (v) status information representing moments of time when the first team has edit access to the respective document, and (vi) all global comments and any local comments entered by members of the first team, and the member of the first team is denied access to corresponding data that is limited to members of the second team.   
     
     
         13 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein, for a first document of the plurality of documents, the first team comprises a plurality of sub-teams. 
     
     
         14 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the sub-teams include (i) a party team comprising one or more workers of a party to the first document and (ii) a lawyer team comprising one or more attorneys working on behalf of the party. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein, for a first document of the plurality of documents, the document specifies a third team, distinct from the first team and the second opposing team. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein, in response to a user initiating access to a first document of the plurality of documents, the user interface generates a unique view for the user according to the user's team membership for the first document and point in time status for the first documents. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the unique view for the user includes one or more of:
 a name of the first document;   a role of the user with respect to the first document;   a number of notifications in the first document relevant to the user;   a number of action items in the first document relevant to the user;   a type of the first document; and   a timestamp indicating when the first document was most recently updated.   
     
     
         18 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein each document includes one or more configurable parameters to limit visibility of team information by opposing teams. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the platform automatically logs time spent reviewing and editing documents, and the time logged generates expense entries according to duration of time and individual user billing rates; and
 wherein the graphical user interface includes a window for reviewing expense entries according to team membership of users.   
     
     
         20 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the database stores a print log, which tracks each time a portion of a document is printed, including who initiated printing the document, which printer was invoked to print the document, and what portion of the document was printed; and
 wherein the graphical user interface includes a window for reviewing the print log according to team membership of users reviewing the print log.