A new start-up is aiming to help individuals who are being sued, including by debt collectors, but who are not able to hire an attorney to represent themselves in court.
The company, Courtroom5, has attracted attention from start-up investors and accelerators and claims to help seven out of every 10 customers settle or win their cases. Offering tips and courses to help walk individuals through the process of representing themselves in civil court matters, the company recently raised $120,000 from a Tech Stars accelerator in Kansas City and is seeking more investors to help it grow, according to a published report.
The founders of the company said the start-up service could be in even greater demand as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with millions of people out of work and facing mounting debts.
Most individuals who are sued for unpaid debts either are unable to afford an attorney, choose not to have one, or do not realize they can be represented, if they show up for the hearing at all. Only 26% of individuals who were sued for an unpaid debt showed up for their hearing, according to a report that was released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2017.
“People are very intimidated when they go to see a lawyer, or when they go to see a judge. But civil procedure is just about what information they are asking,” said Sonja Ebron, who with Debra Slone founded Courtroom5.. ” … We give that information to help them answer that question and choose from a limited set of options.”
Along with winning an investment from Tech Stars, the start-up won a pitch competition at the 2019 Black Founders Exchange, which was sponsored by Google, and has participated in the Duke Law Tech Lab program and the LexisNexis Legal Tech Accelerator.
