Courtroom5

Courtroom5 operates a digital case-management and litigation platform for people handling civil lawsuits in U.S. state and federal courts without a lawyer. Its core product, the LAW Accelerator, organizes self-representation into a structured workflow: mapping facts to the legal elements of claims and defenses, tracking where a case stands procedurally, drafting court filings supported by jurisdictional case law, and rehearsing oral argument in a simulated hearing. The platform is organized into four components — Proof (element-to-evidence case analysis, fact extraction from documents, trial notebook generation), Strategy (uploading and summarizing filings, assessing procedural options), Documents (formatted filings with exhibits downloadable as PDF or DOCX, AI editing, case law search and briefing), and Community (a member forum, courses, and office hours).

The company positions the product against both hiring counsel and using general-purpose AI tools, citing sanctions courts have imposed for filings containing fabricated AI-generated citations. Earlier descriptions of the service characterize it as a case-management platform delivering just-in-time legal information, document templates, searchable case law, topic training, and peer support, with an AI assistant named Sylvia built on Google Cloud that assesses case progress. The platform covers 140+ U.S. state, federal and territory jurisdictions.

Founding story

Co-founders Sonja Ebron, a PhD electrical engineer with a background in utilities and artificial intelligence, and Debra Slone, a PhD librarian and former library school professor specializing in qualitative data analysis, are married and built the company out of their own experience litigating pro se in North Carolina civil courts after being unable to afford lawyers. Ebron's opponent hired three law firms over three years before meeting her settlement demands and dismissing the case; in one of Slone's cases, a grant of summary judgment against her was reversed on appeal, after which the judge recused himself. Observing pro se plaintiffs routinely lose on procedural grounds, they set out to package what they had learned, adopting the motto "for pro se litigants by pro se litigants."

Business model

Consumer subscription and usage-based software. Access begins with a $1 entry offer for the first 100 credits; users can then buy credits pay-as-you-go at $0.15 per credit with a $30 (200-credit) minimum, or subscribe at $99 per month for 1,000 credits at under $0.10 each, with credits that do not expire and no commitment. Credits are consumed only by the Proof, Strategy, and Documents tools; case setup, community access, questions, office hours, courses, and document downloads are included at no extra cost. An enterprise pricing tier is offered for legal service providers. Earlier coverage described a $75 monthly subscription.

Direct-to-consumer subscriptions and prepaid credit purchases for AI-assisted case analysis and document generation, plus an enterprise plan for legal service providers.

Traction

Company materials report 12,000+ people served, 250,000+ documents prepared for filing on the platform, coverage of 140+ U.S. state, federal and territory jurisdictions, and that 73% of members who resolve their cases win or settle. Startup profile coverage states the platform has served thousands of self-represented litigants in all 50 states and most of the 94 U.S. district courts, and reported total capital raised of $1.28M as of February 2024 with 9 employees as of June 2024.

Latest developments

The current offering is the LAW Accelerator, a credit-based litigation toolkit with Proof, Strategy, Documents and Community modules, a $1 entry offer, pay-as-you-go credits at $0.15 and a $99/month plan with 1,000 credits, plus an enterprise tier for legal service providers.