PartUs: Cloud-based application eases divorce process
By Krista L. Andrews
Like so many other divorce attorneys, I spend a large percentage of my time helping clients navigate the overwhelming and stressful legal process. Perhaps the worst parts of the process are the time and expense associated with gathering, organizing, and updating client financial information, and exchanging that information with opposing counsel. Specifically:
1. Clients need to gather all their financial information, and then deliver it to their attorney by either hard copy, email, or fax.
2. Attorneys then need to gather, assemble, and maintain the financial information throughout the divorce process. 3. As financial information changes throughout the divorce, attorneys need to update that information.
4. Each attorney and their client create an inventory of the marital estate. The inventory created by each party inevitably varies by: the order in which the assets and debts are listed, how they are categorized, and how they are described. Hours are spent in settlement discussions and mediation simply trying to reconcile the parties’ financial information.
5. When the value of an asset or debt is listed on the inventory, verification of the value is required. The attorney then needs to find the paper or electronic copy that supports the value and provide it to the opposing party.
6. When settlement offers are made, they are difficult to track and organize due to the various mediums in which they were conveyed: emails, letters, hard copies, verbal offers, etc. No streamlined history of the settlement proposals exist, and it is time consuming for attorneys to review settlement history.
For years, I have felt there has to be a better way. When I realized there wasn’ t, I sought the assistance of Tim Brookins, a distinguished engineer at Microsoft, to create one myself.
Together, Tim and I created PartUs, a cloud-based application that brings the divorce process into the 21st century. PartUs contains the following features:
1. Organize. PartUs enables clients, attorneys, and staff to upload and organize financial information more efficiently than other existing platforms. Documents can also be attached to support the financial information that is entered. For example, a mortgage statement can be attached to support the debt on a home and a Kelly Blue book statement can be attached to support the value of a vehicle.
2. Share. As information is uploaded in PartUs, it can be viewed immediately by the individuals on the“ team;” i. e., attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, and any other individuals the client wants to add such as accountants, financial advisors, or even trusted family members.
3. Publish and Negotiate. When ready, PartUs allows attorneys to publish a proposed financial settlement( along with the supporting documents) to an opposing party or attorney, who is securely“ linked” to the case.“ Attorney 2” can then review the proposal and“ copy” it for his or her own utilization. This ensures the proposal from“ Attorney 1” remains intact, and at the same time allows“ Attorney 2” to make desired changes to its copy of the proposal without starting from scratch. Finally, attorneys can work from a common assets and debt list, so everyone is on the same page. When“ Attorney 2” is ready, he or she can publish the counterproposal to“ Attorney 1.” PartUs allows attorneys to publish back and forth as often as they need or want. Note also that, although attorneys are securely“ linked” on a case, they cannot view each other’ s edits until a proposal is“ published.”
4. Track. When two or more proposals have been made, PartUs contains a“ history tracker,” allowing attorneys and clients to view the entire negotiation history, complete with any changes that were made throughout the case history.
A 60-second video demonstration of PartUs can be viewed at www. partus. com. The North Dakota Supreme Court mediators were trained on the software in October 2017, and the North Dakota Judges in November 2017. We were also an official sponsor of the 2017 American Bar Association Family Law Conference in Vail, Colo., where we launched the software on a national stage. We currently have almost 1,000 users in 15 states. Any attorney licensed in the state of North Dakota may use the software free through 2018 by going to www. partus. com and signing up.
Founded in October 2016 by Krista Andrews and Tim Brookins, PartUs is a business entity in Fargo, N. D. Andrews, an attorney licensed to practice law in North Dakota and Minnesota, works as a family law mediator and collaborative law professional. She saw a need to streamline the divorce process, which is why she partnered with Tim Brookins. With more than 20 years of software development experience with some of the top names in tech, Brookins is well versed in all aspects of modern software development.
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