Filing for divorce is complicated. Aside from the emotional strain, there are also the mountains of paperwork, division of assets and lawyer fees to worry about.
This isn’t a rare problem either. According to the most recent figures from Statistics Canada from 2008, nearly half of all marriages in Canada end in divorce.
Enter Miralaw, a Centretown-based legal technology firm. On Feb. 18, CEO Samuel Witherspoon launched Thistoo, a web-app that people can purchase to assist them when finalizing their divorce.
It uses sophisticated analytical artificial intelligence (AI) to help divorcing couples organize and draft documents, and will also generate a separation agreement based on their specific information. There is also a 24/7 help centre.
The average cost of an uncontested divorce in Ontario is $1,217 — and $8,747 for a contested divorce, according to a Canadian Lawyers 2015 legal fees survey. Comparing that with Thistoo’s highest price of $199, the app’s attractiveness becomes obvious.
“I think Thistoo represents a major leap forward,” says Witherspoon. “There is a massive gap between people who can afford legal services and those that are eligible for legal aid. We set out to help these people”.
This also helps make the process easier to handle for those who choose to self-represent.
Witherspoon says that Miralaw is the first company in the world to be using AI as a means of assisting a legal process.
“Thistoo” came from the “this too shall pass” philosophy. Divorce is hard enough for people to deal with, says Witherspoon, so they aim to make it that much easier by eliminating the administrative side of it.
He is also planning to release a second feature in the upcoming weeks.
Using a client’s personal information, the app will compare that individual’s situation with past cases to determine the chance of success if his or her partner chooses to fight the divorce.
Witherspoon said that there is about an 80-per-cent accuracy rate.
Though Witherspoon emphasized that this is merely a prediction – not legal advice.
For now, the app is most useful if the divorce is uncontested.
Family lawyer Barbara Thompson of Thompson Summers Family Law in Centretown said the app is too new to determine its value.
But even if it proves useful, she says an individual facing divorce “would be smarter to at least have a preliminary meeting with a lawyer” before putting absolute faith in the app.
She also says lot of important information can only be generated by speaking with a client in person. For example, the client may not realize something is relevant.
“It never ceases to amaze me what comes out over time that people don’t think is important,” she says.
Giulianna Ferri, another Centretown family lawyer from Delaney’s Law Firm at ottawalawyer.com, says there are many factors that can complicate a divorce.
“I think (Thistoo) would be good for simple, uncontested divorces where there are no major financial issues, and no children involved,” says Ferri
However, Witherspoon doesn’t hide this fact. He says his company will refer its clients to lawyers if their cases are too complex. The app, he acknowledges, is meant for the simpler, agreed-upon divorces. It will not phase out lawyers any time soon, nor does it intend to, he adds. In fact, he says this app will allow lawyers to better devote their time to more complex cases.
“The truth of the matter is, the cases that I see are the dramatic, contested ones because a lot of people do this without a lawyer,” says Ferri.
Sonja Pettingill has been divorced twice. She says the main function of the app would not have suited her complicated divorce, but is optimistic about the second one which would determine the chance of success.
“I would have happily bought the app. I could have come to a conclusion more quickly. I would’ve known my next move,” she says.
The app is currently only available in Ontario, but Witherspoon intends to expand it throughout Canada, as well as the U.S. within a few weeks and the U.K. within the next year.