The problem
In a divorce with contested finances, someone has to turn a year or two of bank and credit card statements into a spreadsheet to build the inventory and spot unusual spending, transfers or cash withdrawals. If a firm has 2 such matters a month and a paralegal spends 12 hours on each typing and sorting transactions, that's 24 hours a month.
What the AI does
DocuClipper converts PDF bank statements into Excel or CSV files and sorts transactions into categories automatically, with unlimited users on every plan. The paralegal uploads the statements the client produced or the other side disclosed, downloads one spreadsheet per account, and checks each statement's opening and closing balance against the converted totals. The attorney then reviews the sorted transactions for transfers, large cash withdrawals and spending that may matter to the division of property, such as for the Texas sworn inventory and appraisement. DocuClipper's Business plan adds cash flow and flow of funds analysis; on Starter the paralegal sorts and filters the spreadsheet. DocuClipper says it is SOC 2 Type II certified and doesn't use documents to train third-party AI models. The software converts; the attorney decides what any pattern means.
A worked example
An illustrative example built from typical figures, not a named business.
A three-attorney family law firm in Dallas has about 2 divorces a month where spending is disputed, each with 3 accounts and 12 months of statements, about 280 pages a month in all. It uses DocuClipper Starter at 300 pages, billed annually.
Before
12 hours a matter typing and sorting transactions: 24 hours a month
After
About 3 hours a matter checking totals and reviewing the sorted file: 6 hours a month
What it's worth
About $630£474€564A$909C$891 a month of paralegal time, against a $55£41€49A$79C$78 cost. Saving 9 hours on each of 2 matters is 18 hours, at an assumed $35£26€31A$51C$49 an hour. Starter at 300 pages is $55.30£41.58€49.48A$79.83C$78.17 a month billed annually or $79£59€71A$114C$112 monthly; at 640 pages, Business is $111.30£83.68€99.58A$160.67C$157.33 billed annually and adds flow of funds analysis.
How to set it up
- Count the pages you convert in a typical month and pick the page tier that covers it, since unused pages don't carry over.
- Upload only statements for the matter at hand, converted from the PDFs the bank issued where possible rather than phone photos.
- Check every converted statement's opening and closing balance against the PDF before using the spreadsheet.
- Have the attorney review the sorted transactions and decide what goes into the inventory or a dissipation argument.
- Delete the uploaded documents from DocuClipper when the matter closes, in line with the firm's file retention policy.
What goes wrong
- Scanned or photographed statements can convert with wrong figures. The balance check catches most errors; skip it and a wrong total can end up in a sworn document.
- Automatic categories are a starting point. A transfer to a savings account and a payment to a new partner can look alike, so a person reviews every flagged item.
- Pages are counted per month on each tier; a big case with two years of statements can push you into the next tier or Business.
- Statements are client confidences under the state bar's rules. Use a firm account with a strong password, limit who can log in and keep the downloaded spreadsheets in the matter file.