The problem
Every divorce needs the same pile of financial documents from the client: tax returns, pay stubs, bank, credit card and retirement statements, and more. They arrive by email, text and paper, half-labeled and incomplete. If a firm opens 8 divorce matters a month and a paralegal spends 5 hours on each sending lists, sorting attachments and chasing gaps, that's 40 hours a month.
What the AI does
PracticePanther's Business plan adds intake forms, and every plan has a secure client portal where, PracticePanther says, clients can view updates, upload documents and message the team. Each new divorce client gets a form that asks which accounts, employers, retirement plans and properties they have, and the answers become a matter-specific checklist. The client uploads each document to the portal instead of emailing it. The paralegal checks each upload against the checklist and the state's disclosure requirements, such as Colorado's mandatory disclosure rule (C.R.C.P. 16.2), and messages the client about what's missing. The attorney decides what is produced to the other side, and any disclosure deadline lives in the case calendar first, not in the portal.
A worked example
A family law firm in Denver with two attorneys and one paralegal opens about 8 divorce matters a month. It moves to PracticePanther Business for all three, sends a disclosure form and portal invitation with every engagement letter, and the paralegal reviews uploads twice a week.
Before
5 hours a matter on lists, attachments and chasing: 40 hours a month
After
About 2.5 hours a matter checking uploads and messaging about gaps: 20 hours a month
What it's worth
About $700£526€626A$1,011C$989 a month of paralegal time, against $267£201€239A$385C$377 for three Business seats. Saving 2.5 hours on each of 8 matters is 20 hours, at an assumed $35£26€31A$51C$49 an hour. Business is $89£67€80A$128C$126 per user a month billed annually or $99£74€89A$143C$140 monthly; if the firm already runs on PracticePanther Business there is no extra cost.
How to set it up
- Turn the state's disclosure list (in Colorado, the C.R.C.P. 16.2 mandatory disclosures) into an intake form that asks which accounts, employers and properties the client has.
- Send the form and a portal invitation with the signed engagement letter, with a one-page guide to uploading from a phone.
- Name and file each upload in the matter, tick it off the checklist and message the client about anything missing or out of date.
- Record every disclosure and response deadline in the case calendar first, with an attorney's check, and treat portal messages only as reminders to the client.
- Have the attorney review the full set before anything is produced to opposing counsel.
What goes wrong
- Clients sometimes upload the other spouse's documents, or ones taken from a shared account without permission. Have the attorney decide what can be used and produced.
- Portal reminders can go unread or land in spam. They don't replace a call when a disclosure deadline is close, and the case calendar is the record of the deadline.
- Intake forms and two-way texting are on Business, not Solo or Essential. PracticePanther is priced per user, so each additional staff member adds $89£67€80A$128C$126 a month billed annually.
- Financial records are client confidences under the state bar's rules. Use the portal, not personal email or text attachments, and limit who in the firm can see each matter.