Each year, millions of civilians—non-lawyers, that is—represent themselves in civil court, because they’re not poor enough to merit free legal aid and not sufficiently affluent to afford attorney fees. Of course, the other side typically has legal representation. And that puts those civilians struggling to navigate the system at a severe disadvantage. “It means that middle-class people end up being shut out of the process,” says Sonja Ebron.
That’s why, in 2019, she and co-founder—and wife—Debra Slone launched Courtroom5. Its platform provides a five-step process that allows users to hire lawyers able to help with limited portions of their case, thereby creating a more affordable system.