System and method for legal document authoring and electronic court filing

1. A method for receiving and processing a claim file and authoring and electronically filing a legal document for a legal action in a court, comprising the steps of:

(A) electronically receiving the claim file in electronic form wherein the claim file includes a plurality of data fields in a native format;

(B) mapping, using an electronic processor, one or more of the data fields from the native format to a desired format different from the native format to form a modified claim file;

(C) selecting a court, using the processor, at least in part on data included in the modified claim file and predetermined court selection criteria;

(D) generating, using the processor, a legal document in electronic form configured for electronic filing in the selected court and which is compliant with requirements of the selected court, using data in the modified claim file and predetermined filing requirements data associated with the selected court; and

(E) electronically filing the generated legal document in the selected court.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of receiving a claim file includes the sub-steps of:

presenting a user interface configured to solicit claim data from a user;

capturing the claim data through the user interface; and

storing the claim data in the claim file.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of receiving a claim file includes the sub-step of:

configuring a direct interface to receive claim data from a remote system; and

storing claim data in the claim file.

4. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

establishing the claim file so as to include a first plurality of fields corresponding to party information and a second plurality of fields corresponding to claim information, said party information including at least one from the group comprising a plaintiff name, a plaintiff address, a defendant/debtor name, a defendant/debtor address, assignee name and assignee address and wherein said claim information includes at least one from the group comprising a creditor name, a creditor address, a debt type, an account type, an account identification number, a principal balance, an interest balance, payment history information and a last payment date.

5. The method of claim 4 further including the step of:

associating with the claim file one or more supporting documents selected from the group comprising a contract, a credit application, an account statement, an account summary and a legal notice.

6. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

validating a legal claim based on at least on data in the modified claim file and predetermined rules and documentation requirements associated with the selected court.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of selecting a court includes the sub-steps of:

defining selection rules for selection of a court; and

identifying the selected court from a list of candidate courts using the selection rules and data included in the modified claim file.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of generating a legal document includes the sub-steps of:

retrieving predetermined document requirements associated with the selected court; and

producing the legal document using at least the data in the modified claim file and the retrieved document requirements.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said sub-step of producing the legal document includes the sub-step of producing the legal document in accordance with a LegalXML standard.

10. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

determining a fee for the selected court for electronically filing the generated legal document; and

facilitating settlement of the determined filing fee by a filer of the legal document.

11. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

receiving at least one item of information from the selected court as a result of the filing of the generated legal document; and

storing the received item of information.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the at least one item of information is selected from the group comprising a filing acknowledgement, a case identification number, an identification of an assigned judge and a hearing date, and wherein said method further includes the step of:

posting the at least one item of information for availability to an authenticated user.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the generated legal document initiates or is associated with a case before the selected court, said method further including the step of:

monitoring the status of the case and posting a further item of information.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

selecting the legal action from the group comprising a collection action, a bankruptcy action and a probate action.

15. A system for receiving and processing a claim file and authoring and electronically filing a legal document for a legal action in a court, comprising:

an interface configured to electronically receive the claim file in electronic form wherein the claim file includes a plurality of data fields in a native format;

a mapping module configured to be executed on an electronic processor, said mapping module being configured to map one or more of the fields of the claim file from the native format to a desired format different from the native format to form a modified claim file;

a rules block configured to be executed on the processor and further configured to select a court based on data included in the modified claim file and predetermined court selection criteria;

a legal document authoring block configured to be executed on the processor and configured to produce a legal document in electronic form configured for electronic filing in the selected court using the modified claim file and predetermined filing requirements data associated with the selected court; and

a court filing block configured to be executed on the processor and configured to electronically file the generated legal document in the selected court.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

means for validating a legal claim based on at least the modified claim file and predetermined rules and documentation requirements associated with the selected court.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein said legal document authoring block is further configured to produce the legal document in accordance with a LegalXML standard.

18. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

means for settling a fee for the selected court for electronically filing the legal document.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the generated legal document initiates or is associated with a case before the selected court, further comprising:

means for retrieving transactions associated with the case.

20. A method for receiving and processing one or more claim files and authoring and electronically filing legal documents associated with legal actions, comprising the steps of:

(A) electronically receiving at a system interface a first claim file in electronic form from a first entity wherein the first claim file includes a first source data element having a first format;

(B) electronically receiving at the system interface a second claim file in electronic form from a second entity different from the first entity, wherein the second claim file includes a second source data element having a second format different from the first format;

(C) mapping, using a processor, the first and second source data elements into first and second destination data elements conforming to a desired format to form first and second modified claim files;

(D) selecting, using the processor, first and second courts, based respectively on data included in the first and second modified claim files and predetermined court selection criteria;

(E) generating, using the processor, at least first and second legal documents in electronic form, respectively configured for electronic filing in the first and second courts and which are compliant with requirements of the first and second courts, said generating step using the first and second modified claim files and predetermined requirement data associated with the first and second courts; and

(F) electronically filing the first and second legal documents respectively in the first and second courts to thereby institute legal actions in each court.

21. The method of claim 20 further including the step of obtaining a third claim file that includes the sub-steps of:

presenting a user interface configured to solicit claim data from a user;

capturing the claim data through the user interface; and

storing the claim data in the third claim file.

22. The method of claim 20 further including the step of:

establishing the first claim file so as to include a first plurality of fields corresponding to the first party information portion and a second plurality of fields corresponding to the first claim information portion, said first party information including at least one from the group comprising a plaintiff name, a plaintiff address, a defendant/debtor name, a defendant/debtor address, assignee name and assignee address and wherein said first claim information portion includes at least one from the group comprising a creditor name, a creditor address, a debt type, an account type, an account identification number, a principal balance, an interest balance, payment history information and a last payment date.

23. The method of claim 22 further including the step of:

associating with the first claim file one or more supporting documents selected from the group comprising a contract, a credit application, an account statement, an account summary and a legal notice.

24. The method of claim 20 further including the step of:

validating a legal claim based on data included in the first modified claim file and predetermined rules and documentation requirements associated with the selected first court.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein said step of selecting a first court includes the sub-steps of:

defining selection rules for selection of the first court; and

identifying the selected first court from a list of a plurality of candidate courts using the selection rules and data included in the first claim file.

26. The method of claim 20 wherein said step of generating a first legal document includes the sub-steps of:

retrieving predetermined document requirements associated with the selected first court; and

producing the first legal document using at least the first claim file and the retrieved document requirements.

27. The method of claim 20 wherein the generated first legal document initiates or is associated with a case before the selected first court, said method further including the step of:

monitoring the status of the case and posting a further item of information.

28. The method of claim 20 further comprising the step of:

selecting the legal action from the group comprising a collection action, a bankruptcy action and a probate action.