September 1, 2018

Beyond Emojis: The App that Turns Feelings Into Damages Data

From LAW.COM

Plaintiffs attorneys are getting a boost in helping clients chronicle their emotions and it comes in the form of an app. That app is Damages Genie™, which it allows clients to report noneconomic damages and attorneys to analyze the resulting data. The attorney’s dashboard allows the lawyer to sift through the plaintiff’s inputs, and render them into graphs and visual representations to be prepared for court use.

Sounds standard enough, right? But it’s the plaintiffs app dashboard that’s more unique. In answering routine prompts of how they feel, users respond from a set of emojis demonstrating normal, neutral, or bad. if a use clicks “bad,” they’re prompted for further descriptors, the language for which is taken from jury instruction, simplifying attorney analysis and application down the road.

The mastermind behind this rather niche legal tech is Genie Harrison, a LA-Based plaintiffs attorney who made a name for herself in employment and sexual harassment cases. She tells me that up until now, “We haven’t had a comprehensive technology-based solution for capturing the experiences the client is going through, and being able to manage that and then work intuitively as the attorney with that information.”

The app foes a bit further though in chronicling plaintiffs experiences. It has a journal function, where a client can either type or dictate “anecdotes.” The value there, Harrison says, is so she can more easily demonstrate for the decision-makers in a case just what a plaintiff is experiencing. The app can also be a bit of a nag about keeping users interested — in a good way. It’ll shoot reminders via smartphone or any other mobile device to remind users to keep logging their feelings.

Takeaway: Maybe it’s not a game-changer, but this is a pretty unique tool in the legal tech market. It could also prove pretty helpful for plaintiffs attorneys looking to build their case, and maybe even appeal to more clients.