CARMEL, Ind. (WRTV) — Mike Estridge, a divorced Carmel father, is the CEO and founder of Parency—a software company aimed at streamlining the legal process of divorce.

“I really founded it out of personal experience,” said Mike Estridge. “I went through a divorce a few years back, and people get divorced for a reason.”

Estridge said the court-ordered apps to communicate with his ex were clunky and frustrating to use.

“There was nothing that, that I felt like was centrally focused around the welfare of my children,” said Estridge.

He started researching, and after speaking with divorce attorneys, something stood out.

“Probably 50 to 60 percent of their time in family law is spent in the documentation space, going through documents, looking for the needle in the haystack, trying to find the few hundred dollars that were, that was spent inappropriately,” said Estridge.

Parency already has a web-based app for lawyers that uses AI tools aimed at cutting document reviewing time in half.

“That gives them so much time back in their day so they can better serve with higher value service,” said Estridge.

Estridge’s technology could help the state’s attorney shortage because family lawyers can take on more cases and clients.

Currently, Indiana is well below the national average with 2 lawyers per 1,000 residents, compared to the national average of 4 attorneys per 1,000 residents.

More than half of Indiana counties, or 49, are considered a “legal desert,” which is when a county has less than 1 lawyer for every 1,000 residents.

“I hadn’t thought about it, about it being a solution to a statewide problem, but I certainly think it’s a solution to a national problem,” said Estridge.

Estridge is working on a mobile app for parents that will pair with the Parency legal app, and it’s expected to be released later this summer.

“I’m able to build something that, as a parent, is going to help my life, and I feel, and I know that I’m not the only one,” said Estridge.

He says his ultimate goal is to make divorce better for kids.

“We think we’re kind of serving the better good here,” said Estridge.

Indiana’s I-Team found the lawyer shortage means court cases drag on, people spend time in jail longer than they should, and delayed justice costs taxpayers.

The Indiana State Bar Association is working on solutions, including launching a Rural Practice Academy this summer, which will help attorneys open their own offices in legal deserts.

Another solution in the works is creating pathways for online law schools and their graduates.

Rural Indiana is special, but it’s also the hardest hit by the state’s attorney shortage. (Brad Forestal)