Founded by Craig Rittling, Henlie, Inc. develops social networking and mobile applications. Its first product - PettyCourt - is a social networking application that gives people a chance to argue and settle simple disputes in a virtual courtroom. Henlie, Inc. is a New York state registered corporation headquartered in the SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator with operations in Buffalo.
PettyCourt is a social networking application and first of its kind web-based judiciary system that gives its players a fair and impartial forum upon which to file a petty claim. Trivial cases will be heard and decided upon by a fair and impartial judge or panel of judges made up of either a random panel of participants or 'gamers' who compete for the top spot of Supreme Court Justice. PettyCourt will be a dispute resolution tool for friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and any potential antagonist in-between.
The dispute follows actual court proceedings beginning with the complaint, opening argument, a brief litigation process, closing summation, deliberation, and ultimately a verdict. The cases filed in PettyCourt are minor civil disputes that may not necessarily be feasible to file in small claims court or with an arbitrator, but require a resolution between two opposing parties who agree to let the members decide who should be considered "right" in the matter.
In 2006 there were over 16 million civil lawsuits filed in the United States, each seeking legal or equitable remedy. Depending on the type of lawsuit filed, it can cost as little as $50 to thousands of dollars in legal fees and filing charges. Because of the time and money involved in filing a formal lawsuit or dispute with the courts, it is unfeasible for a party to try and seek a nominal remedy or just simply vindication. PettyCourt will fill the void between doing nothing and filing a lawsuit in small claims court, allowing a person who can't sleep to seek remedy from an inconsiderate neighbor who leaves the barking dog out all night, to a broken up couple fighting over who gets to keep the pet.
PettyCourt is a first-of-its-kind social networking application that will launch simultaneously as a stand-alone website (www.PettyCourt.com) and Facebook application with exposure to approximately 170 million U.S. Facebook members. With the tagline "Resolve the debate- litigate," The platform of PettyCourt will be the catalyst for future market segments. In addition to PettyCourt, the company plans to release three more applications in the next 12 months.
