Texas Law Firm Uses Westbrook Fortis To Go Paperless
Peterson Law Group's use of technology is a competitive advantage
Westbrook Technologies, developer of Fortis and FortisBlue enterprise document management (EDM) software, recently announced that Peterson Law Group has implemented Fortis as part of a successful technology strategy that includes a virtual law office, a Web-based practice management system and extensive use of social media.
Peterson Law Group, with offices in Bryan and Conroe, Texas, handles business, family, and real estate law, plus estate planning. "When the firm was established in 2008, we knew we wanted to convert our attorneys' existing records and go to a paperless office system, but we weren't sure of the best way to do it," said Chris Peterson, a principal with the firm.
Peterson worked with AgniTEK, a Westbrook reseller based in College Station, Texas. "The consultants at AgniTEK suggested Fortis because they thought it was good fit for us. The price point was a lot better than some of the other software we were looking at and Fortis has the functionality we need," Peterson said.
"Our goal was to speed up retrieval with full text indexing and OCR capabilities, and provide a safety net to prevent misfiling documents," he explained. Email is the most common form of communication that is archived into Fortis using a "send to Fortis" button from the Microsoft Outlook interface. Peterson Law Group has stored more than 500,000 documents in Fortis to date. They also archive accounts payable, human resources and tax information.
For disaster recovery, Peterson Law Group uses Fortis in combination with on- and off-site network backup. "The attorneys in the Gulf coast all learned from hurricanes Katrina and Ike about what happens if your office is closed by a natural disaster," Peterson said. "If something were to happen, we would be up and running in a matter of a few hours without losing anything. Our use of technology is a differentiating factor for the firm. When you've practiced law the old way, and then you start practicing law using technology and automation, you notice a huge difference."
"Law firms find that implementing document management minimizes the risks associated with misfiling or losing critical documents," said Einar Haukeland, president and CEO of Westbrook. "Fortis helps firms like Peterson Law Group get control over documents and automate processes so that administrative and legal staff can focus on client needs."
About Peterson Law Group
Peterson Law Group was founded in 2008 by Chris Peterson. Their attorneys have experience in not only effective negotiation, but also trial litigation at the state and federal level. Peterson Law Group successfully handles complex cases dealing with business law, family law, probate, estate planning and real estate law. The firm represents clients in Brazos County, Montgomery County, Grimes County, Burleson County, Robertson County, Madison County and throughout southeast Texas. For more information, visit www.brazoslawyers.com.
About Westbrook Technologies
Westbrook Technologies provides document management software to businesses of all sizes, from departmental to enterprise-wide implementations, and across every vertical market. The Company is the developer of Fortis document management software, in use at thousands of customer sites worldwide, to capture, index, store and retrieve critical information from anywhere – instantly and securely. Its new FortisBlue product line is a Rich Internet Application easily accessible from most Internet browsers. For more information, visit www.westbrooktech.com.
About AgniTEK
AgniTEK is a leading Texas provider of IT services to small/medium business and non-profit organizations throughout the state of Texas. The company is nationally-recognized for expertise in helping organizations use technology to improve business processes, communication, and collaboration. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, AgniTEK is amongst the top 1.5% of all Microsoft partners in the world as measured by technical competency, certification and customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.agnitek.com.
SOURCE: Westbrook Technologies