Paul Bridgewater Remains on the Board of Directors
Dallas, TX – February 10, 2025 – Centerbase, a leading provider of legal practice management software, is pleased to appoint Michael Dunn as its new Chief Executive Officer. Dunn will also serve on the Centerbase Board of Directors. Paul Bridgewater, the company’s current CEO and President, will remain on the Board of Directors, ensuring continuity and strategic oversight as the company enters its next growth phase.
Dunn brings more than 20 years of experience in technology and software leadership, with a proven track record of driving growth and innovation. Most recently, he served as CEO of ResMan, LLC, a leading property management SaaS platform, where he spearheaded platform modernization and innovation. Under his leadership at ResMan, the company experienced growth in revenue and profitability while also increasing the number of properties that ran on ResMan, produced historically high product and support NPS scores from customers, and established ResMan as a leader in the mid-market software industry for multi-family operators.
Prior to his role as ResMan’s CEO, Dunn led product and technology as the CTO and GM of Payments at ResMan, CTO and GM at Stack Sports, and CTO roles at both Match.com and Dex Media. In addition to his executive roles, Dunn has served on multiple boards, including several within the Mainsail Partners portfolio.
Bridgewater’s transition from an operating role to the Board-only marks a pivotal moment for Centerbase. Under his leadership, the company more than doubled its revenue, strengthened its product innovation and technology infrastructure, and built a high-performing go-to-market strategy. His continued involvement will provide valuable strategic direction as Centerbase continues its expansion.
"We’re excited to welcome Michael to Centerbase and grateful to Paul for leading the company to its current state of growth and industry leadership," said Taylor McKinley, Partner at Mainsail Partners and Centerbase Board member. "Having worked with Michael at ResMan, we know his leadership and customer-focused approach."
Dunn shared his enthusiasm: "I’m honored to join Centerbase at such an exciting time. The legal industry is evolving rapidly, and Centerbase is well-positioned to help law firms grow and succeed like never before. I look forward to working with our talented team to deliver exceptional value and innovation for our customers, and just as importantly, to partnering with our customers to strengthen their ability to utilize Centerbase as the technology foundation of their law firms."
About Centerbase
Centerbase provides cloud-based legal software that centralizes all aspects of law firm management, including billing, accounting, timekeeping, matter and document management, automated workflows, and profitability reporting. Designed for mid-size law firms, Centerbase helps firms modernize operations, optimize productivity, and improve client service. For more information, visit centerbase.com.
Modernizing your law practice management software is an enticing — and strategic — end goal. Whether that means moving your firm’s data from a server to the cloud or upgrading to an all-in-one law firm management and growth platform, you can significantly enhance efficiency and client service with modern software.
But all the features within law firm management platforms mean nothing if you find yourself questioning the accuracy of your firm’s data. Christopher Holmes, Chief Operating Officer at Hackett Feinberg P.C., knows this reality all too well.
Modernizing law practice management
In 2020, Chris led the charge to modernize his firm’s operations. A long-time user of Timeslips, Hackett Feinberg was eager to upgrade from an on-premise server to a cloud-based solution.
The firm decided on practice management software that seemed to fit the bill, as it offered the integrated practice management documents, email, and accounting capabilities Chris and his team wanted.
“The goal in moving to that system was to have a modern platform that would better serve our clients, be user friendly, and improve our firm’s efficiency,” he says.
When your legal software’s data integrity fails
After three years with the software, Hackett Feinberg learned its limitations. Primarily, the firm encountered data integrity issues in its accounting, where a deposit would have a date different from other deposits made the same day, throwing off the firm’s bank records.
In other instances, the system showed that clients’ payments were due, even though they had been paid.
“These issues were alarming, and they made us wonder what we might be missing,” Chris says.
The firm recognized other limitations, too, namely a lack of robust, customizable, user-friendly reporting.
“The reporting dashboards were not useful,” Chris says. “They were templates that couldn’t be customized, weren’t based on user roles, and they didn’t have proper user-based restrictions.”
Converting to Centerbase’s law practice management platform
Eventually, it was time to explore other options.
“I got a demo of Centerbase and saw the difference immediately,” Chris says.
Centerbase’s advanced reporting and customizability now give Chris the information he needs.
“I love that I can customize our dashboards by user roles, so we can have a managing partner dashboard, a new associate dashboard, etc., with information that’s relevant to them, and they can do what they need to,” he explains.
He especially appreciates not having to enter data and calculate compensation manually, thanks to Centerbase’s Production and Origination report. “I can let attorneys know their compensation on a daily basis if I need to,” Chris says.
Prioritizing data integrity during implementation
Chris particularly appreciated Centerbase’s focus on data integrity during the onboarding and implementation process.
Centerbase has been in communication with us during the entire data conversion process, working with us to overcome the limitations of the data available from our prior software.
Christopher Holmes, COO, Hackett Feinberg
Centerbase’s proprietary implementation methods deliver accurate data imports by mapping and validating the firm’s data, ensuring it is accurate, organized, configured to fit the firm’s needs, and ready to use on day one.
Chris also likes that his team has an organized implementation process to follow with clear expectations, accountability, and target dates for completing tasks. Additionally, thorough live and online training give them the support they need.
“I’ve been part of software conversions before with larger law firms, and Centerbase’s implementation process brings back those previous positive experiences. The Centerbase team has been great and very helpful. They are magicians,” Chris says.
Many law firms have relied on PCLaw for years, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that this aging software falls short of meeting the evolving needs of modern law practices. PCLaw is sunsetting and won’t be migrating to the cloud, and this summer, the company suggested that users should transition to another solution, LEAP, a solution that offers automated legal forms, document management, and legal trust accounting tools. The problem is, even that solution falls short of the cutting-edge practice management technology law firms need to remain productive and competitive.
So, let’s take a look at the considerations of staying with PCLaw and transitioning to LEAP and why choosing a new solution — Centerbase — could be the right move.
What are the drawbacks of using PCLaw?
There are multiple pain points that PCLaw users have experienced over the years — ones that a move to LEAP can’t solve, but a more advanced legal practice management solution could.
Unreliable database: Frequent crashes and system instability have been common complaints from law firms. Users have consistently reported database corruption problems, causing frustration and potential data loss. Even after transitioning to a SQL version of the software, PCLaw has struggled to provide the stable platform that law firms require.
Outdated user interface: PCLaw’s interface feels like a relic from another era. It primarily focuses on timekeeping and lacks the modern features that law firms need to stay competitive.
No mobile app: In an era where mobility is crucial, PCLaw lacks a dedicated mobile app. This limitation hinders lawyers on the move from accessing vital information and entering billable hours promptly.
Manual processes: PCLaw relies on manual processes for several essential tasks, including bill editing and client matter setup. These inefficiencies cost law firms time and resources.
Limited reporting: Generating comprehensive reports in PCLaw involves running multiple separate reports and manually inputting data into spreadsheets. This process is not only tedious but also prone to errors.
How does Centerbase resolve the pain points of PCLaw?
Centerbase offers a compelling solution to these PCLaw pain points and is a robust solution designed to meet the needs of modern legal professionals. Offering greater flexibility, mobility, and features that streamline the practice of law, here’s a summary of the advantages that Centerbase offers over PCLaw.
Integrated billing and accounting: Centerbase provides integrated billing and accounting functionality, ensuring a seamless financial management experience for law firms. Law firms can say goodbye to the hassle of using multiple software solutions for billing and accounting.
Mobile app: Centerbase has a dedicated mobile app that allows legal professionals to access critical information and capture billable hours while on the go. This mobile app empowers lawyers to work efficiently, whether they’re in the office or in the field.
Effortless prebill editing: Centerbase eliminates the need for paper bills and messenger services. Attorneys can mark up bills digitally, reducing manual work, saving time and resources, and improving invoice accuracy.
Customizable reporting: With PCLaw, users had to run separate reports to gather financial data, timekeeper hours, and budgets, then enter the data into a spreadsheet. Centerbase eliminates the need to spend hours on manual data entry and analysis. Our reporting tools help law firms make data-driven decisions quickly, with one-time report setup that collects all the information you need in one place. Moreover, unlike LEAP, Centerbase offers custom reporting, allowing law firms to tailor reports to their specific needs. Law firms can access the insights and data that matter most to their practice.
Automated workflows: Centerbase enables law firms to automate many manual processes, such as client matter setup and conflict checks. This automation reduces the risk of errors, increases efficiency, and frees up valuable time for legal professionals.
Profitability tracking: Unlike PCLaw, Centerbase provides tools to monitor firm profitability. With access to key financial and performance metrics, law firm leaders can make informed decisions to drive growth.
Strong technical support: Centerbase boasts a responsive and reliable technical support team, ensuring that you have the assistance you need when you need it. Our support team is available from 7 am to 7 pm CDT, five days a week. Our response and resolution times are less than 24 hours.
Cost savings & Revenue opportunity: Centerbase isn’t just a feature-rich solution; it’s also a cost-effective and revenue generating one. By eliminating the expenses associated with paper bills, messenger services, and manual data entry, Centerbase saves law firms time and money. Additionally, Centerbase can help firms improve cash flow with faster billing and capture up to 5 more billable hours per timekeeper per month – easily generating an extra $12,000 per billable FTE annually.
What are best practices for law firms navigating the transition to new legal technology?
If you’re considering making a switch from PCLaw, here are five tips that will help you ensure a smooth transition to a new software solution.
Do your due diligence. Conduct comprehensive research online to learn about each software’s features, user reviews, and industry reputation.
Limit your search. Narrow down your choices to three to five options to make the selection process more manageable. It’s easier to evaluate a smaller pool of candidates thoroughly.
Keep a checklist: Maintain a checklist of your must-have features and compare each software against these criteria. This approach ensures that you choose the software that aligns most closely with your needs.
Check the software’s cloud integration capabilities. Verify that the software offers true cloud integration for both front-office and back-office functions. A truly integrated system reduces redundancy and ensures data consistency.
Don’t assume anything. Don’t assume that software will meet your needs without a thorough evaluation. Take the time to understand the features and capabilities of your new software fully. Some platforms claim that they are cloud-based, but only part of the product is; for example, some solutions only host in the cloud, while others only base half of their features in the cloud.
Law firms can’t afford to not switch to Centerbase
If you’re currently using PCLaw and suffering from the limitations of this aging software, it’s time to explore better alternatives. Centerbase offers a modern, feature-rich solution that not only addresses the pain points of PCLaw but also empowers your law firm to thrive in the digital age.
Don’t wait; make the switch to Centerbase today and experience the transformative power of advanced legal practice management software. Contact us to get a free demo and learn how you can transition your law firm to Centerbase today with no downtime.
Centerbase, a leading provider of cloud-based legal technology for mid-sized law firms, announced today that Paul Bridgewater has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President. Bridgewater succeeds current CEO and founder, John Forbes who has led Centerbase since its inception in 2015. Forbes will remain an active member on Centerbase’s Board of Directors.
Prior to joining Centerbase, Bridgewater served as CEO of ResMan, a leading property management SaaS platform provider, where he led its growth through a customer-first model and scaled the reach of ResMan’s software to new segments within the property management industry through organic and complementary acquisitions. Before ResMan, Bridgewater served as CEO of Sage Payment Solutions (now Paya), where he grew processing volumes to more than $27 billion prior to a successful divestiture of the business.
“The team at Centerbase has done an incredible job building a robust practice management system tailored for mid-sized law firms,” said Bridgewater. He added, “I believe Centerbase’s commitment to client joy through a combination of a powerful back-end practice management solution and a front-end web marketing and content management system has positioned the company strongly within the legal technology landscape. I’m thrilled about this opportunity and will strive to continue driving value for our clients, team members, and shareholders.”
Under the vision and leadership of John Forbes, Centerbase has expanded its reach across the practice management and legal billing space, specializing in serving mid-sized law firms poised for growth. “I am immensely grateful to the team at Centerbase who have created an extraordinary platform and an incredible culture from which we were able to bring my vision to reality for so many law firms,” said Forbes. “I believe Centerbase’s best days are ahead, and I find that Paul’s character and expertise in the SaaS industry make him ideally suited to serve as the company’s CEO and President for this next stage of growth. I look forward to supporting Centerbase as a board member and cannot wait to watch the next chapter in Centerbase’s story unfold.”
“I am excited to welcome Paul to Centerbase and want to thank John for everything he has done to make it the company that it is today,” said Taylor McKinley, Managing Partner at Mainsail Partners and a Centerbase Board of Directors member. “We know Paul well from working with him at ResMan, where he demonstrated strong leadership skills with a relentless focus on delivering value for their customers. We believe he is the perfect addition to oversee this next phase of growth as Centerbase continues its endeavor of disrupting the legal software market.”
The announcement also follows Centerbase’s recent acquisition of Legalfit, the leading web marketing platform and content management system (CMS) built specifically for law firms. Bridgewater is excited to leverage his prior experience to create a platform that can serve the legal sector throughout the entire client lifecycle encompassing everything from a firm’s website to business management and accounting.
About Centerbase
Centerbase, the leading provider of cloud-based legal technology for mid-sized law firms, provides innovative, configurable, and scalable software to power the growth of law firms. Centerbase’s practice management software, web marketing platform, and content management systems liberate legal teams from manual work by taking the guesswork out of marketing decisions, automating routine tasks, and connecting them in a single collaborative workspace. Boasting a comprehensive feature set of billing, accounting, and practice management tools plus the ability to offer full-history data migrations, Centerbase has become the go-to solution for midsize law firms. For more visit centerbase.com.
About Mainsail Partners
Mainsail Partners is a growth equity firm with offices in Austin and San Francisco that seeks to invest in rapidly growing, bootstrapped software companies. The firm has raised over $2.2 billion and invested in more than 60 bootstrapped companies since 2003. Mainsail has extensive experience investing in B2B software companies that the firm believes have the potential to be category leaders. Mainsail’s approach to driving value creation is anchored in a dedicated Operations Team that is purpose-built to help founders scale their businesses and accelerate growth. These women and men include former software company operators who leverage real-world experience, well-established best practices, and a true partnership ethos to support management teams. For more information, visit mainsailpartners.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.
Acquisition enables Centerbase to offer end-to-end client and matter lifecycle management, bolstering the company’s mission to power the growth of law firms.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Centerbase, the leading provider of cloud-based legal technology for mid-sized law firms, has acquired Legalfit, the premier web marketing platform and content management system (CMS) built specifically for law firms.
“When we saw Legalfit’s dedicated legal CMS and intake capabilities, we knew we had to bring them into the Centerbase family of products. It’s a huge step forward in our mission to power the growth of law firms. With Legalfit, we are able to provide our clients with a robust, scalable website CMS on top of the practice management and billing suite we already offer, bringing true end-to-end visibility of the client lifecycle,” said John Forbes, Founder and CEO of Centerbase.
“It adds immense value to our clients to unite these products and give law firms the first client relationship management (CRM) tool that tracks the complete client lifecycle, enabling them to not only improve operational efficiency, but drive more business.”
Founded in 2015 by Robert Zhou, Legalfit believes that with enough data, analytics, and automation, law firms are able to take the guesswork out of marketing decisions. Legalfit develops highly intuitive websites and marketing solutions to optimize law firms’ brand and business objectives via unparalleled SEO performance and industry-leading Google scores. With the company’s fortified platform, Legalfit is excited to expand its services into mid-market law firms with Centerbase.
"Combining the best-in-class websites with practice management software unlocks a unique opportunity to deepen product integration and accelerate innovation to help law firms grow faster,” said Robert Zhou, Legalfit Founder & Owner.
This acquisition comes at a time of accelerated growth for Centerbase. Following a growth equity investment from Mainsail Partners in 2021 and continued momentum year-to-date, Centerbase has invested heavily in its core product while exploring feature and practice area-specific integrations.
The announcement also follows Centerbase’s acquisition of Family Law Software. As family law firms tend to have the most paperwork-intensive intake process, Legalfit’s software will allow family law clients to populate intake forms and provide access to the client portal directly on their firm websites.
“No one else in the market can offer a client experience like this. It’s going to be exciting watching our clients run their firms in ways they’d only dreamed of before. And the growth they’ll experience in return will be exponential,” said Forbes. About Centerbase
Centerbase is a cloud-based legal operations platform that empowers midsize law firms to run their practice with confidence. It’s a highly scalable and configurable system that liberates legal teams from manual work by automating routine tasks and connecting them in a single collaborative work space. Boasting a comprehensive feature set of billing, accounting, and practice management tools plus the ability to offer full-history data migrations, Centerbase has become the go-to solution for midsize law firms. For more visit centerbase.com.
About Legalfit
Legalfit is the premier web marketing platform that creates high performance websites with industry-leading designs to drive practice-specific leads. The easy-to-use content & design management tools empowers law firms to take control of their brand story. The Legalfit Dashboard provides valuable data in an actionable way, so that law firms can understand where their marketing currently stands and what their next strategic move is in the digital marketing space to align with their business goals. Learn more at legalfit.com.
DALLAS, TEXAS – November 5, 2021 – NetDocuments, the leading cloud content management platform where legal professionals do work, today announced the winners of their Inspire 2021 Partner Awards.
NetDocuments’ second annual Partner Awards recognize leading companies spanning the ISV network, implementation providers, international partner companies in Asia Pacific, EMEA, and Latin America, as well as partners across all NetDocuments business segments.
This year, the winner of the Inspire 2021 Partner of the Year Award was presented to Centerbase, a legal time & billing, accounting, and practice management platform. Centerbase is recognized for its relentless effort and understanding of the NetDocuments capabilities. Over the course of the partnership, Centerbase has been able to develop a superior integration with NetDocuments, supported by active and driven marketing of the integration, and has ultimately provided advertising of interactive updates and technical support to the thousands of NetDocuments customers. It is for these reasons that Centerbase was selected to be the recipient of this year’s award.
Rob Joyner, VP of Sales and Marketing at Centerbase, was virtually present to accept this prestigious award, “On behalf of the team at Centerbase, thank you to our friends at NetDocuments. Over the past five years, it has been an amazing partnership, we have been able to accomplish so much in the way of helping mid-size law firms. We are excited to continue the partnership and do great things in the future.”
Inspire 2021 is a virtual global conference designed for NetDocuments customers and partners. Tailored product and educational sessions; customer and partner case studies and innovation; and subject matter expertise are on display to showcase intentional innovation – innovation you can depend on and that’s inspired by legal teams around the world.
“The NetDocuments partner ecosystem has always been an integral part of our annual educational conference, and this holds true for Inspire 2021,” said Reza Parsia, VP, Strategic Partnerships, NetDocuments. “Our partners are constantly pushing the envelope to innovate and help our customers get the most out of their NetDocuments platform experience. Our second annual Partner Awards rewards this drive for “intentional innovation” and honors the ‘Partner of the Year’ across eight categories.”
The 2021 Inspired Award Winners, including all Partners of the Year, can be found online at www.netdocuments.com/inspire.
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About Centerbase
Centerbase is a cloud-based legal operations system that empowers midsize law firms to run their practice with confidence. It’s a highly scalable and configurable system that liberates legal teams from manual work by automating routine tasks and connecting them in a single collaborative workspace. Boasting a comprehensive feature set of billing, accounting, and practice management tools plus the ability to offer full-history data migrations, Centerbase has become the go-to solution for midsize law firms. For more visit centerbase.com.
About NetDocuments
Founded in 1999, with more than 3,400+ enterprise customers worldwide, NetDocuments is the legal industry’s most trusted cloud-based content services and productivity platform. Complete with state-of-the-art built-in security, compliance, and governance solutions, NetDocuments offers document management, email management, and collaboration technology complete with disaster recovery, enterprise search, and matter-centricity features. For more information about NetDocuments, please click here.
Centerbase, a legal practice management software company that provides mid-sized law firms with a cloud-based platform to streamline operations, is pleased to welcome Bob Freeburg as Chief Technology Officer.
The hire follows Centerbase’s recent growth equity investment from Mainsail Partners and underpins the company’s commitment to aggressive growth and strategic expansion. Following a banner year in 2020 and ongoing momentum year-to-date, Centerbase has continued to invest heavily in its core product and its people while exploring feature and practice area specific integrations.
Those investments and enhancements are what attracted Freeburg to Centerbase. “It’s an exciting time to be joining the legal technology industry,” says Bob. “I look forward to learning more about the customers that trust Centerbase to run their firms, learn from them how we can do better, and continue moving the current Centerbase product features to the next level to serve our clients more efficiently.”
A performance-driven leader with over 25 years of innovative technology experience, Freeburg comes to Centerbase from Curantis Solutions, where he started as Chief Technology Officer in March 2017 before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer/EVP of Technology earlier this year.
At Curantis, a cloud-based hospice and palliative care management platform, Freeburg was responsible for technology, product delivery, operations, and account management functions. Bob was involved with filing four patent applications for newly developed technology. In the role, he implemented key processes gaining significant experience working with sensitive information in a cloud environment.
Similar to the legal industry Bob will be serving at Centerbase, he worked with clients at Curantis to deliver a modern cloud platform solution. “Although this can be challenging, (it) presents an opportunity to help clients achieve operational efficiency when this transformation is done right,” says Bob.
Prior to Curantis, Freeburg spent the majority of his career at Parago, a rewards-based incentives company. He served as a key member of Parago’s (Blackhawk Engagement Solutions) executive leadership team and was instrumental in growing the business from a startup to acquisition by Blackhawk Network in October 2014.
As Chief Operating Officer and Group Vice President for Technology at Blackhawk Engagement Solutions, Bob managed a technology and operational scope encompassing four incentive companies acquired by Blackhawk Network.
Parago was included on the Dallas Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work” list in 2009, in addition to the “Fastest Growing Businesses” list in 2010.
In 2010, Bob was also named a CIO 100 award winner for his achievements in delivering innovative technology solutions while improving client satisfaction.
Freeburg graduated from Baylor University with a B.A. in Computer Science, working in consulting and technology delivery roles at Arthur Andersen LLP, Excel Communications Inc., and Teleglobe Communications prior to joining Parago’s executive leadership team in 2000.
Centerbase, a legal practice management software company that provides mid-sized law firms with a cloud-based platform to streamline legal operations, has acquired Family Law Software, the leading workflow software for family law legal practices.
Used by thousands of family law professionals, Family Law Software automates financial forms and calculations related to divorce proceedings. With this acquisition, Centerbase expands its already robust practice management, billing, and accounting product to better serve the complex workflow of family practice attorneys.
“Our aim has always been to provide mid-size law firms with a completely configurable tool they can use to streamline operations, touching on everything from billing and accounting to timekeeping, document management, client communication and reporting,” says John Forbes, CEO and Founder of Centerbase.
“Currently, 40% of our customers have a family law practice, so we are acutely aware of the demands and complexities of the practice. Because of this, we know Family Law Software is the perfect complement and enhancement to Centerbase. It enables us to deliver more value to our combined client base of 5,000.”
Family Law Software was created in 1996 by Wendell Smith and Dan Caine, founders who also developed the income tax software purchased by H&R Block in 1993 that is still used by millions today.
“When we started Family Law Software, we wanted to combine our tax knowledge and software skills to build a platform that could simplify the family law case management workflow,” says Family Law Software President and Co-Founder Dan Caine. “For almost 25 years, we have expanded and refined that product, and we now offer robust planning and negotiation tools, as well as the financial documents family lawyers need. Now with Centerbase, we will be able to expand the footprint of who we serve, which, for a mission-based company like ours, is the ultimate measure of success.”
This acquisition comes at a time of accelerated growth for Centerbase. Following a banner year in 2020 and continued momentum year-to-date, Centerbase has invested heavily in its core product while exploring feature and practice area specific integrations.
“As part of our initiative to modernize the Firm’s infrastructure, we teamed up with Centerbase in 2019 and Family Law Software in 2020,” says Paul Kanjorski of Sessums Black Caballero Ficarrotta Family Law PA. Kanjorski continued, “We’re over a year on both platforms, and I can say that Centerbase and Family Law Software have helped us gain efficiency, capture more billable hours, and reach new levels of profitability. Most importantly, we were able to continue to service our clients at a high level despite the massive challenges of the last 18 months.”
About Centerbase
Centerbase is a cloud-based legal operations system that empowers midsize law firms to run their practice with confidence. It’s a highly scalable and configurable system that liberates legal teams from manual work by automating routine tasks and connecting them in a single collaborative work space. Boasting a comprehensive feature set of billing, accounting, and practice management tools plus the ability to offer full-history data migrations, Centerbase has become the go-to solution for midsize law firms. For more visit centerbase.com.
About Family Law Software
Family Law Software is the leading workflow software for divorce professionals. Thousands of divorce professionals and individuals facing divorce use Family Law Software to automate financial forms and calculations related to divorce proceedings. With FLS, clients may calculate and negotiate child and spousal support payments based on state-specific rules and tax rates; complete robust scenario planning; divide assets; and conduct financial projections. For more information, visit familylawsoftware.com.
Over the past couple of years, it has been exciting to see Centerbase grow so quickly. As CEO and Founder, I can tell you—it wasn’t always like this. The core ideas that evolved into Centerbase date back to 2003, and the journey from where we began to where we are now has been a long one.
Now, we find ourselves at an exciting moment in Centerbase history. Today, we announced a growth equity investment from Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that invests in bootstrapped software companies just like ours. I'm excited to see the potential this represents for our future: our customers, our employees, and our product.
The (Long) Story of Our Growth Journey
I've been an entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I vividly remember going door-to-door selling plant seeds to anyone who would give me the time of day. I was born into a family of entrepreneurs and from that day on, I never looked back.
In 2014, I started Centerbase. From the beginning, we were laser-focused on developing a great product. As for picking a single vertical focus, that lesson came more slowly. However, it soon became clear that we had the opportunity to truly improve the lives of legal professionals and revolutionize the way they manage their firms.
2015 was the real turning point. We hired more staff, brought on more developers, we truly went all-in. That year we dedicated our efforts to building out a customizable platform. We met with dozens of law firms with the goal of trying to understand what their needs were and how we could possibly solve them. What we managed to do was take the best methodologies, practices, and efficiencies we found present in big law firms and discovered a way we could affordably package them up for mid-sized firms to capitalize on. We saw time and again that lawyers hated tracking time and we knew if we could automate that process, we could add tremendous value. Our agility and hunger to continue driving value even led us to launch a native accounting system. (In retrospect, that project was way over our heads, but we managed to complete it in just seven months.)
With that, we had a product that was truly a full system of records for law firms.
The 2017 ABA Tech Show was the first time we went “live” with Centerbase. By the second day, there was a line at our booth—not of law firms, but of legal consultants who were sick of selling legacy legal management products. Their enthusiasm was proof that our decade of research had paid off. We were on to something! We were offering the legal world something it had never seen before: a cloud-based, configurable management system that could revolutionize the way they practiced law.
The next three years were a time of torrid growth.
The growth was exciting, but it also made us realize how much work there was to be done. It wasn’t long before I started to notice that the resources I was long relying on were starting to hold us back. Our implementation team was at capacity; our product and marketing teams were asking for UX/UI specialists and content managers; our developers needed more resources to maintain our pace of innovation. Put simply, we were growing faster than we could keep up with.
Making the Most of Good Timing
I mentioned we've always had good timing at Centerbase. We launched our product just as the legal industry was ready to migrate away from on-premise, legacy technologies. We specialized in mid-sized law firms and discovered just how underserved that market was. Then, just before the pandemic, we launched two of our most innovative product features yet: Automated Time Tracking, which records and then converts any time spent texting and calling clients into billable time entries, and Electronic Pre-Bill Approval, which allows attorneys to review and edit paperless pre-bills without having to print and circulate stacks of paper. With the advent of the “new normal” working remotely became essential and attorneys were especially excited about these features.
In spring of 2021, another incredible opportunity presented itself. I have always been against the idea of outside investment because I've been so bullish on the potential of our team achieving greatness on our own. And I still believe that. However, when your great team starts to indicate they could be even greater with more resources, you start to wonder what that would look like. And that’s when I got a call from Mainsail Partners.
We had talked with several different growth equity firms over the years, but Mainsail Partners always stood out to me because of their reputation for preserving the “core” of the companies they partner with. Our company started small and grew organically, which has been fulfilling. I didn’t want to lose that connection to our success and with Mainsail, I’m confident we won’t.
Rather, I think we’re going to be able to do a whole lot more, a whole lot quicker. The team at Mainsail are experts in growing companies of our size. With them, we will have new resources and experience to draw from. We can make new investments in our teams and continue hiring great people and empowering them to make an impact for our customers.
The Marathon Starts Now
I recognize this is just the start of the marathon. We have a long road ahead and to finish first, we will need to continue to innovate.
Connecting deeply with our customers has been crucial to our ability to serve them, and that practice will only deepen. Going forward, our primary focus will remain on the product and relentlessly solving the needs of our customers by bringing them the absolute best tools available.
Now with all that being said, we are hiring! We have a fantastic team dedicated to helping law firms capture more time, get paid faster, and provide the best client services possible. With the momentum and the support behind us, we are looking to continue growing and if you want to join us on this mission and come to work every day where you’re empowered to make an impact, join us.
I’m incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished to date, and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve in this next chapter.
After months of planning and building from the ground up, we are excited to announce the launch of a brand new exclusive community for our clients!
Centerbase's mission for the community is to provide clients with a vibrant channel to ask questions, find answers, and engage with legal professionals from around the country on Centerbase best practices. Be the first to know and participate in discussions on upcoming product updates, training webinars, and the direction of our product roadmap.
We want to foster conversations about getting the most out of Centerbase to drive success at your firm.
So when can you get involved? The answer is right now!
All Centerbase users will receive an invite to the Centerbase Client Community via email. So be on the lookout for your invitation! We’ve already seen some great discussions from clients who are actively answering questions and contributing ideas.
Who is supported on the Community?
Access to the community is exclusive to Centerbase clients. All users of Centerbase can start having great conversations and seek insights and solutions right now.
What is included in the Community?
The Centerbase Client Community includes a personalized social media-like experience. Subscribe to topic channels like Billing, Reporting, Settings & Customization, and Timekeeping to get the latest updates on things that are most important to you. Gain Reputation Points by commenting, answering questions, and voting on polls which can be used to purchase Centerbase gifts and swag!
Be sure to subscribe to the Feedback and Suggestions topic to upvote product ideas from other Centerbase users and suggest your own.
Will the Community be moderated?
Yes. A combination of Centerbase employees and community champions will make sure the Community’s conversation stays civilized, meaningful and true to our Community Guidelines and Terms of Use. Our moderation team will also ensure that urgent queries and support requests are addressed.
Will I still be able to access email and phone support?
Email, phone and call-back requests are still available as normal to users of Centerbase. Our team of dedicated Support Specialists will be active throughout the community. If you are unable to find the help you need from the community, our team of specialists will be standing by to lend a helping hand.
How do I register?
Registration for the Community is invite-only as it is intended to be an exclusive channel for our partners and clients. All Centerbase clients will receive an invitation via email to create their account. If you cannot locate your community invitation please reach out to us here and we'll have another invite sent your way ASAP.
