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Elite Acquires FWBS to Offer Clients Expanded Access to Matter Management Data

Acquisition Also Extends Elite’s Growing International Presence

LOS ANGELES, October 3, 2011 – Elite, part of Thomson Reuters, has acquired FWBS, a provider of software solutions that allow lawyers to manage their practice work streams, contacts, and other materials in a matter-centric view. The deal will enable Elite to extend its financial management applications with a robust core matter management capability, as well as strengthen the company’s growing presence in the APAC and EMEA regions.

The deep matter management capability found in FWBS’ MatterCentre and MatterSphere tools will be integrated with Elite’s 3E and Enterprise financial and practice management offerings, with the combined solutions offering clients many benefits, including enhanced efficiency and time savings in the back-office; a single point of entry; and the ability to unify firm-wide client and matter data within Microsoft Office and on mobile devices. This integrated matter management capability solves a critical pain point for most firms by centralizing multiple threads of data into a single convenient view within Outlook or browser.

“Law firms today face many challenges, including rising compliance and ethics requirements and the need to stay constantly connected to critical matter management data, even when off-site or in the field,” said Cary Burch, chief operations officer for Elite. “Our strategic acquisition of FWBS eases the burden of these challenges by offering clients a single, reliable platform for financial, practice and matter management that is available on Outlook, and in mobile devices – where lawyers work.”

Founded in 1997, FWBS has led the way in providing leading-edge software to meet the demands faced by law firms and corporate legal departments worldwide. The MatterCentre solution forms the core of an expanding suite of tightly integrated products from FWBS, which enable legal professionals to have tangible improvement to productivity and therefore profitability, with ease of deployment. MatterCentre delivers client and matter management, case management, work flow, contact management, resource control and reporting for the whole firm, all from within the Microsoft Office suite.

“Integrating FWBS’ deep matter management capabilities with Elite’s premier financial and practice management solutions, will provide firms with a simple and consistent single system for financial, practice and matter management --- something that has previously been missing from the marketplace,” said Mark Craddock, Director, FWBS, who will be transitioning to Elite. “We are excited to be part of the Elite team, and look forward to continuing our mission to alleviate the practice management burdens and challenges of our clients.”

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About Thomson Reuters Elite
Thomson Reuters Elite offers an end-to-end enterprise business management solution that allows law firms and professional services organizations to run all operational aspects of their firms including business development, risk management, client and matter management, and financial management. For over 60 years, we’ve demonstrated we understand the business and financial aspects of firm operations, with proven tools that streamline processes to increase visibility and workflow efficiency across the organization and provide the flexibility to change and grow your business. For more information, visit Elite.

Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 60,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more information, go to Thomson Reuters.