ADERANT/FWBS Partnership Helps Lawyers Streamline Daily Activities and Address Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Issues; Microsoft Office-based Solution Improves Matter Visibility; Increases Professional Productivity.

ATLANTA & LONDON -- ADERANT, a global provider of business and financial management software for professional services organizations, today announced that the company has formed a strategic global partnership with FWBS Limited, a leading legal software development house and Microsoft Office 2003 Launch Partner based in the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the agreement, ADERANT will exclusively resell FWBS' OMS Matter Center solution throughout North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and portions of EMEA.

OMS Matter Center is a state-of-the-art solution that enables lawyers to access case and matter functionality and data directly through Microsoft Office applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel. OMS Matter Center will be offered as part of ADERANT's Front Office solution suite.

FWBS' application has already been integrated with ADERANT's back office solution, CMS.Net, and is being used at Chadwick Lawrence, a UK-based law firm, where it is helping the firm's partners and lawyers easily manage, store, and share all matter information, including emails and their attachments.

"We immediately started to see benefits when we implemented the solution," said David Pearson, IT Manager of Chadwick Lawrence. "It's easy for our professionals to find matter-related information now with the familiar file structure and links to Microsoft Outlook and Word, which is a massive benefit to our users from a time and billing perspective. We now have a solution that seamlessly links our front and back office systems and enables our staff to be much more productive."

Assisting with Regulatory Compliance

Due to the ubiquitous use of email for most commercial interactions, many law firms face a significant challenge with regulator compliance, including Sarbanes-Oxley and the Freedom of Information Act. The sheer volume of matter-related information communicated exclusively via this median has resulted in email being the target of three-quarters of all discovery requests in legal cases.

"Faced with an urgent need to comply with financial regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley, law firms must improve how they manage critical matter information--especially email communications," said Michael J. Simmons, Chief Executive Officer of ADERANT. "Our partnership with FWBS enables us to provide law firms with a comprehensive compliance solution for managing and sharing email-based information."

Drowning in a Tidal Wave of Email

FWBS' OMS Matter Center addresses one of the most pressing issue facing modern law firms: how to manage the large volume of email that now forms the backbone commercial interaction. Law firms everywhere are struggling to not only ensure the management, accessibility, security, and integrity of these virtual electronic documents, but also to leverage email to improve productivity, increase collaboration, and streamline business processes.

OMS Matter Center accomplishes these objectives through a "matter-centric" email filing framework, which collates and stores virtual matter files and makes them easily available to lawyers, law firm staff, and any other relevant parties, including clients. The solution creates a digital equivalent of the old manila folder where copies of all the documents, notes, and correspondence relating to a particular matter were stored together. This approach enables the storage and retrieval of vital information through the application law firm staff are most familiar with--Microsoft Outlook.

"The integrated ADERANT/FWBS application provides lawyers and other law firm staff with a solution that supports how they work--focusing on specific matters--and that is embedded within the productivity software they are already familiar with and use everyday--Microsoft Office," said Mark Craddock, Group Sales and Marketing Director for FWBS Limited. "The new solution has already helped firms improve their productivity, streamline their business processes, and increase the accessibility of matter-related information."

Leveraging Industry-Standard Microsoft Technologies

The strategic partnership creates the first legal solution based completely on Microsoft technologies, including Microsoft .NET Framework, and that is embedded within Microsoft Office 2003. ADERANT will use Microsoft .NET Framework to enable law firms to easily gather matter-centric information from back office applications, such as CMS.Net, and deliver it to their lawyers and other users in an organized fashion. This underlying Microsoft technology is rapidly gaining momentum as the connectivity platform of choice for professional applications.

As Microsoft Gold Certified partners, both ADERANT and FWBS have been increasingly leveraging Microsoft technologies to develop and deploy their business applications. Additionally, FWBS is a Microsoft Office 2003 Launch Partner.

"We are very pleased to see two Microsoft Gold Certified partners, ADERANT and FWBS, jointly develop rich solutions for the legal industry based on Microsoft technologies, including Microsoft .NET Framework," said Norm Thomas, Director for Microsoft's Professional Services Industry Solutions. "Even more impressive is how their new joint solution leverages Microsoft Office 2003 as a development platform. This will enable lawyers to increase their productivity by making it easier to track matters and access back office information from within applications they already use every day."

About Chadwick Lawrence

Chadwick Lawrence has offered professional and friendly legal advice to both personal and business clients for over 150 years. With thirteen partners and more than 40 other solicitors and fee earners, Chadwick Lawrence is one of the twenty largest firms in Yorkshire and Humberside. More information can be found at www.chadwicklawrence.co.uk.

About FWBS

FWBS is a leading software development house that designs office management software solutions for lawyers, accountants, and professional services personnel using the latest Microsoft platforms, development tools, and applications. Established in 1997, the company's Case and Matter Management solutions are used by more than 400 law firms throughout the UK, including Microsoft's own internal legal department in the UK. More information is available at www.mattercenter.net.

About ADERANT

ADERANT, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is a leading provider of software for services organizations. The global software company offers a comprehensive suite of solutions, consisting of financial, resource and practice management software that enables services organizations of all sizes to maximize operational efficiencies. ADERANT provides solutions to the world's largest and most prominent service organizations - including HP, Computer Sciences Corporation, KPMG LLP, Manugistics, American Express, Deloitte Consulting, Macleod Dixon LLP, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP, Skadden Arps and Winston & Strawn. ADERANT also has offices in Asia Pacific and Europe. More information about ADERANT is available at www.aderant.com.

Editors Note: The correct usage of the ADERANT name is all capitals.

Javelan and Novient are registered trademarks, and CMS.Net, Executive Office, Front Office CRM, Keystone and all ADERANT product logos are trademarks of ADERANT Holdings, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the properties of their respective owners.