FORTRESS MSO
Practice law. We will run the firm.
Practice law. We will run the firm.
Payroll, benefits, billing, collections, IT, security, marketing and intake — plus the AI legal operating system that runs the legal work itself. One agreement, one team, one platform. You keep the practice, the clients and the equity.
Payroll, benefits, billing, collections, IT, security, marketing and intake — plus the AI legal operating system that runs the legal work itself. One agreement, one team, one platform. You keep the practice, the clients and the equity.
The same platform that runs an AmLaw 50 firm, sized for a firm of eight.
One
One
agreement
Payroll, benefits, billing, IT, marketing and the platform, on a single contract
Payroll, benefits, billing, IT, marketing and the platform, on a single contract
Day one
Day one
operational
Your firm opens with a working back office, not a to-do list
Your firm opens with a working back office, not a to-do list
2–3×
2–3×
output per lawyer
What the platform does to work product at firms already running it
What the platform does to work product at firms already running it
2027
2027
Salesforce
Partner of the Year for the platform engineering underneath
Partner of the Year for the platform engineering underneath
WHAT THIS ACTUALLY IS
A law firm is two businesses. You only went to law school for one of them.
A law firm is two businesses. You only went to law school for one of them.
There is the practice of law, and there is the business of running a small company — payroll, benefits, invoices, receivables, laptops, email security, a website, a phone that gets answered. Fortress MSO takes the second one off your desk entirely.
There is the practice of law, and there is the business of running a small company — payroll, benefits, invoices, receivables, laptops, email security, a website, a phone that gets answered. Fortress MSO takes the second one off your desk entirely.
You keep
What stays with the lawyers, always
Every client relationship and every engagement letter
Legal judgment, strategy and supervision of the work
Ownership of the firm and of its profits
Who you hire as lawyers and how you practise
Your name on the door and your reputation
We run
What the MSO operates on your behalf
Payroll, benefits, 401(k), onboarding and HR compliance
Time capture, billing, collections, books, tax and reporting
Devices, email, identity, backup, security and insurance controls
Website, content, referral programme, intake and conflicts
The Fortress platform: matters, documents, drafting, AI assistants
On the structure
The law firm stays owned and controlled by lawyers. The MSO provides administrative and technology services to it under a services agreement — it does not own the practice, does not share in legal fees as an owner, and does not touch legal judgment. Every jurisdiction words its rules differently, so we expect your own ethics counsel to review the structure before you sign anything. We will hand them the documents on day one.
PAYROLL, HR AND BENEFITS
A real benefits package at an eight-lawyer firm.
A real benefits package at an eight-lawyer firm.
Small firms lose good people to bad benefits, and lose Friday afternoons to a partner running payroll. The MSO operates both at the scale of every firm we serve rather than the scale of yours.
Small firms lose good people to bad benefits, and lose Friday afternoons to a partner running payroll. The MSO operates both at the scale of every firm we serve rather than the scale of yours.
Payroll and every filing behind it
Payroll and every filing behind it
Semi-monthly runs, withholding, W-2s and 1099s, state registrations and the notices nobody wants to open.
Semi-monthly runs, withholding, W-2s and 1099s, state registrations and the notices nobody wants to open.
Benefits you could not buy alone
Benefits you could not buy alone
Health, dental, vision, life and a 401(k) with real plan administration, on terms a firm your size cannot negotiate by itself.
Health, dental, vision, life and a 401(k) with real plan administration, on terms a firm your size cannot negotiate by itself.
Hiring and onboarding in an hour
Hiring and onboarding in an hour
Offer letter, background check, I-9, device provisioning and platform access as one flow instead of five separate scrambles.
Offer letter, background check, I-9, device provisioning and platform access as one flow instead of five separate scrambles.
HR compliance without an HR department
HR compliance without an HR department
Handbook, policies, leave tracking, classification — and someone to call before you answer a question off the cuff.
Handbook, policies, leave tracking, classification — and someone to call before you answer a question off the cuff.
Your people get a big-firm package. You never open a payroll screen.
BILLING, COLLECTIONS AND FINANCE
The work gets billed, and the bills get paid.
The work gets billed, and the bills get paid.
Most small firms do not have a revenue problem. They have a capture problem, an invoicing problem and a collections problem — and all three get worse in exactly the months you are busiest.
Most small firms do not have a revenue problem. They have a capture problem, an invoicing problem and a collections problem — and all three get worse in exactly the months you are busiest.
Time captured while the work happens
Time captured while the work happens
The platform already knows what was worked on, so entries are drafted from the record instead of reconstructed on the 30th.
The platform already knows what was worked on, so entries are drafted from the record instead of reconstructed on the 30th.
Invoices out on a schedule, not when someone gets to it
Invoices out on a schedule, not when someone gets to it
Prebills go to you for review and invoices go out the same day every month, in the format each client’s guidelines require.
Prebills go to you for review and invoices go out the same day every month, in the format each client’s guidelines require.
Somebody else makes the awkward call
Somebody else makes the awkward call
Aging is chased on a defined cadence by a team that is not also the lawyer who has to keep the relationship intact.
Aging is chased on a defined cadence by a team that is not also the lawyer who has to keep the relationship intact.
Books, trust and the numbers you manage to
Books, trust and the numbers you manage to
Monthly close, trust accounting reconciled to your state’s rules, and a P&L with realisation, utilisation and origination in it.
Monthly close, trust accounting reconciled to your state’s rules, and a P&L with realisation, utilisation and origination in it.
Cash arrives sooner, less gets written off, and no weekend goes to prebills.
IT, SECURITY AND THE TECH SUITE
Enterprise-grade security at a firm with no IT department.
Enterprise-grade security at a firm with no IT department.
Clients have started asking small firms the questions they have always asked large ones. The MSO runs the answer — managed devices, managed identity, managed email — and keeps the evidence that proves it.
Clients have started asking small firms the questions they have always asked large ones. The MSO runs the answer — managed devices, managed identity, managed email — and keeps the evidence that proves it.
Devices, identity and email, managed
Devices, identity and email, managed
Laptops arrive configured. Accounts are provisioned and shut off on the right day. MFA, encryption and backups are on by default, not by memory.
Laptops arrive configured. Accounts are provisioned and shut off on the right day. MFA, encryption and backups are on by default, not by memory.
Security you can put in a questionnaire
Security you can put in a questionnaire
Logging, retention, access reviews and an incident response plan — written down, actually run, and evidenced when a client or insurer asks.
Logging, retention, access reviews and an incident response plan — written down, actually run, and evidenced when a client or insurer asks.
The whole stack on one bill
The whole stack on one bill
Microsoft 365, document management, e-signature, research, the phone system and the Fortress platform — procured, configured and supported together.
Microsoft 365, document management, e-signature, research, the phone system and the Fortress platform — procured, configured and supported together.
Someone answers when it breaks
Someone answers when it breaks
A help desk that already knows your environment, instead of a vendor queue asking you to describe your setup from scratch.
A help desk that already knows your environment, instead of a vendor queue asking you to describe your setup from scratch.
Pass the security review that used to quietly cost you the client.
MARKETING, INTAKE AND GROWTH
New matters keep arriving while you are in a hearing.
New matters keep arriving while you are in a hearing.
Rainmaking at a small firm usually means the founder does it after hours — and it stops entirely the month things get busy. The MSO runs the top of the funnel as a system, so the pipeline does not depend on how your week went.
Rainmaking at a small firm usually means the founder does it after hours — and it stops entirely the month things get busy. The MSO runs the top of the funnel as a system, so the pipeline does not depend on how your week went.
A presence that does the work for you
A presence that does the work for you
Positioning, the site, practice pages, bios and the content that makes the firm findable for what you actually do.
Positioning, the site, practice pages, bios and the content that makes the firm findable for what you actually do.
Intake that answers and converts
Intake that answers and converts
Enquiries answered the same day, qualified, conflict-checked and turned into an engagement letter without a week of phone tag.
Enquiries answered the same day, qualified, conflict-checked and turned into an engagement letter without a week of phone tag.
Referral relationships tracked like matters
Referral relationships tracked like matters
Sources, introductions and follow-ups live on the platform, so the relationships that actually generate work get worked.
Sources, introductions and follow-ups live on the platform, so the relationships that actually generate work get worked.
You can see what is coming
You can see what is coming
Pipeline, source, conversion and expected value sit in the same system as the matters, not in a spreadsheet on someone’s laptop.
Pipeline, source, conversion and expected value sit in the same system as the matters, not in a spreadsheet on someone’s laptop.
Intake stops being the thing that happens when somebody has time.
THE DIFFERENCE
Every other back-office provider stops at the back office.
Every other back-office provider stops at the back office.
Plenty of firms will run your payroll. Plenty will run your books. None of them will run the legal work, because none of them have a legal platform. Fortress MSO is both, from one team, on one set of records.
Plenty of firms will run your payroll. Plenty will run your books. None of them will run the legal work, because none of them have a legal platform. Fortress MSO is both, from one team, on one set of records.
The work and the business share one record
A matter opened at intake is the same matter that gets staffed, billed, reported and closed. Nobody re-keys anything, and nothing has to be reconciled between two systems at month end.
AI assistants on the legal work, not only the admin
Drafting against your own precedent, research inside the matter, review at volume — the capability an AmLaw 50 firm runs, sized and priced for a firm of eight.
You are not renting it forever
It runs on your own tenant. If you outgrow the MSO and hire a real COO, the platform, the data and the workflows stay with you. Nothing gets handed back.
See what the platform does at a large firm
→
INDEPENDENCE AND ETHICS
The law firm stays a law firm.
The law firm stays a law firm.
This structure only works if the lines are drawn cleanly and stay drawn. Here is exactly where they are.
This structure only works if the lines are drawn cleanly and stay drawn. Here is exactly where they are.
Lawyers own the practice
Lawyers own the practice
The firm is owned and controlled by licensed lawyers. The MSO holds no equity in it and no vote in how it is run.
The firm is owned and controlled by licensed lawyers. The MSO holds no equity in it and no vote in how it is run.
We are paid for services, not a share of fees
We are paid for services, not a share of fees
The MSO earns a fee for administrative and technology services under a services agreement — not a cut of what you bill a client.
The MSO earns a fee for administrative and technology services under a services agreement — not a cut of what you bill a client.
Legal judgment is never ours
Legal judgment is never ours
Which clients to take, what to advise, how to try it, whether to withdraw. None of that is an MSO decision and nothing in the agreement makes it one.
Which clients to take, what to advise, how to try it, whether to withdraw. None of that is an MSO decision and nothing in the agreement makes it one.
Confidentiality runs through us
Confidentiality runs through us
MSO personnel who touch firm systems are bound by the same confidentiality obligations, and access is scoped to what the role actually needs.
MSO personnel who touch firm systems are bound by the same confidentiality obligations, and access is scoped to what the role actually needs.
Conflicts stay with the firm
Conflicts stay with the firm
The conflicts system belongs to the firm, the check is run by the firm, and the clearance decision is made by a lawyer.
The conflicts system belongs to the firm, the check is run by the firm, and the clearance decision is made by a lawyer.
You can leave
You can leave
Defined exit terms, your data exported in a usable format, and the platform stays on your own tenant. Nothing is held hostage.
Defined exit terms, your data exported in a usable format, and the platform stays on your own tenant. Nothing is held hostage.
We are not your ethics counsel
Rules on fee sharing, firm ownership and supervision vary by jurisdiction and are actively changing in several states. Nothing here is legal advice about your bar. Have your own counsel review the structure before you sign anything — we will hand them the complete document set, unredacted, the first time they ask.
HOW IT STARTS
One call, one model, one agreement.
One call, one model, one agreement.
No pilot, no six-month evaluation, no committee. You either want the back office off your desk or you do not.
No pilot, no six-month evaluation, no committee. You either want the back office off your desk or you do not.
CALL ONE
Your actual numbers
Your actual numbers
Headcount, revenue mix, and what you pay today for each of these things. We build the comparison live and tell you if it does not work.
Headcount, revenue mix, and what you pay today for each of these things. We build the comparison live and tell you if it does not work.
CALL TWO
The structure and the scope
The structure and the scope
Which services you take, what stays with you, and the documents — including the ones your ethics counsel will want to read.
Which services you take, what stays with you, and the documents — including the ones your ethics counsel will want to read.
SIGNATURE
One agreement
One agreement
A single administrative services agreement with defined scope, defined pricing and defined exit terms. Not fourteen vendor contracts.
A single administrative services agreement with defined scope, defined pricing and defined exit terms. Not fourteen vendor contracts.
THEN
Transition
Transition
Thirty to sixty days for an existing firm. For a spin-out, the timeline on this page. Either way you keep practising throughout.
Thirty to sixty days for an existing firm. For a spin-out, the timeline on this page. Either way you keep practising throughout.
WHERE IT COMES FROM
This is not a new product. It is the one that already runs large firms.
This is not a new product. It is the one that already runs large firms.
Fortress was built for firms with a CFO, an HR director and an IT department, and it is in production at that scale today. The MSO is the same platform and the same team, sized for firms that have identical work and none of the staff.
Fortress was built for firms with a CFO, an HR director and an IT department, and it is in production at that scale today. The MSO is the same platform and the same team, sized for firms that have identical work and none of the staff.
IN PRODUCTION
AmLaw 50 firm
AmLaw 50 firm
Nine practice groups live or in build, 415 licensed users active, and adoption that grew without a firm-wide mandate behind it.
Nine practice groups live or in build, 415 licensed users active, and adoption that grew without a firm-wide mandate behind it.
IN PRODUCTION
Big Four and a state judiciary
Big Four and a state judiciary
The same architecture on their own tenants, against their own confidentiality, records and security requirements.
The same architecture on their own tenants, against their own confidentiality, records and security requirements.
RECOGNISED
Salesforce Partner of the Year 2027
Salesforce Partner of the Year 2027
For the platform engineering underneath all of it — the part that is hard to see from a demo and expensive to get wrong.
For the platform engineering underneath all of it — the part that is hard to see from a demo and expensive to get wrong.
Why the MSO exists
Why the MSO exists
Large firms already have the back office. They have a CFO, a finance team, an HR director and an IT department — what they needed from us was the platform. Smaller firms have exactly the same work and none of those people. So we bundled the platform with the team that runs it: same architecture, same engineers, same security model, delivered as an operating service instead of a licence.
Large firms already have the back office. They have a CFO, a finance team, an HR director and an IT department — what they needed from us was the platform. Smaller firms have exactly the same work and none of those people. So we bundled the platform with the team that runs it: same architecture, same engineers, same security model, delivered as an operating service instead of a licence.
Bring your real numbers to the first call.
Bring your real numbers to the first call.
Headcount, revenue, and what you pay today for payroll, benefits, bookkeeping, IT, marketing and software. We will build the comparison in front of you rather than sending you a deck about it.
Headcount, revenue, and what you pay today for payroll, benefits, bookkeeping, IT, marketing and software. We will build the comparison in front of you rather than sending you a deck about it.
Book the call
START WITH A DIAGNOSTIC
Give us your front office and twenty business days.
Every system inventoried, every contradiction in your data named, the cost of re-deriving it quantified, and a build plan you could hand to anyone. Credited in full if you go ahead — and yours either way. Every club has the same data; very few can ask it a question.
Proprietary to your club
Never pooled across clubs
Salesforce Partner of the Year 2027
START WITH A DIAGNOSTIC
Give us your front office and twenty business days.
Every system inventoried, every contradiction in your data named, the cost of re-deriving it quantified, and a build plan you could hand to anyone. Credited in full if you go ahead — and yours either way. Every club has the same data; very few can ask it a question.
Proprietary to your club
Never pooled across clubs
Salesforce Partner of the Year 2027
START WITH A DIAGNOSTIC
Give us your front office and twenty business days.
Every system inventoried, every contradiction in your data named, the cost of re-deriving it quantified, and a build plan you could hand to anyone. Credited in full if you go ahead — and yours either way. Every club has the same data; very few can ask it a question.
Proprietary to your club
Never pooled across clubs
Salesforce Partner of the Year 2027
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