Rhodes and Co was established in 1884. With nine partners, three consultants, six staff solicitors, 8 secretaries, 2 accounting administrators and a receptionist, the practice has built a reputation as one of the South Island’s leading commercial law firms. Many of its partners also sit on the boards of various organisations in the region.
IT Systems are operationally critical
The firm uses InfinityLaw as its practice management software. InfinityLaw provides the firm with time and expense recording and billing, a document management system, personal information systems, a trust accounting system, debtor management, reporting and archiving systems.
Its lawyers are reliant on online databases provided by LexisNexis Butterworths for access to case law, legal research, guidance notes, commentary, checklists, precedents and legislation. In short, the IT systems give its lawyers access to the tools of their trade.
“Nearly everything we do, needs the computers,” said Marie Tomlins, Rhodes and Company’s Office Manager. “If the IT system stops, then nearly everything else stops with it.”
Change of premises can’t stop Stratos
For years Stratos has provided Rhodes and Co with outstanding support for their IT infrastructure. While Stratos has been engaged, there has been no lengthy disruption to its IT system availability, earthquakes aside.
Following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2011, the firm was forced to leave its premises in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers building, and moved to Hazeldean Business Park. In 2014, it was able to secure more permanent premises at its current location on Victoria Street.
“We turned everything off at 4pm on Friday and by late Sunday afternoon everything was switched on at the new office. It was seamless. It’s a testimony to the great preparation that Stratos had carried out beforehand. They had prepared so well. Stratos had to liaise with the telecommunications company, the architect and the electricians.”
Fast response to “out of the blue” issues
“With IT there are always unexpected issues, but Stratos always responds quickly. All our forms are accessed through the Auckland District Law Society website. Without warning, we couldn’t get them. We called Stratos immediately. As in this instance, often they just call us and walk us through it. But if those solutions don’t solve the problem, they’ll drop in.
“Stratos does everything from setting up new users to helping us to plan when new equipment needs to be upgraded. They’ve provided a list of everyone’s PCs and I know when they need to be replaced.
“If you’re looking for someone who is highly reliable, technically knowledgeable and very responsive then I would have no hesitation in recommending Stratos at all. Stratos has looked after us for many years. We honestly couldn’t rate them highly enough. We’re very lucky to have them.”
