Robert Ambrogi Blog
AffiniPay, the Austin, Texas, payment processing company that operates LawPay, which is among the most popular online payment tools for legal professionals, is announcing today that it has named a new chief executive officer.
As of June 1, founder and CEO Amy Porter moved into a new role as executive chairman of AffiniPay’s board of directors, and Tom West, who joined the company in September 2018 as chief growth officer, was named CEO.
Porter founded AffiniPay in 2005. In addition to LawPay, the company’s portfolio includes two other online payment solutions tailored to specific industries, CPACharge and AffiniPay for Associations. The company says that it has more than 60,000 users and a staff of 160 employees.
Founder Amy Porter
In her new role, Porter will provide support to the CEO, helping define and uphold the purpose and values of the company, while also providing strategic guidance and governance of the board, the company said.
In an interview last week, West, who describes himself as a career business-growth leader, told me that the transition was made in order to allow the company to scale to greater levels of growth. During his year at AffiniPay as chief growth officer, the company has grown by 40 percent.
He has previously held a variety of leadership positions, including as chairman and owner of Springbox, a mid-sized digital marketing services company; CEO of JC Whitney, the automotive aftermarket retailer; general manager of SMB e-business at Dell, the computer company; manager at Bain & Company; and consultant and board member for numerous companies.
“We’re continuing to grow at LawPay and to grow our mission to transform the way professionals get paid,” West told me. “This is a part of that natural evolution.”
West believes that online payment processing has reached an inflection point in the legal industry. For a long time, companies such as LawPay had to focus on convincing law firms that it was important to take electronic payments. Now, they get it and the company sees a significant growth path.
“We serve about 60,000 professionals, but there are millions who need our help,” he said.
An important part of that growth will continue to be the company’s partnerships with bar associations and its integration partnerships with other legal technology products, West said. LawPay currently integrates with 45 of the leading practice management platforms.
“The most important message is that there’s no change in our approach to the market, our customer service, or our product,” West told me.
As for where that growth will occur, West sees significant opportunities for growth within the U.S. legal market. While most of the company’s law firm customers are small firms, it is expanding into the larger firm market.
In addition, with most of its customer base located in the U.S. and Canada, West sees opportunities for the company to expand into other countries. It it also likely to expand into other vertical industries.
Porter, in a statement provided by the company, said that she has full confidence in West and believes the company is in competent hands.
“Tom has a proven track record of growing businesses and we’re so excited to tap into his experience and take our company to the next level,” she said.