FileTrail, a company that provides information governance and records management software for law firms and highly regulated industries, has named Harold Westervelt, a veteran business and sales executive, to the newly created position of chief executive officer.

The 21-year-old company said that Darrell Mervau, cofounder and president, selected Westervelt for the position to lead FileTrail through its current high-growth phase. Mervau remains with the company in a strategic role.

Westervelt was most recently general manager and CEO of Sapiens Decision, a company that provides decision-management software to businesses. Earlier, he was president of INVeShare, a provider of shareholder communications and voting technology, where he oversaw the company’s growth and sale to Broadridge Financial Solutions.

FileTrail has experienced record growth in recent years, it said, with increasing new sales and implementations of its FileTrail GPS (Governance Policy Suite) for both U.S.-based and global law firms and significant expansion among key corporate clients.

The company said it is actively building its leadership teams to further strengthen its foundation and support continued growth, which includes the addition of the new CEO position.

Last year, FileTrail moved its company headquarters from San Jose, Calif., to Austin, Texas, to accommodate its growth and expanded workforce.

“At this point in FileTrail’s evolution we saw a need to bring in additional leadership to help us navigate and execute on our product and market strategies,” Mervau said in a statement announcing the hire. “We are excited to have someone of Harold’s caliber join us.

“Taking care of our global clients and developing our product suite to meet the market’s changing needs are paramount to FileTrail’s continued success, and Harold brings the expertise required to move us forward.”

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.