With Elite this week kicking off its Vantage user conference in Las Vegas, there has over the past few days been a raft of senior appointment and client win announcements, particularly around 3E Cloud and Elite Essentials.
First up, Elite has appointed Stephanie Milikh (pictured below) as its new chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Milikh will be responsible for leading the company’s legal and risk management strategy, while overseeing its legal, compliance and security functions. Previously, she was general counsel at Discovery Education, a worldwide edtech provider, where she led the legal and compliance teams.
Interestingly, Milikh took up the role following the acquisition of Discovery Education by private equity firm Clearlake Capital. Elite was acquired from Thomson Reuters by TPG in June last year. Prior to Discovery Eduction, Milikh was director of legal affairs for Warner Bros. Earlier in her career, she held roles at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York City and Baker Botts in Washington D.C.
“We are at a pivotal stage in our growth journey as a SaaS company, and we are delighted to welcome Stephanie to Elite,” said CEO Mark Dorman. “Stephanie’s proven success and experience working in a SaaS environment will be critical as we continue to expand our services and drive our future growth. Her in-depth expertise and customer-focused approach will be valuable assets to our own teams and our customers.”
Also last week, Elite announced that Virginia law firm Gentry Locke has moved its financial and business operations into the cloud with 3E. Gentry Locke worked with Helm360 as implementation partner.
Established more than a century ago, Gentry Locke is now the eighth largest law firm in the state of Virginia, with an 83-strong team of lawyers practicing across a range of disciplines. It is also affiliated with ALFA International, a legal network of more than 10,000 lawyers in 140 law firms throughout the United States and in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
“Moving our business into the cloud with 3E has been a major step forward for our firm, and it is already proving transformative for us,” said Frank Pittard (pictured below), executive director at Gentry Locke. “We needed to modernize both our systems and our processes to eliminate or automate the largely manual ways of doing things. Investing in powerful technology like 3E is enabling us to better serve our clients and empowering our firm to be more efficient, productive, and profitable.”
In addition, Gentry Locke has also deployed other Elite solutions including Advanced Financial Solutions—a Microsoft Excel toolset with reporting capabilities on productivity, efficiency, and profitability—and eBillingHub.
Elsewhere, Australian law firm Colin Biggers & Paisley has selected 3E in what it describes as the final step on its journey to the cloud. Established in 1900, Colin Biggers & Paisley is a national legal practice with more than 500 employees.
The practice has been a 3E on-prem customer since 2014. With 3E in the cloud, it expects to gain efficiencies by removing or automating manual processes and be able to leverage synergies when it comes to the firm’s use of the Microsoft Power Platform.
“We made the strategic decision to move to the cloud version of 3E to take advantage of the numerous benefits the platform offers,” said Sam Sofianos, chief information officer at Colin Biggers & Paisley. “Moving to the cloud provides increased scalability, flexibility, and security and allows us to take advantage of the latest technological advancements and improve operational efficiency. It also enhances our application security and offers best-of-breed cyber protection. Adopting 3E in the cloud will play a key role in future-proofing our firm from a cybersecurity, data, and reporting perspective.”
Last up, Elite reports that its streamlined cloud product Elite 3E Essentials has had rapid uptake and a number of firms due to begin implementation or go live on the platform in the weeks ahead.
These firms include:
– U.S. law firm Dinse P.C., a Vermont-based firm serving businesses, institutions, and individuals;
– Lamson Dugan & Murray LLP, a 45-lawyer firm based in Omaha, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa, which has a heavy focus on both litigation and corporate law;
– Borgelt, Powell, Peterson & Frauen, S.C, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based firm founded in 1881, with 20 lawyers which concentrates primarily in the defense of civil litigation;
– Duggan Bertsch LLC, a Chicago-headquartered law firm with an 85-strong team focusing on business & corporate, trust & estates, real estate, and litigation;
– Figari + Davenport, LLP, founded in 1986 as one of the first commercial litigation boutiques in Dallas and which is known for its handling of complex, cutting-edge civil litigation in Texas and across the United States.
“As we considered our options to migrate from Elite Enterprise, the easy-to-use interface and superior functionality made 3E Essentials the right choice for us,” said Allan Hernandez, IT Director at Figari + Davenport. “Moving our firm to the cloud is an important step in modernizing our business, and 3E Essentials promises to provide our firm with a robust technological foundation which will be quick and easy to deploy.”