Elite Information Group – leader in enterprise solutions for professional services organizations
showing strong financial results

Technology
Computer Networks
NASD: ELTE

Elite Information Group, Inc.

5100 West Goldleaf Circle, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90056



Christopher K. Poole
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer

Interview conducted by:
Walter Banks, Co-Publisher

CEOCFOinterviews.com
October 2001

BIO OF CEO,

Chris Poole
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Elite Information Group
Chris joined Elite in 1995 as Chief Operating Officer and was promoted to President in 1997.  In 1999, Chris was elected Chairman and CEO following the divestiture of the company's customer relationship management business in Charlotte and the renaming of the parent company from Broadway and Seymour to Elite Information Group, Inc.  Prior to joining Elite, Chris was the Executive Director at Latham & Watkins, one of the largest law firms in the world.  He joined Latham & Watkins in 1989 as their Director of Technology and helped transform the firm into one of the most advanced users of legal technology in the world.  He holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA in Computer Science and Marketing from the Anderson Graduate School for Management at UCLA. 

Elite Information Group, Inc.

Established in 1949, Elite is the world leader in enterprise software solutions for professional services firms.  Elite has installations in more than 800 firms internationally. Elite Information Group is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol ELTE, and is the parent company to Elite Information Systems, Inc., Elite.com, and Law Manager, Inc. 

Elite's software and database technology has proven itself in professional services firms throughout the world and ranging in size from sole practitioners to over 4000 timekeepers.  Elite is the practice management system used by more than half the AmLaw 100.  65 of the top 100 US law firms use Elite’s Professional Billing System.

Elite’s Professional Services Suite, which was introduced in 2001, addresses the demands of professional services firms outside the legal industry.  Resource management, project management, knowledge management, and travel & expense management integrate seamlessly with Elite’s financial management and billing solutions to provide a robust means of managing service delivery and profitability at the resource level. 

Elite’s Web-based solutions allow professional services firms of any size to benefit from the best systems, service and support in the business.  Elite’s ASP hosting solution, e-Connect from Elite, allows users to access Elite's industry-leading suite of practice and financial management applications in a hosted, secure and reliable environment via the Internet. 

Building on Elite Information Group’s reputation and experience as the leading financial and practice management solution for the legal market, Elite.com provides small and sole practitioner professional services firms an easy way to improve cash flow through the most innovative online time and billing system.  Elite.com leverages the Internet to enable professionals and consultants — anyone who tracks and bills time — to account for time-based activities and expenses and to send out invoices, anytime and anywhere.

Law Manager, Inc. is a leading knowledge management system facilitating the Business-to-Business functions of corporate, government, and law departments for litigation support, case management, matter management, and project management.  By providing web-enabled invoicing and budget analysis at the law firm site, and management of outside counsel matters and vendor relations for in-house counsel, the Law Manager Notebook and Toolkit make the Internet a practical and valuable resource for lawyers and clients alike.

Elite combines strong product development, great technology, and great people to compete in the legal enterprise software vertical and to power its growth in the broader professional services market.  The company strives to hire and retain quality employees.  As a result, the Elite team has the highest level of expertise of any company serving the professional services market.  Many of Elite’s employees have advanced business or technical degrees or both.  Approximately two-thirds of the company’s employees are devoted to customer support, training, and installation..  Virtually all employees have prior experience in professional service firms, accounting, or technical implementation, so they understand the pressures, deadlines, and requirements of the markets they serve.

CEOCFOinterviews - Mr. Poole, can you give us a brief history of Elite? 

Mr. Poole: "Elite was originally a family run company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in l947, and has been in the software business since the early eighties. In 1994 we were acquired by a Charlotte-based software company that was pursuing a consolidation strategy. That corporate entity proved to be unsuccessful, but the Elite core business continued , although Elite to grow and prosper. There ensued a series of divestitures, until we eventually spun off the parent company itself, which was an unusual transaction, taking over our public company listing on NASDAQ and changing the symbol to today’s ELTE."

"I think it is very important for everybody who is reading about our company, to dig in and get the history of Elite. Most of the publicly available information makes it difficult to understand, primarily because we were a private company for a long time, then a wholly owned subsidiary of a company that was sold, and only recently have broken out as an independent public company. If you look at the numbers that our core business has produced over the last several years you actually see a very, very consistent track record of 30 - 35% revenue growth, and this year’s cash flow and earnings growth is even higher. We think we are poised for continued growth, and we are confident about our plan."

CEOCFOinterviews - How long have you been with Elite?

Mr. Poole: "I have been with the company since 1995. I joined as COO and was promoted to CEO and chairman about 2 years ago."

CEOCFOinterviews - What would you say is your most recent and exciting news?

To receive a complete copy of this interview call: 570-839-0236