Prestigious Annual Awards Program Recognizes Companies and Products Driving Innovation in the Global Legal Industry
NEW YORK, N.Y., Nov 12, 2026 – Elite, the AI financial operations platform purpose-built for the legal industry, today announced Data Connect has been named “Overall LegalTech Data Solution of the Year” in the 7th annual LegalTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by LegalTech Breakthrough, a leading independent market intelligence organization that evaluates and recognizes standout legal technology companies, products and services around the globe.
Data Connect makes financial and operational data usable in real time across firms. It delivers governed near real-time data from 3E®, eBillingHub®, and Validate® directly into Microsoft Fabric alongside other firm systems, eliminating the need to build and maintain complex data pipelines. Data Connect puts 3E data inside the same environment as billing, CRM, and operational data so leakage becomes visible and stoppable. With governed 3E data live in Fabric, firms have visibility into profitability, staffing, and collections as work happens.
Built on Elite's Data Fabric, Elite manages the infrastructure, security, and governance, delivering a continuously updated, trusted single source of truth across work in progress, billing progression, accounts receivable, and realization. Data Connect makes data structured around law firm financial concepts, such as work in progress, realization, and matter-level profitability, available so that firms can calculate that logic on their own end, rather than first having to identify and map it themselves.
The foundation also prepares firms for embedded and agentic AI capabilities in the future. The platform enables unprecedented access to a firm’s data in a Software as a Service (SaaS), allowing Elite to collaborate and innovate with its customers to develop point- and firm-specific solutions as well as helping firms stay in sync with further innovations.
“AI and analytics investments across the legal industry are only as good as the data feeding them. Most firms have invested heavily in AI tools while their underlying financial data remains siloed, delayed, and unreliable. This is the problem Data Connect was built to solve. Pilot customers report cutting reporting time by 50% and eliminating multi-step manual processes for routine financial reporting,” said Mark Dorman, CEO, Elite. “We’re thrilled to accept ‘Overall LegalTech Data Solution of the Year’ from LegalTech Breakthrough. Along with offering unified data at your fingertips, Data Connect is also built for what comes next. As law firms operationalize AI, they need a governed, continuously available data foundation. Data Connect is that foundation.”
The legal technology sector is rapidly redefining how legal work gets done, transforming one of the world’s most complex and vital industries. From AI legal assistants and agentic research to contract intelligence, eDiscovery, court and compliance technology, and connected legal operations platforms, legal technology is delivering greater speed, transparency and access to justice for law firms, legal departments, courts and the people they serve.
The mission of the annual LegalTech Breakthrough Awards program is to recognize the innovators transforming the global legal landscape with breakthrough technology. The program conducts a comprehensive analysis of the companies redefining how legal services are researched, drafted, managed and delivered. From AI-driven research and drafting platforms and contract lifecycle management to eDiscovery, case and practice management, regulatory compliance, legal spend analytics and access-to-justice solutions, these innovations are enabling legal organizations to work more efficiently, serve clients better and shape the future of the legal profession.
“With massive AI investment, Data Connect offers firms a more deliberate and practical approach to improving how financial and operational data is accessed and used across their business. For years, firms have lived with financial and operational data trapped in fragmented systems, reassembled by hand every month. Most firms can't see where revenue slips away, relying on lengthy manual investigations,” said Bryan Vaughn, Managing Director, LegalTech Breakthrough. “With Data Connect, 3E data becomes actionable in Fabric alongside CRM, HR, billing, and operational data, creating one unified dataset across the whole firm without the need to reconcile disconnected systems. The result is an AI-ready foundation, reduced reconciliation effort, and faster, more confident decision-making.”
About Elite
Elite is the trusted automation platform for law firm operations across most of the world’s largest and most successful law firms. Founded in 1947, Elite has guided firms through every technology shift and today delivers an AI-enabled SaaS platform that unifies financial, invoice, time and data management into a single system of action. With embedded AI, predictive analytics and integrated payments, Elite’s products enable firms to shorten billing cycles, reduce write-offs and unlock firm-wide insights, making financial operations the foundation for law firm innovation and growth.
About LegalTech Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the LegalTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in legal technologies, services, companies and products. The LegalTech Breakthrough Awards program provides a forum for public recognition around the achievements of LegalTech companies and solutions in categories including Artificial Intelligence, Access to Justice, Case Management, Contract Management, Court Technology, Data and Analytics, eDiscovery, Legal Operations, Legal Research, Practice Management, RegTech and more. For more information visit LegalTechBreakthrough.com.
Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any