As InsideLegal readers are aware, we have been on a mission of late to help demystify big data and what it means to legal professionals. Beyond the buzz associated with big data and how it already impacts seemingly everyone except law firms, we thought it fitting to further spotlight content that will hopefully help enlighten big data newbies and skeptics alike.
This latest example comes from Stevens Institute of Technology’s Howe School of Technology Management, a leader in business intelligence and analytics education. This Wednesday, June 19th, the NJ-based private research university is hosting a conference entitled "Competitive Advantage in the Era of Big Data" to explore how big data has become the new basis of competition and competitive advantage in business. An impressive roster of speakers from the likes of IBM, AT&T Laboratories, SAS Institute and SorinRand LLP will tackle big data analytics and analysis; recent technology innovations and specific applications; and legal challenges and privacy protections specific to big data.
Stevens Institute of Technology has invited InsideLegal.com to participate in the day-long conference, so we will be sharing insights and session coverage via our @InsideLegal Twitter handle and subsequent coverage on the blog. There isn't an 'official' event hashtag, but we will be using #HSATM13 associated with this conference so hopefully others will use it as well.
At this point, remote access ($100 for all sessions) is the best bet for anyone still keen on attending. Please email event organizer Sharon Glennon if you are interested in remote access and she'll provide proper registration links.
Here's the scoop on the conference:
WHAT: The 2013 Howe School Alliance for Technology Management (HSATM) Conference, "Competitive Advantage in the Era of Big Data" will examine how the big data revolution, which drives new insights from massive amounts of data, will transform how organizations are managed, innovate and compete. The program includes 4 unique big data-related presentations followed by a panel discussion. Download the conference flyer here.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 19, 2013; 8:45AM - 4:45PM
WHERE: Stevens Institute of Technology, Babbio Center, 525 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030 or via remote streaming access (email sglennon@stevens.edu for details)
WHY: Big data enables the discovery of new insights from analysis of massive amounts of data. This opens up new opportunities for executive decision making and data analytics but also presents new challenges in terms of privacy, ethics and technology. The HSATM Conference continues the conversation as it relates to big data use and application in a competitive world.
WHO: 165+ onsite and remote attendees spanning IT, business management and science have registered thus far. Content wise, the 2013 HSATM Conference includes four big data presentations and a panel discussion featuring all speakers and moderated by Joe McKendrick and Mahesh Harvu, both big data authorities:
Big Data: Aspirations, Applications and Analytics — Dr. Brenda L. Dietrich, IBM Fellow, Vice President Strategy & CTO for Business Analytics, Software Group, IBM USA
Big Data: Another Wave of Innovation — Dr. David Belanger, Senior Research Fellow, Howe School of Technology Management, and Chief Scientist, AT&T Laboratories (retired)
Deriving Insight from Big Data — Dr. Manoj K. Chari, Senior Director, Operations Research, Advanced Analytics R & D, SAS Institute Inc.
Legal Issues In the Application of Big Data — Susan Okin Goldsmith, Esq., Partner and Chair of Technology Transactions Practice, SorinRand LLP
We are looking forward to expanding our big data horizons and share observations, insights and best practices with InsideLegal.com readers and the legal community.
As summer quickly approaches, so are several technology programs and conferences produced by the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). First up, the annual SharePoint Symposium (June 11-12) followed by the inaugural LegalSEC Summit (June 13), both at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center (Chicago area). The 6th annual SharePoint Symposium will see 180 attendees engage in 2 days of Microsoft SharePoint-related keynotes and sessions covering everything from SP architecture to workflow. The program includes 16 sessions including daily keynotes and runs from 8:30-5PM (June 11) and 8:30-4:00PM (June 12) including ample time for networking and visiting with the 30+ legal exhibitors that are supporting the cause and showcasing SharePoint-related technologies and services.
ILTA's LegalSEC Summit kicks-off on Thursday and is the inaugural one-day education and networking event for legal technology professionals who deal with security in their law firms and law departments. The educational program has been developed by ILTA's Server Operations and Risk & Records Management peer groups and features 16 speakers and 9 sessions including a 'cybercrime and legal security' keynote by FBI Chicago Special Agent Eric Brelsford. The first year event looks to draw 100 security attendees and approximately 20 exhibitors.
Here are our top tips for next week's SharePoint/LegalSEC double feature:
Download the handy Mobile App for the ILTA SharePoint Symposium / LegalSEC Summit for access to the agendas, speaker details, attendee lists, vendor
directory, Westin resort info, exhibit hall and much more. The mobile app is
available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
If you work/live in the Chicago area and are involved with ANYTHING related to SharePoint in Legal or legal security, register to attend either program or both. ILTA offers several flexible registration options.
Dealing with information overload? Wondering how to make sense of Big Data? Check out the 'Data Visualization in SharePoint' session that will introduce tools and techniques attorneys as well as IT can use to better understand and action information.
The LegalSEC 'top 10' session will provide just as many tips on improving firms' security posture especially as it relates to information security programs.
We've all heard about the creative BYOD programs firms are rolling out, but what about the policies and security measures associated with a sound initiative? Check out the final session of the LegalSEC summit to learn more.
InsideLegal will participate in both events next week so stay tuned for more coverage and follow-up.
Earlier this week, ILTA announced it's newest technology thought leadership initiative -- the nearly year-long Legal Technology Future Horizons (LTFH) project, a partnership effort with futurist Rohit Talwar and his Fast Future Research Limited team. Although this effort has not been officially labeled Law2020 2.0, that's how we see the progression of thought leadership, critical thinking and content around the future of legal technology as it relates to law practice. The LTFH initiative has a prominent research component which includes a global qualitative and quantitative legal survey to explore the potential impact of new and emerging technologies for law firms and the resulting strategies 10 to 15 years down the road.
New thought-leadership initiative includes
global study focused on potential impact of new and emerging legal
technologies over the next 10-15 years
Austin,
Texas, May 20, 2013 - The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA),
a peer networking organization focused on maximizing the value of legal
technology, today announced the ILTA Legal Technology Future Horizons –
Transformational Forces Project (ILTA Future Horizons), a
thought-leadership initiative focused on the future of technology for the legal
sector. The project’s core component, a global research study conducted in
partnership with Fast
Future Research Limited (Fast Future), looks at the potential impact
of new and emerging technologies for law firms and the resulting strategic
priorities over the next 10-15 years. Key study findings and recommendations
will be delivered through several interim updates, with the final report, an
executive briefing and a keynote speech scheduled for ILTA’s INSIGHT 2013
conference in London on November 14, 2013.
The
ILTA Future Horizons research study focuses on the emerging technology
timeline, major forces shaping both the business landscape and the future of
the legal sector. The study is led by Fast Future’s CEO and futurist thought
leader Rohit Talwar, who advises global companies,
governments and associations on emerging change and how to develop innovative
future growth strategies.
The
study is designed to challenge current thinking and provide insights into the
development of future business and IT strategies for law firms, law departments
and legal technology vendors, including:
Key
driving forces shaping business and the legal profession
A
timeline of future IT developments
How
to leverage IT advances that help enable and enhance tomorrow’s legal
organizations
Possible
scenarios for the role and management of IT in tomorrow’s legal organizations
Strategic
IT imperatives specific to law firms, legal departments and legal technology
providers
"This
research highlights how advances in information technology will disrupt and
transform the legal sector, how this will impact law firms specifically, how
work is done and how value can be delivered,” said Talwar. “The range of
innovations already taking place and in the pipeline suggests everything from
the structure of client briefs and analyzing documents through to court room practices
and client reporting will change dramatically as a result of rapidly
accelerating advances in areas such as a mobile computing and communications,
deep personalization, wearable and embedded technology, artificial
intelligence, big data, predictive analytics, collaborative technologies,
knowledge management, automatic translation and smart user interfaces.”
Based
on the first interim ILTA Future Horizons report (summary now available on the
ILTA project site), there are key themes
emerging around the role of technology in tomorrow’s legal enterprise:
End
users increasingly will be mobile, using wearable technologies enhanced with augmented
reality (AR) and holographic displays and supported by intelligent digital
personal assistants.
Devices
will offer AI-enabled smart interfaces and automatic language translation, and
will support user interaction via gestures, language and thought.
Customer
service delivery could be enhanced through deep collaboration environments,
portals, shared databases, telepresence robots, advanced videoconferencing,
touchable holographs, novel data handling tools and sophisticated security
technology.
Law
firm processes could be transformed through developments in AI, KM, the smart
capture and analysis of data, predictive analytics, intelligent document
production systems, video and audio mining, integrated analytics and true
gamification.
At
the IT management level, the cloud will be used for infrastructure,
applications, development and data, and priorities for IT management will shift
from production to innovation.
Numerous
project elements will come into play during the year-long study, including desk
research, telephone interviews, an associated global survey and legal industry
workshops conducted in New York City on June 14th and during ILTA’s 2013 annual
conference in August. Project deliverables include two interim findings
reports, a global ILTA member survey, and the final report in the fall. In addition, findings and results presentations and workshops will be held
during INSIGHT 2013, ILTA’s Europe event in London on November 14th.
“We
are very excited about the Legal Technology Future Horizons project and the
resulting insights and findings. ILTA members will have the benefit of
this knowledge as they prepare their firms for the future,” stated Randi Mayes,
ILTA’s Executive Director. “While ILTA’s Law2020™ initiative is the catalyst for
thinking about the future of law firms, Future Horizons has a sharp focus on
transformative technologies, and those findings will be of great interest to
legal business leaders and IT professionals alike.”
Touted as "New England’s premier legal marketing conference", the 3rd edition of the annual Super Marketing Conference (SMC) is being presented by the Center for Advanced Legal Studies and Institute on Practice Technology & Innovation; the Massachusetts Bar; the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) and Suffolk University Law School.
All day (8:30-5:15pm) conference featuring Avvo CEO keynote; 3 moderated roundtable sessions covering legal technologies, social media and marketing content; and 3 presentations focused on internet marketing, SEO and video marketing
150 attendee RSVPs (as of Wednesday AM); 3 producers; 13 sponsors (including 7 local and state bar associations); and 14 speakers/panelists
'No excuses' participation/attendance operations including in-person, online/via streaming media or via social media streams such as Twitter and Facebook
Great value tuition ranging from free for Suffolk University students and faculty/staff to $69 at the regular rate. If you are interested but are nowhere near Boston or Suffolk University, check out the affordable 'On Demand' web cast for $49.
Also, to make it easier to participate via Twitter, we have assembled a custom Twitter group including all SMC speakers, sponsors and producers. Use this list and follow the hashtag #LHLM.
Who doesn't like to be recognized and rewarded for a job well done? Especially if the kudos and hat tips are coming from peers, collegues and influencers within the legal profession. While we all seem to have the best intentions when it comes to promoting our own good deeds and innovations, we usually end up focused on the 'daily grindstone' stuff (aka looking at our feet vs. the sky). Well thanks to the College of Law Practice Management's (COLPM) annual InnovAction awards (which are now open for entries), any legal professional or legal organization can show off their greatest legal 'game changers' and shoot for the stars. InnovAction chair Tim Corcoran provides the award skinny on his blog plus we've included the corresponding press release below. Any and all award details can be found on the InnovAction Award site and specific award and eligibility questions will be gladly addressed by Tim Corcoran.
The College of Law Practice Management to
recognize innovation and ingenuity in law practice
Denver, CO, May
8, 2013 - The College of Law Practice
Management (COLPM), an international organization that recognizes excellence in
law practice management, is calling for entries for its 2013 InnovAction Awards,
a worldwide recognition of lawyers, law firms, law departments and other legal
service providers that have innovated and successfully applied new business practices
to the delivery of legal services. Since the award’s inception in 2004, 22 InnovAction
award winners have been crowned including 15 law firms as well as law schools,
not-for-profits and legal service providers. Submissions for the 2013 InnovAction Awards will
be accepted until June 30, 2013.
The goal of the InnovAction Awards is to demonstrate to the legal
community what can be created when dedicated professionals with big ideas and
strong convictions are determined to make a difference. Any individual lawyer
or law firm (locally or globally), or any business providing services to
lawyers, law firms or consumers of legal services, is eligible to submit an
award application. Recipients of the 2012 InnovAction Awards include Littler
Mendelson, PC and Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Prior winners are listed in the InnovAction ‘Hall of Fame’.
“The InnovAction Award recognizes creativity as well as genuine
and disruptive ways of thinking when it comes to legal services delivery
worldwide,” said COLPM President Ron Staudt. “We know that innovation fuels
solutions that help solve the business challenges faced by law firms and legal
professionals and are proud to recognize those at the forefront of this change.”
All award entries are reviewed and judged by a panel of five COLPM
Fellows. This year, a past InnovAction Award winner will join the judging panel
plus the legal community will vote online to serve as the 7th judge.
This crowd-sourcing component will allow legal professionals to participate and
vote for their favorite submission online.
InnovAction Award entries will be judged on the following four
primary criteria:
Disruption:
Does this entry change an important element of the legal services process for
the better, and marketplace expectations along with it?
Value:
Is the client and/or legal industry better off, in terms of the affordability,
ease, relevance or its effect on legal services?
Effectiveness:
Has this entry delivered real, demonstrable or measurable benefits, for the
provider, its clients, or the marketplace generally?
Originality:
Is this a novel idea or approach, or a new twist on an existing idea or
approach?
“We are thrilled to continually
recognize legal innovators with the InnovAction Award and invite the legal
community’s thought leaders and influencers to participate in the process,”
stated Tim Corcoran, Chair of the 2013 Awards and principal, Corcoran
Consulting Group. “Applicants should take some time to reflect on what
differentiates them … What approaches have you employed this year that have
produced fantastic results? What efforts have resulted in higher client
satisfaction? Generated more leads? Provided a substantial number of people
with access to justice? Or improved operational efficiency or service quality?”
Further information about the awards, past winners, eligibility rules,
sponsorship information and entry forms are available at the InnovAction
Award website.
# # #
About COLPM
The College of Law Practice
Management (COLPM) is a not-for-profit organization formed in 1994 to honor and
recognize distinguished law practice management professionals, to set standards
of achievement for others in the profession, and to fund and assist projects
that enhance the highest quality of law practice management. The COLPM and its
Fellows inspire excellence and innovation in law practice management by honoring
extraordinary achievement; developing, exchanging and disseminating knowledge,
and stimulating innovation in the delivery of legal services.
About 2013 InnovAction Awards
The COLPM continues its global
search for ingenuity in law practice management. Designed to inspire creative
thinking in a field known for its over-reliance on precedent, the InnovAction Awards
are intended not only to identify effective innovation but also to inspire it
through international recognition. Since its inception in 2004, 22 legal
organizations including law firms, not-for-profits, legal service providers and
law schools have received the annual InnovAction award.
About 2013 InnovAction Award Sponsors
The 2013 InnovAction Awards are sponsored by the following
organizations and companies with a passion for innovation including:
Platinum Sponsors:
Attorney at Work, Greenfield/Belser Ltd.,InsideLegal.com, Practical Law Company
Gold Sponsors: ABA Law Practice Management
Section, International Legal Technology Association (ILTA)
Silver Sponsors: Altman Weil, Inc., Association
of Legal Administrators and Legal Marketing Association
Today, much of the legal IT community in the UK, as well as a healthy share of US legal tech professionals, are convening at the QEII
Conference Centre in London for the sold out event, LawTech Futures 2013 – The Future of Legal
Technology’.
Following
a strong debut in 2012, LawTech Futures (LTF) producers Netlaw
Media and Charles Christian of the Legal Technology Insider have upped the ante
with a ‘bigger and better’ approach in terms of number of delegates, exhibitors,
educational sessions and speakers. For all the details, check out LTF statistics infographic or full event brochure.
LTF 2013 features three presentation stages - Main Stage, Lounge Stage & Demonstration Stage - including a 400 seat conference room hosting 10+ hours of content delivered by 40 speakers & panelists including keynoter Ray Kurzweil; leading IT/EDD consultant Andrew Haslam; Neil Cameron, Founder Neil Cameron Consulting Group; White & Case Head of KM Oz Benamram; Norton Rose's Sam Dimond; Jason Plant of DLA Piper; and Herbert Smith Freehills CIO Haig Tyler.
Here's our top two session picks:
"Managing Innovation in an Era of Accelerating Technology": Keynote speaker Ray Kurzweil looks to touch on all the current 'biggies' - leveraging tech to deliver better legal services; recognizing disruptive forces and capitalizing on them; virtual reality will bring us all closer, how can law firms take advantage?
"Big Data Analytics - Innovating Services in a Rapidly Changing World": Big data is a favorite topic of ours these days, especially since most legal professionals still don't know what to do with it. This LTF session is lead by the EMEA Lead of Business Solutions for Google, Matt McNeill, so hopefully he'll be able to demystify and surely add fuel to the big data fire.
When not attending LTF sessions, delegates will be able to check out 65 exhibiting companies spanning all aspects of legal technology and services. According to Charles Christian, 45% of all exhibitors are from outside the UK.
Stay tuned for more information and follow throughout the day on Twitter at #LTF2013.
We have spent the last 14 years working within the legal community and a central connection point has always been attending industry events ranging from
LegalTech to ABA events and legal administrator programs as well as technology
conferences such as the annual ILTA educational conference. For some strange, ‘bad timing’ reason, we have
never participated in the Legal Marketing Association’s (LMA) Annual Conference so when we spoke with LMA's Executive Director, Betsi Roach, and discovered the 2013 conference was directly after LexThink.1 and the ABA TECHSHOW, we decided to join 1,200+ legal
marketers and law firm marketing-specific vendors at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas, flying directly there from Chicago.
We thoroughly enjoyed the high caliber educational sessions and numerous
networking and collaboration opportunities. In the spirit of voicing our 'clean
slate' opinion, and with the intention of ‘keeping the marketing innovation ball
rolling’, we are sharing our 2013 LMA Conference session take-aways and marketing
observations:
Be
proactive and timely with marketing outreach & client communication: One
of the big themes all week was the heightened expectations general counsel and
corporate legal departments have when it comes to the marketing and content
efforts put forth by law firm subject matter experts and legal marketers. The
two biggest ‘must provides’ focused on timely
and relevant content—new case
rulings; relevant legislation; opinion and thought leader pieces by law firm
leaders; and email alerts with dynamic, real-time content versus static,
re-packaged dated information. As stated by a few panelists during InsideCounsel’s General Counsel Panel, law
firms need to be their corporate clients' ‘eyes and ears’ in their particular
practice area of expertise: “Before we give you our business, make it yours to
know ours, inside and out.”
Share
+ inspire: We left LMA inspired to implement what we learned and share
lessons learned and examples with our community. Not everyone was so lucky as
to attend the annual meeting, but thanks to social networks and tools everyone
can benefit from the output of the various sessions. Case in point, we have seen several top notch LMA recap/follow-up blog posts and articles so simply search for #LMA13 on Twitter to view some of these. As you are reading this
post, we encourage you to share your ‘take-ways’ not only with other marketers
and business development folks, but with lawyers who might wonder
why you are out of the office and in Las Vegas. It is your job to share this information
and inspire your colleagues to try out new marketing efforts and at a minimum be
open to you initiating new marketing programs that could benefit your firm.
Also, the best way to ‘share and inspire’ is to get out of your office. Marketers need to proactively engage their attorneys – schedule some visits, take your
partner out to lunch and find out what their biggest pains are and how
marketing can help. Take this a step further and get involved in the next business
pitch, be it by lending creative expertise, statistical and business analysis, a
social media primer or something else your attorneys will value and want you to
share.
Bet
on big data: While several LMA Conference sessions touched on how legal
marketers can make better use of the client data they already have to provide
better communication, Wednesday’s final ‘Leveraging Big 4 Consulting Best
Practices to Bolster your Business Development Strategies’ session really drove
home the big data mining point. As featured in BTI Consulting Group’s session
wrap-up, the Big Four accounting firms have long been using aggregated
client data and client preferences to determine which content, educational sessions
and special programs their clients and prospects might be interested in. Keeping
clients looped in on timely information and relevant educational opportunities
not only helps marketers standout in the era of the ‘exploding’ inbox, but let’s
clients know they know their business and needs as intimately as they do. Our
Head of Content Jobst Elster was recently interviewed by ABA’s Law Practice Today - Digital Edge
podcast's hosts Sharon Nelson (Sensei Enterprises) and Jim Calloway (Oklahoma Bar Association) on ‘Big Data for Lawyers’ and much of the discussion focused on law firm
marketing’s role in pushing the big data envelope. In fact, a recent Gartner survey revealed that by 2017, marketing will have a larger technology
budget focused on big data mining and analytics technology than IT!
Manage
+ measure: We’ve all heard ‘you can only manage what you measure’ (and vice versa), so prioritize
establishing metrics for your marketing efforts. This has many benefits beyond
being able to determine the return of your marketing spend and efficacy of your
marketing tactics. For one, being able to scientifically prove that a marketing
effort works or doesn’t can empower you to experiment more and show your
attorneys that say their ‘tried and true’ brown bag sessions are really not
adding new clients. LMA Conference presenters mentioned several useful free
tracking and measurement tools including Twitter (track new followers and
popularity of specific content and call-to-action messages); bitly (provides custom
shortened links for blog posts/articles/content that can be tracked revealing
click-through rates and popularity); Google Analytics (to track website traffic
and online content and link popularity); and Google Alerts (to keep track of legal
issues, competitors and trends).
LMA Conference Keynote Professor David Wilkins, Harvard Law School
Kiss the ‘traditional’
sales process goodbye: We are all too familiar with the age
old sales funnel concept which starts with a large number of prospective contacts on
top, continues with a handful of qualified leads further down the funnel, and
ends with one client or new customer at the bottom. The idea is that sales is a
‘numbers game’ and the more you pour in the top (unqualified prospects) the
more will eventually come out at the bottom (even if not your 'ideal' client). This is conducive to mass marketing
and cold-calling centered lead generation all of which have proven to not work
within the realm of law firm business development. New attention must be given to client relationships,
client loyalty and influence, and the establishment of trust and advocacy. We
have seen this before of course but have noticed creative interactive agencies
like One North Interactive increasingly advising their clients on how they can establish greater client influence,
trust and loyalty leveraging personalized website content and customizing the online
user experience based on preferences and real time needs. Client feedback and client loyalty were also central themes of Wednesday's final session moderated by BTI Consulting's principal Marcie Borgal Shunk and highlighted research findings reiterating how far ahead of BigLaw Big 4 Accounting is when it comes to client feedback and satisfaction. It boils down to knowing your clients and what they expect of you. This point was hammered home by LMA Conference keynote speaker and Harvard Law Professor David Wilkins and is clearly articulated as part of the ACC Value Challenge which goes far beyond improving legal spending and is focused on the entire law firm-corporation relationship.
Thought leadership ... is NOT dead: While it might be an overused and tired buzz
word with much promise but lacking content substance, law firm thought
leadership remains one of the top criteria GCs look at when engaging potential
outside counsel. Your firm leaders not only need to know what they are talking
about (subject matter expertise) but display leadership and a ‘voice of
authority’ when it comes to their legal expertise. If your traditional thought leadership outreach is falling flat, explore new avenues of reaching
your clients and prospects such as concise videos, webinars including
actionable intelligence and content, and intimate client events.
Don’t
give up on social media, just ‘spoon feed’ it: While
ignorance might be bliss, there’s nothing blissful about avoiding or ignoring
social media for your law firm. While your lawyers may not yet see the light
when it comes to leveraging social media tools to participate in the online legal
conversation, chances are the competition does and within the next few years
there will be no alternative. It’s sort of like the proliferation of smartphones these days, everyone has one; the only differentiation is the preferred mobile
platform and scope of use aka which apps are you using. With that said, its legal marketing’s job to know
which social tools are out there and which ones the firms should consider and
vet. Based on what we heard this week, the two pieces of social media ‘low
hanging fruit’ are blogs and Twitter. Both can be gradually rolled out and in
the case of Twitter, research gathering and content aggregation can be a major
firm benefit without actively tweeting or growing your Twitter presence. This week'sInsideCounsel 'In-house New Media Engagement Survey' findings revelaed that 74% of all corporate respondents are so called 'invisible users'; they use LinkedIn and other social media tools but mostly to listen in and receive information versus actively participating and sharing. Equally intriguing is the statistic that 55% of GCs read
attorney-authored blogs as frequently as blogs authored by professional journalists
and 53% of counsel envision a future in which a well executed blog will
influence hiring decisions.
While this is not an exhaustive list of ‘lessons learned’, we hope
it will inspire and motivate to keep on pushing the envelope when it comes to
your firms’ marketing effort. Stay tuned for our next post on ‘No Regrets Marketing
… Vegas Style’.
Knowing that Britt Lorish would lead the charge
this year as ABA TECHSHOW 2013 Chair, meant we’d all be in for a well run conference, not dissimilar to past years. As it turns out, 2013 was a record breaker
with new attendance highs and heightened vendor interest to the tune of 112
exhibitor booths (5% increase over 2012). While embarking on our 14th TECHSHOW, we have come to expect world-class legal technology content (12 separate tracks, 65+ sessions, plus various dedicated vendor sessions as well as 'meet the author' Q&As); expert insight and advice, 'free of charge', to all -- Adriana Linares' brainchild many TECHSHOWs ago was to setup a concierge desk to enable conference goers to more easily interact with TECHSHOW staff and speakers. This legal technology 'oracle' along with the 'Taste of ABA TECHSHOW' dinners and the annual 'Beer for Blawgers' shindig (thank you Kevin O'Keefe and ABA Journal) makes this conference a definite 'one and only'. Another party worth mentioning was Clio's MeetUp Thursday night at the Luxbar. As usual, Clio was an incredible host and the event brought together a great group for a great time.
Our big focus for 2013, and the main theme for our LexThink.1 legal innovation and disruption event the night before TECHSHOW kick-off, was disruption. As mentioned in our own disruptive post pre-show, we headed into the week with key questions in mind -- what can we learn from market disruption? can innovation and disruption be 'force-fed'? and is 'build it and they will come' still the best way to 'acid test' disruption?
LexThink.1. Yet again the (10) speakers all stepped up in a big way - focusing your thoughts and emotions into a 6 minute, timed presentation has to be one of the hardest things on the planet. And, our audience, 200+ legal professionals, all showed up as planned to support the cause and embrace disruption heading into TECHSHOW. In order to get a better sense of what our speakers' thought of disruption, we asked all 10 of them to name the biggest market disruption they had witnessed in legal. Answers included much of what these days we take for granted ... the internet, email, the cloud and others such as the advent of electronically stored information (ESI) in e-Discovery; the demise of paper; the emergence of the virtual law practice; the potential of big data analytics; LegalZoom-type, online legal services companies; and the end of
traditional firm business models. Thanks again to our sponsor, Clio.
Vendor Mix. As mentioned in last year’s conference
round-up, one of the many refreshing facts about TECHSHOW is that it remains an
educational conference and expo focused on legal technology, not merely eDiscovery or
litigation support. In fact, per the official show guide, only 9 of the 112
exhibiting vendors spanning an abundance of legal technologies, apps and legal services touted
eDiscovery or litigation support solutions. That's an exhibitor representation of
8% versus 41%
eDiscovery vendors at LegalTech NY in January. Is this a fair reflection of smaller &
mid firm needs (as in they don’t have the same EDD challenges as bigger firms …)
or a sobering reminder that eDiscovery tools for the small and medium firm
market are few and far between?!
What we did see as a consistent reality of
TECHSHOW technology was the focus on cloud applications spanning storage and archiving
to full featured case/matter/practice management systems. In fact, the rapid
growth of the 'practice management as-a-service' category and the accelerating ‘arms
race’ of the ‘big three’ [Clio, MyCase & RocketMatter] must be putting big
smiles on attorneys and legal professionals everywhere, who are or at least should be really getting their
money’s worth depending on what they value most. Just in time for TECHSHOW,
Clio, for us by far the most prominent (in terms of overall presence, involvement and
sponsorships) of the 3 companies, announced a technology
integration with NetDocuments. Via the integration, small and
mid-sized law firms using NetDocuments get the benefits of practice management
through Clio, managing their practices from intake to invoicing, and Clio
users, get the power of NetDocuments for storing, organizing and searching
documents.
California-based MyCase, which since TECHSHOW
2012, was acquired by AppFolio last October, showcased
an app that allows both clients and lawyers to access their case information. Law
firm clients are now able to view information about their case; send and
receive messages to and from the law firm as well as view and respond to
comments.
The biggest ‘what could this mean for ‘SmallLaw’?’
announcement came from the Rocket Matter camp with the introduction of Rocket X1, a new internet
marketing service for law firms. A stand-alone RM business, Rocket X1 is designed to bring together
several "agency" marketing services, such as website design and
search engine optimization, under one umbrella and is initially targeted at 10
or more attorney practices. While this, at first glance, sounds very much like
what FindLaw and Lawyers.com offer, we’ll definitely stay tuned to see how this
advances.
Disruptive keynote: New York Times Columnist and personal tech gadget guy David Pogue stole the show in his Friday afternoon keynote focused on guess what, disruption: "Disruptive Tech: What's New, What's Coming and How Will It Change Everything". Pogue, a truly likable and very funny dude, was introduced, in another keynote first for us, via 'piano and song' by the multi-talented Steve Best (member of the 2013 ABA TECHSHOW planning board and LexThink.1 2012 speaker alumnus). Pogue spent his keynote hour cracking jokes and singing (hear below) about technology not just about what's out there but also and most importantly to him how it affects people. He talked a lot about what he calls 'app phones', you may know them as smartphones, and the evolution into true productivity, entertainment and business devices. He discussed the evolution of Web1.0, where site owners create content, to Web 2.0, where site visitors create content, and how this continues to shift our online experience. Sticking with the online theme and how we are now in control of content creation, Pogue cited Wikipedia and the sheer idea of 'random people' posting content and context. And, to the amazement of the standing room only TECHSHOW crowd, he stated that Wikipedia was tested for accuracy versus the iconic Encyclopedia Britannica and come out 2% more accurate leading to the recent demise of Britannica's entire print operation. While Pogue touched on a myriad of tech examples and innovations through pictures, URLs, and short video clips, he summarized his biased opinion of our favorite social media tools including Twitter in a few show tune-style songs to wrap-up the 'best ever TECHSHOW' keynote. Like many of the TECHSHOW board members and presenters said, as we walked out of the session, the 2014 planning board is 'screwed' and 'good luck' when it comes to trumping the Pogue keynote selection. Something tells us with Natalie Kelly (Program Chair of the Georgia Bar) as the 2014 Chair, they'll find a way.
Big Data. Big Hype? Of course, we couldn't complete a technology conference post (at least recently) without mentioning Big Data and what it can/should/could/might mean to legal. We started this discussion late last year, really got active on the topic during and post Legal Tech, and are now kicking-off an InsideLegal Big Data content series. Our mission in Chicago was to continue our big data and legal tech vendor conversation (stay tuned for a chat with kCura's Jay Leib) as well as getting a better sense for BD's application in small law which synched up well with a majority of TECHSHOW attendees. The short answer, based on an impromptu Big Data survey we conducted onsite, is that BD's potential in legal 'depends' on who you are, how you want to use it and how easily you can access it. With that said, there's a general consensus (at least broad enough to generalize) that analytics, business intelligence technologies and data mining tools are the most obvious way to take advantage of big data. The challenge we saw in talking with many folks is that there has not been a 'landmark' event or occurrence to make anyone do more than just think about BD opportunities or even how it might harm them or their clients. No one is yet being asked to solve any specific BD 'problems' therefore there has not been much thought given to it. This is where to us, disruption becomes paramount and ignoring the conventional 'wait and see' attitude can quickly catapult certain companies and organizations to the forefront of legal big data innovation. At TECHSHOW, we predicted that in 2014 up to half of all exhibitors will have some type of a big data story or at least know how it might impact legal. Also, while BD as a broad concept might not resonate with small law firms, tackling a small project that uses stored and on-hand data to better serve clients and one up the competition should be in everyone's realm of possibilities.
ABA TECHSHOW 2013 was a blast and we are already looking forward to 2014. Good luck to 2014 ABA TECHSHOW Chair Natalie Kelly and the Planning Committee. See you there March 27-29, 2014...
