InsideLegal

ABA TECHSHOW 2025: Celebrating 40 Years of Legal Tech Education

ABA TECHSHOW is all grown up. Starting April 2, TECHSHOW celebrates 40 years of bringing lawyers and technology together. In 1986, the ABA Law Practice Division first produced this unique conference to help lawyers source, test, and educate themselves on all things legal technology. 2025 is no exception with 70+ sessions, the 9th annual start-up legal tech company competition on Wednesday night, and a highly anticipated keynote by science fiction novelist, journalist and technology activist Cory Doctorow bound to captivate attendees. 

New venue. New energy. TECHSHOW 2025 takes place April 2-5, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois - a first time, new venue which according to TECHSHOW organizers has been well received, with conference registration and exhibitor participation nearing new records. 

Curious to get a preview of what nearly 80 speakers will be sharing across the four day program? Check out our TECHSHOW agenda word cloud for some guidance.

(Click on image to enlarge - Includes words mentioned more than once in agenda)

Legalweek 2025 Word Cloud: What's Buzzing This Year?!

Monday marks the beginning of Legalweek 2025 in New York City. Legalweek, still known to many of us as LegalTech NY, will allow attendees the opportunity to "explore emerging trends, spotlight the latest tech, and offer a roadmap through the industry's seismic shifts." We've taken the conference program content -- 100+ educational sessions, spanning 35 topical tracks, presented by 300+ speakers, curated for the 6,000+ advertised attendees, and produced a visual word cloud. As many reading this probably remember, InsideLegal has created word clouds for many previous LegalTech/Legalweek editions. Remember when this was an eDiscovery show?!

(Click on image to expand)

ILTACON 2022: Something Old, Something New, Something Blue

ILTACON 2022 is now over a week in the rearview, yet many of us attending still have ILTACON on the brain. After all, it’s hard to simply move on from 3,000 legal tech professionals, in one place, in the flesh, networking and socializing like the good old days. We won't go into all the Covid+ cases post conference. Here's a collection of what stood out to me:

Fresh blood …new vendors, US entrants, new energy

While we ran into the usual suspects of vendors and members, the 160+ exhibitor list included a fair share of first-timers. We talked to Early Stephens, CEO at Actionstep, a cloud practice management solution with roots in New Zealand, about first impressions: "I anticipated seeing deep experience and knowledge given the caliber of ILTACON attendees and exhibitors. But what really caught my attention was the dedication, even passion, at using technology to make life better for their firms and clients. That bodes well for the future of all of us in the legaltech space." Well said Early, it's that dedication to the 'craft' and passion for all things legal tech that had me returning for a 23rd time.

Another ILTACON newbie, who I spent considerable time with throughout the week was Cork, Ireland based Bundledocs offering cloud-based document bundling/binding and PDF editing. A mere startup four years ago, but already a market leader back home and throughout the UK and EMEA, their ILTACON team was led by CEO Brian Kenneally, marketing director Lisa Walsh, business development exec Aisling Murphy, and legal tech veteran Peter Zver, responsible for exposure and growth in North America. In fact, I was beyond thrilled when Peter reached out to me several months back to tell me he was starting a new chapter, after much success with Tikit (later Advanced), to get back to his 'start-up' and entrepreneurial roots and assume the role of vp of operations with a focus on growing the Bundledocs brand and product in North America. When they were not meeting attendees, networking with partners, and making introductions with the media assembled onsite, the Bundledocs team premiered Ireland's original superhero Cú Chulainn as part of Monday night's exhibit hall opening reception.

It was also great to catch-up with Simon Hill, appointed as Bundledocs' non-executive director back in March, and currently the CEO and co-founder of Xperate, a UK based software development company. Simon was just what the doctor ordered, who along with Peter, helped Brian and the team navigate the unchartered US legal tech seas and the many quirks of ILTACON. Watch this space for what Simon, Mark Garnish and the Xperate team will be creating and innovating in the months and year to come.

Feeding Super heroes: While business partners tried to up the ante with an ode to superheroes during the exhibit hall reception, Affinity Consulting dropped the mic, honoring their volunteer fire fighter colleague and his fire fighting brethren.

When he’s not working with Affinity Consulting clients, Dan Arntsen volunteers as a firefighter and first responder, something he’s been dedicated to for 15 years, serving his Madison, Wisconsin community.

With a hat tip to their real life superhero, the Affinity Consulting crew added a fundraiser to their ILTACON booth presence and by the time Thursday rolled around, reached their goal of buying lunch for 500 firefighters.

Rise and Run: Ari’s fun run has become a legal tech conference tradition. Organized by industry juggernaut Ari Kaplan, conference goers interested in an early morning jog have joined Ari since his first ‘rise and run’ at Relativity Fest in 2018. The 7^th edition went down on Wednesday morning of ILTACON22 around National Harbor. Not only did Ari provide some cardio, he also made a donation in memory of #AlexHanan to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America on  behalf of all of the attendees. Donations can be made here.

Joy’s got muscle. ILTA CEO Joy Heath-Rush really could not have a more perfect first name ... every time I see her, and it's been a while, makes me happy and in a hugging mood. This year was no exception. In order to make sure she wouldn't over extend and pace herself throughout conference week, Joy's BFF Nancy and close friend since high school insisted to tag along and protect Joy from the ILTACON Paparazzi and to be honest mostly herself. As Joy shared, "Nancy doesn't play, she'll slap your hand with a ruler if need be."

Legal tech themes that won't go away

So after several days of popping into sessions, chatting up lots of conference goers, bugging Beth Anne Stuebe and the ILTA TV crew, and talking with exhibitors, here are my recurring themes:

• Chasing data: Jeff Kosek with Element Technologies really summed it up best when I asked what stood out to him by conference week-end. "An overwhelming number of people I spoke with have so much data and applications, but NO idea how to compile that data, interpret it and predict better ways to run the law firm." So either vendors selling data analytics, business intelligence, data metrics/KPI tools and data integrations are doing a miserable job communicating their value prop or law firms are having a hard time defining what they want to measure, track and present and what questions to ask of their vendors. I am sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle but I don't see this pain going away for the foreseeable future.
• Integrate, integrate, integrate: Back in June, NetDocuments' Jed Cawthorne published an article in ILTA's Peer to Peer magazine entitled "Not All Integrations Are Created Equal" focused on providing a frame of reference when it comes to grading the quality and efficacy of integrations. Cawthorne recommends evaluating a tech partner's API Access (not all APIs are created equal either), UI/UX, integration with other tools, and closely evaluating the ultimate business goals central to said integration. I kept on thinking about this as many floor conversations I had focused on seeking new integrations or trying to resurrect an integration that neglected Jed's advice. As the legal tech cloud rush continues, integrations will surely become a bigger challenge before it is considered handled.
• Email's not going anywhere: This is today's reality as is the fact that some attorneys will continue to blow up their Inbox storage to the dismay of IT. With that being said, thanks to AI, ML, NLP and lots of vendor creativity and innovation, there are numerous ways to minimize related headaches and give users the email management tools they need (ideally, unbeknownst to them) to enhance, not impede productivity. Think Zero, NetDocuments ndMail and so on.

The skies are blue ... stop saying cloud: As far as I can tell, the only really positive thing that came of the Pandemic is the gold rush to the cloud. I have often wondered if other industries still qualify their technology like we do and how long cloud computing will be considered novel and risky by some. Well, the 2022 ILTA Technology Survey Executive Summary released last week reaffirms our new reality ... "the cloud ain't going anywhere"

Download the 2022 ILTA Technology Survey Executive Summary from us here....

 

ILTACON 2021: Legal Tech's Lollapalooza Back in Full Swing

We are excited to reconnect with our legal tech brethren this week as we head to Vegas for ILTACON 2021. It's hard to believe that my last travel to conference was TECHSHOW in February 2020 when baskets of ABA branded hand sanitizers sat untouched in the exhibit hall. 

I know the hype, anticipation as well as apprehension surrounding ILTACON this year is high so not having major expectations might be the best M.O. Regardless, one thing is certain, the conference content, delivered via nearly 90 in-person and virtual sessions, will be high caliber and provide many opportunities to learn, share ideas and trade war stories. A brief look at the session 'areas of focus' provides a preview of what ILTA members are looking for: 8 sessions are focused on Corporate; 7 on Litigation Support; 6 on Security; 6 on KM; 5 on Marketing as well as numerous sessions on AI, O365, Legal Process Improvement, Leadership and Data Science. You can also check out InsideLegal's word cloud from the ILTACON 2021 session grid here.

While there are too many intriguing sessions to list, here's a handful that caught my eye:

Disrupt the DMS - How We Made SharePoint Work, 8/25, 11AM 

Who Watches the Watchers? Vetting and Securing Cloud Services, 8/25, 2:30PM (onsite only)

One Size Does Not Fit All: Leveraging Client Feedback to Co-Create Innovative Technology Solutions That Strengthen Relationships, Create Value, and Drive Revenue, 8/25 4:00PM 

Looking Beyond the New Normal: Maximizing Productivity in a Permanently Hybrid World, 8/25, 2:30PM 

All Together Now: Co-Authoring With or Without Your Document Management System, 8/24, 4:00PM – Michelle S.

I'll be roaming the Mandalay Bay exhibit hall and conference space this week so look forward to seeing many familiar faces. #myILTACON

ILTACON 2021 Educational Sessions in Word Cloud View

For the last decade, InsideLegal has created word clouds from legal industry event agendas to give an overview of session content and areas of interest. To view the entire educational content grid, click here. Here's the word cloud from ILTACON 21's educational agenda and you can also view it at https://bit.ly/ILTA21_Cloud.

(Click image to view in greater detail)

 

Thinking Out Cloud: Has Legal Reached the Point of No Cloud Return?

InsideLegal first started asking law firms and legal IT professionals about the cloud and if/when/how their firms would consider cloud computing well over 15 years ago as part of our annual ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Surveys. Thanks to new cloud innovations and legal cloud-specific applications, law firms with a well-defined 'cloud first' strategy, and oh yeah, a pandemic that has accelerated remote working and reliance on cloud architecture, and we can finally exhale and confidently say that cloud computing in legal has arrived ... for good.

InsideLegal's Jobst Elster, who originated Legal Management Magazine's "Thinking Out Cloud" recurring column on all things legal cloud, once again has his head in the cloud's with his recent feature in Legal I(nnovation)&T(echnology) Today. Legal I(nnovation)&T(echnology) Today is a must-read publication covering legaltech and legal innovation and is available for free online here. You can also access past issues here.

Thinking Out Cloud-Has Legal Reached the Point of No Cloud Return? takes us on a cloud journey, examines what a ‘why not cloud vs why cloud’ reality looks like and pulls in legal tech luminaries and experts to get their take on the state of the cloud in legal.

Enjoy the read and remember to subscribe to Legal I(nnovation)&T(echnology) Today online.

Replacing Legal Market Trends with Real World Realities

Welcome to the 'new (ab)normal'! When is the last time you were glued to the TV, social ... pick your media to figure out what's next, not only in your own life but with the economy, your own businesses and anything and everything you care about? Oh yeah and there's the working from home 'thing', 24/7, with or without a proper place or space to call your office.

While we are all looking to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and somehow come out stronger on the other side, the reality of what the legal community is going through is as many commentators like to say "fluid", at best. In other words, we have no idea what's next or what we are supposed to do, how we are supposed to act, and how aggressive we should be about business as usual without coming off as annoyingly tone deaf.

I was recently invited by Qorus Software (producers of sales enablement/proposal/RFP automation technology) to address the "how the hell should we market right now, what's our reality and how does this match up with 2020 marketing trends and developments." We decided to host a "10 Marketing Trends and Realities" webinar to drill-down further and provide law firm marketers with some guidance (and a sanity check) as to what they could/should be doing during this crisis.

In addition to the webinar (which in exchange for some contact info you are free to access here), Qorus also produced an easy to follow and practical to use eBook: Adapting to Change: Definitive Guide to Law Firm Marketing in 2020. The eBook includes 8 practical tips on how legal marketers can seize the moment and put their best marketing foot forward. If you don't have time to download the webinar or the eBook, check out the 14-slide PDF (with all ten trends and realities) from the program.

Here are a few of the trends (and realities) that legal marketers should not only acknowledge but consider acting on now:

Client-centric marketing: This might be a no-brainer ... "all marketing should focus on clients", but you'd be surprised how many campaigns miss the mark. Check out any corporate legal survey and you'll quickly realize how much outside counsel DO NOT listen to client challenges and demands. The current crisis gives you a 'do-over' of sorts when it comes to revealing your authentic marketing self. Your clients are swimming with you in the deep end so why not work together to your collective advantage

Strategic content marketing is king: Content marketing is nothing new. Devising a clever strategy of how to leverage and amplify hard earned content is still novel and not the norm in legal marketing circles. Spend some energy on "marketing your marketing" with a 1-4-7 approach. Focus on one concept; develop four related content pieces such as newsletters, webinars, eBooks, and whitepapers; and chose seven distribution channels for your content including online, social, communal and direct. 

Community building ... the new black: Acquiring new customers is 6-7 times more expensive than marketing to an existing community base. These days, word-of-mouth means engaging through social platforms, sharing educational resources while introducing clients to your network of subject matter experts and influencers. Legal communities are out there and waiting with open arms. Check out ILTA, LMA, ALA, and ABA Law Practice for starters.

We will be sharing more legal marketing trends and realities in future posts gleaned from legal marketing and business development experts.

Inside Legalweek 2019: State of the Legal Industry

‘Pre’ Legalweek New York began Monday with various premium boot camp-style intensives, but for us, Tuesday’s ‘State of the Industry’ general session at 8:30AM (Grand Ballroom East) marked the official kick-off for Legalweek 2019.

Nicholas Bruch and Erin Hichman, both senior analysts with ALM Intelligence, took some time out of their busy schedules to provide us with some insight into their ‘state of the union’ keynote. Enjoy the Q&A.

IL: Before we dive into some of your findings for 2019, can you tell us a bit more about your research scope/areas of focus for this 'state of legal' presentation?

ALM Legal Intelligence: The State of the Industry presentation is meant to look at the entire legal market. This makes the scope of the presentation and the research process ahead of it quite broad. We look at trends in the law firm space, in the legal department space, and also look at alternative legal service providers (ASPs) and legal tech. The goal is to see how all of these moving parts fit together and what the trends in each space mean for the industry as a whole.

IL: In 2018, you focused much of your presentation on "what the data says" about the future of the legal market. Is this a focus in 2019?

ALM Legal Intelligence: Yes. We feel strongly that any analysis of the legal industry needs to start with the data. For this year’s presentation, we dove deep into the data on the legal industry to understand what the big trends were. We then combined those quantitative findings with some of the qualitative information we gather in interviews or in conversations we have with industry leaders. Those qualitative “data points” add context to the data and help bring it to life. The end goal is to try to create a cohesive narrative, supported by data, which tells us where the industry is going and what different market participants should be aware of in terms of the risks they might face and the opportunities that they should be taking advantage of.

IL: In terms of data, what are the top 3 significant data points, perhaps even ‘wow moments’ you will be sharing during your session?

ALM Legal Intelligence:

• Law firms had a good year: Law firms performed very well in the past fiscal year. They grew revenue by over 5% and 80% of firms saw improvements in profitability. Nearly a quarter of firms grew profitability by 10% or more. By almost any measure this is a great performance. Perhaps most importantly, all of the data we have suggests the year that just ended - the year that law firms are reporting to ALM Intelligence right now - will be even better.
• Law Department Insourcing: Most people know law departments have brought a lot of work in-house in the past decade. What I think most people don’t fully appreciate is the size and speed of the change.

 

"Our data suggest that law department in-sourcing is the primary driver of disruption in the legal industry right now." ALM Legal Intelligence

 

• The evolving vendor landscape: We think most people are aware there has been a lot of change in the vendor landscape in the past year in the legal industry. We see ASPs being bought and sold. We see the Big Four entering the legal market in a lot of different areas. In the presentation, we try to show the extent of the change and discuss how that change is going to impact the legal market over the next decade or so.

IL: You mention that based on your data analysis, the legal industry is undergoing a significant, if subtle, shift. What are you seeing in 2019?

ALM Legal Intelligence: 2019 is going to be a year of mixed signals. We are likely to see accelerated growth for ASPs and increased presence by new players like the Big Four. We are also likely to see law firms post their best year in over a decade. The subtle shift we are seeing is related to continued divergence in the law firm market. The law firm market is splitting into two distinct segments, each with differing business models and with differing performance (in terms of financial performance). We believe this divergence is going to continue in 2019 and accelerate, if only slightly.

IL: Of the six major trends you highlighted in 2018 (see below) as impacting the legal industry this year, which ones do you think had/will have the biggest impact? The Big 4. Consolidation. Divergence. Litigation Finance. Law Firm Failures. CLOC Movement

ALM Legal Intelligence: All of these trends are going to be important in 2019. The Big Four had a very busy year in 2018 and we expect that trend to continue. We will see them solidify their position in certain areas of the legal industry and expand, if cautiously, into a few new areas. Litigation Finance will be an interesting space to watch in 2019. It has been growing rapidly over the past several years below the radar. Its impact on the industry has not yet been fully appreciated or understood. We think that may change this year. It is now large enough that we can understand how litigation funders will fit into the broader legal market ecosystem and what impact they will have on supply, demand, pricing, and profitability. The area we are watching most closely is divergence.

As we mentioned above, law firms are looking and acting increasingly different. Some are sticking with a “lawyer centric” model focused on expertise and talent. Others are starting to figure out how to use their scale as a competitive weapon. This model will still require talent but it will also rely on process improvement, technology and scale to deliver legal services in ways never seen before. We suspect the differences between law firms will only accelerate over the next decade or so.

"The legal service provider landscape is going to change significantly over the next decade. That change will create opportunities for some and risks for others. It will also change the way legal services are bought, sold, and consumed." ALM Legal Intelligence

Inside Legalweek 2019: Battle Tested Tips for Conference Survival

If you are looking for basic tradeshow tips such as "wear comfortable shoes", "plot out who you want to meet ahead of time" and "bring business cards", etc. this isn't the post for you. This is a post based on 19 years of attending Legaltech New York and most all other legal events and conferences. We make the joke annually that it's no coincidence that Legaltech is always within a few days of Groundhog Day. Legaltech's timing is unique in that it allows you to kick off the new year with a bang, however it can also make for a brutal week. With the morphing of Legaltech into Legalweek, this is even more so the case. Here are some Legalweek 2019 'coping' tips which will hopefully have you looking back at the week ahead with enthusiasm not vitriol.

1. There is no ‘cone of silence’!

You wouldn’t believe the things we’ve heard in the common areas of the Hilton over our 19 years attending Legaltech. Realize that the property is a ‘hot’ spot and that you never know who is at the table beside you in the restaurant or sharing the elevator with you, so be discreet!  Update: I'm going to extend this tip out two blocks in all directions. If you are at the Warwick or the Starbucks or the corner pub, it can still be full of Legalweek attendees or your competitors!

2. Multi-task

There is a lot to take advantage of at Legalweek, so often plans for the event begin and end with working your booth. To maximize your investment, take advantage of all the opportunities available to network and/or promote your brand including connecting with partners, media, bloggers but also take time to meet with legal associations on-site such as ILTA , ARMA, AALL or AECDS.

3. "Social" networking

The first word in social networking is SOCIAL. In an industry with the staying power of legal - no one ever leaves, they just change companies/firms - it is just as valuable to make social connections with peers and contacts. During social events, stay social! Don’t start listing the bullet points for your product or bust out a laptop/tablet for a ‘quick demo’. Seriously… it happens all the time! Also bring your manners to the Twitter-verse and don't hog the hashtag. There are many people that participate in the Legalweek social media world so be respectful and don't hog the hashtag! If you are including the #Legalweek19 hashtag (which you should), don't send tweets from multiple company/employee accounts multiple times in a row. There are always a few people/companies that decide that social media success is based on the number of tweets they post. In fact, often those people are ridiculed and avoided, so don't be one of them! 

4. Meeting space hell

Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges at Legalweek is finding a space to meet on-site, so prepare accordingly. All major events should provide ample space for their attendees to sit and network, but unfortunately, the main common area for meetings during the day is now rented out by ALM to vendors for their meetings during the day, so it's been closed off. We suggest you book a separate meeting space, locate a few off-site meeting options  beforehand or just direct all meeting traffic to your booth to collectively find appropriate space. We have managed to find a few choice places to meet, but then again, you don't expect us to publish those, do you? :-)  

However, we've found a couple of creative ideas from the suspended glass box meeting room above to the "portable chair" to the right (try at your own risk!). Next year, someone should give them away in the exhibit hall!  

5. Beware of the 'convenience' of the coat check

In the past, recovering from hypothermia because I walked to the Hilton without my coat was less annoying than standing in the coat check line. Seriously. (OK, obviously the photo is an exaggeration but you get the idea!)

6. Measure up the competition

If you are a technology vendor/Legaltech exhibitor in town for the week, this is the perfect time to 'compare and contrast'. What are companies in your application area promoting this week? How visible are they? How is their exhibit floor/booth traffic? What are they doing that you might be able to pull off better? Did you know there is a full schedule of demos and product pitches happening throughout the week? And, there's a new Legaltech Product Innovation showcase and award to check out and vote on via the app. Don't come to town solely focused on booth duty and the 'wine and dine'. Be aware, take notes, and share it when you get home. 

A variation from a post originally published January 20, 2015

Inside Legalweek 2019: Legaltech Agenda Word Cloud - Nine Years and Counting

Starting next week, we will join thousands at what will be our 20th edition of Legaltech New York (LTNY). 2019 will mark the third year that LTNY is part of an expanded Legalweek format, with almost four full days of exhibitions, networking and legal sessions.

 

If you've attended LTNY before, you may be familiar with our annual Legaltech NY Agenda Word Clouds that provide a visual display of the words/themes from the Legaltech event's educational agenda and session lineup. If you aren't familiar with word clouds (you'd be surprised!), the larger words/phrases are the ones most often referenced in the agenda text and so on.

 

Let's take a look at InsideLegal's 9th annual Legaltech NY Agenda Word Cloud. To allow for comparison of this year's visual with the trends from past years, we've also included below the word clouds we created in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011. Take a look, click on the images to enlarge and compare for yourself.

 

For this post, we'll leave the commentary and word cloud "interpretation" to you all, but I must say, it sure is nice to see topics other than eDiscovery trending ...

 

 Remember: Click on images to enlarge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscribe to InsideLegal for LTNY updates and market information and follow us on Twitter at @InsideLegal for timely updates. 

 

The word cloud was pulled from the agenda located at www.LegalTechShow.com.