At ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago final week, it struck me that it’s conceivable that an attendee could possibly be the third era inside a household to have been to a TECHSHOW. In spite of everything, the convention was first held almost 4 many years in the past, way back in in 1987. That signifies that, in a multi-generational household of attorneys, an attendee this yr may nicely have had a mum or dad and grandparent attend in some prior yr. That’s pure hypothesis, in fact, however the level is that TECHSHOW has been round so lengthy that the unique attendees at the moment are in all probability somebody’s grandparents.
For TECHSHOW, that endurance is each a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that its longstanding repute as a preeminent and trailblazing authorized tech present allows it to draw A-list audio system and a loyal contingent of attendees. The curse is that the present has, in some years, confirmed indicators of its age, and for a interval, it appeared to have been caught in a legacy rut. As a higher quantity and number of authorized tech conferences have sprung up in recent times, the problem for the 36-year-old TECHSHOW is to proceed to ship the form of sensible programming attorneys have come to anticipate, whereas additionally being as sprightly and cutting-edge because the newer era of conferences.
It’s a daunting problem certainly. In reality, a number of years in the past, the ABA convened a somewhat-stealth committee, separate from the TECHSHOW planning board, to brainstorm the longer-term imaginative and prescient for TECHSHOW and provide you with methods to offer it a up to date refresh. Having been roped into volunteered for that committee, I can let you know that we by no means got here up with any magic formulation.
Towards this backdrop, I’m happy to report that TECHSHOW 2023 was not your grandparents’ TECHSHOW — not even your dad and mom’ TECHSHOW. The environment was extremely energized, the viewers was extremely enthusiastic, and the general focus skillfully maintained that stability between sensible and leading edge. The packages have been informative and compelling and the numbers of each attendees and exhibitors exceeded the pre-Pandemic numbers of TECHSHOW 2020.
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Six of the panelists from the weekly Legaltech Week podcast received to hang around: Steve Embry, Victor Li, Stephanie Wilkins, Niki Black, Joe Patrice, and me.
Credit score for all of this goes to the TECHSHOW planning board. If you’re not conscious of what occurs behind the curtains of TECHSHOW, it’s all deliberate and put collectively by a volunteer board of authorized professionals who sink appreciable effort and time into the planning course of. This yr’s board was co-chaired by Jeannine Lambert; government director of facilities and programming at Northern Kentucky College Chase School of Legislation; and Gyi Tsakalakis, founding father of AttorneySync; with help from co-vice-chairs Sofia Stefanie Lingos, founding and managing lawyer of Trident Authorized; and Cynthia Thomas, proprietor of legislation agency administration consulting firm PLMC & Associates.
Different members of the board have been Heidi Barcus, shareholder at Lewis Thomason; Kenton Brice, director of expertise innovation on the College of Oklahoma School of Legislation; Nkoyo-Ene Effiong, director of the Legislation Follow Administration Program for the State Bar of Georgia; Carolyn Elefant, proprietor of Legislation Workplaces of Carolyn Elefant and writer of MyShingle.com; Ivan Hemmans, senior supervisor of technical growth at O’Melveny & Myers LLP; Darla Jackson, director of the Mabee Authorized Info Heart on the College of Tulsa School of Legislation; and Jayne R. Reardon, former government director of the Illinois Supreme Court docket Fee on Professionalism.
One stroke of conference-planning genius this yr was to desert the usual keynote displays in favor of keynote periods that tackled up to date matters in dynamic methods.
Let’s face it: Keynote audio system extra usually fall flat than encourage. (I say that as somebody who has been a keynoter.) Convention organizers throw an excessive amount of cash at huge names who know nothing in regards to the viewers, within the hope that they’ll assist draw attendance. Keynote periods are sometimes a waste of the convention’s cash and the attendees’ time.
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The legaltech visionaries panel was moderated by Jack Newton of Clio and featured Kimberly Bennett of Fidu, Jazz Hampton of TurnSignl and Erin Levine of Hey Divorce.
This yr, TECHSHOW scratched keynotes and changed them with two interactive periods. On the primary day was a panel of “legaltech visionaries” – aka authorized tech firm founders Erin Levine of Hey Divorce, Kimberly Bennett of Fidu, and Jazz Hampton of TurnSignl – in a dialog moderated by Jack Newton, founder and CEO of Clio. Notably, whereas this panel may simply have addressed itself to budding entrepreneurs, it as a substitute stayed give attention to TECHSHOW’s true viewers, authorized practitioners, serving to them perceive why these corporations matter to them and their purchasers.
The second day keynote session was a mock public listening to on proposals to amend Skilled Conduct Guidelines 5.4 and 5.5. Moderated by the aforementioned Jayne Reardon, the concept was to stage a fictional committee assembly to debate adjustments much like these adopted in Utah and Arizona. Though I didn’t attend this session, I heard nothing however rave critiques. Even with out having attended, I’ve little question that, for individuals who did, it was much more participating than yet one more clueless huge title speaker.
Past these keynote periods, the panels spanned a stability of sensible, up to date, and future-looking topics, with matters that ranged from the essential (equivalent to what’s new in Phrase) to the present (AI and information analytics) to the subsequent (the hybrid legislation agency of the long run).
As soon as once more this yr, I hosted the opening night time occasion, the Startup Alley pitch competitors. I’ve already posted about something that happened throughout that occasion, and I’ll publish individually in regards to the outcomes.
The one program that felt like a throwback to TECHSHOWs gone was the “60 in 60” plenary program. TECHSHOW has a longstanding custom of wrapping up with a rapid-fire session that has developed from 60 websites to 60 tricks to 60 devices and gizmos. This yr’s program was meant to be a mash-up of all of these. However to me, it felt like an oldies present on an obscure cable channel. What number of of those websites and ideas and gizmos have we seen earlier than, and what number of years in the past did we first see them? (Textual content Expander, I’m you.)
My solely different criticism – which can be a praise – is that all of it appeared too quick. The exhibit corridor opened Wednesday night time with a reception and closed 2 p.m. Friday (an hour sooner than deliberate, because of threats of snow). That left little time to each attend periods and browse cubicles. Whereas TECHSHOW historically spilled over into Saturday, this yr it ended Friday night time, save for a Saturday morning breakfast. That had many individuals already heading out simply two days after they’d arrived.
However these are minor nits. My impression – and the consensus of everybody I requested – was that this was among the finest TECHSHOWs ever, directly sensible and important and related.
It definitely was not your grandparents’ TECHSHOW.