Today's Tech: ILTACON And IgniteLaw

If you're unfamiliar with Ignite Talks, here's a run down.

I know you’ve been inundated with posts about ILTACON 2015 written by my esteemed colleagues here at Above the Law. So for the purpose of this post and to avoid redundancies, I’m going to buck the trend and focus on the wine here at ILTACON. Because sometimes technology takes a backseat to the finer things in life. And surprisingly, at ILTACON wine actually plays a small, but important, part, which is unusual for a legal technology conference.

There are a handful of legal vendors with good wine bottles on display–and sometimes handed out–at their booths. Among those vendors is DocSolid, a document scanning company that was kind enough to provide me with a cute little bottle of A to Z Pinot Noir.

Another vendor’s entire exhibit is wine-focused: Intapp, a company that provides a number of enterprise level software solutions for law firms. Intapp’s entire booth is centered on wine and they also hold an exclusive after hours wine tasting party every year. I was lucky enough to attend last year and was invited this year, too, but unfortunately couldn’t attend since I was slated to speak at Avvo’s IgniteLaw event that same evening.

If you’re unfamiliar with Ignite Talks, here’s a run down. Essentially you have 5 minutes and 20 slides to make a point. The slides auto-advance every 15 seconds. It sounds simple, but it’s a challenging format for the speakers and a successful Ignite talk requires a lot of preparation.

IgniteLaw 2015 was organized by Avvo’s Dan Lear and speakers were chosen by a voting process. Over 20 talks were submitted but only 7 made the cut, with over 700 people casting votes. Speakers ran the gamut, from the founder of a startup to practicing lawyers. The talks covered a wide range of topics but one theme was universal: today’s legal professionals need think outside the box in order to succeed in a rapidly changing legal landscape.

First up was yours truly. My talk, “Trump Up Your Law Practice,” was all about Trumpisms and the idea that despite what you might think, there is actually wisdom to be gleaned from The Donald’s often outrageous statements — that is if you look them in just the right way and also squint a lot. Throughout my talk I emphasized that lawyers need to embrace change. I also made fun of el Trumpo’s hair — because how can you not?

Next up was Josh Lenon, Clio’s Lawyer-in-Residence. During his talk, “How The Baby Boomers Destroyed The Legal System,” he explained how Boomers are making short-sighted, selfish decisions that are having a lasting impact on our profession. And he supported his assertions with lots of data and great charts like this one:

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The next talk was from Marc Cerniglia, co-founder of Spotlight Branding. His talk, “There Is More To Internet Marketing Than Google,” focused on Internet Marketing for lawyers and he explained the basics of creating an effective online presence:

After his talk, Erika Concetta Pagano, Associate Director at LawWithoutWalls and a Watersheds Fellow, told us about the value provided by Millennial lawyers. She explained that their unique qualities and outside interests were part of what makes them so valuable to 21st century legal practice:

The next speaker was Joe Wallin, a startup attorney. He shared how a late night blog post of his and a chance meeting lead to legislation on crowdfunding in Washington State. He emphasized the importance of thinking creatively and working hard:

His talk was followed by Cian O’Sullivan’s. Cian is the founder of Beagle Inc., a company that provides automatic artificial intelligent contract analysis. During his talk, “If It Sucks… Fix It,” he discussed the importance of looking at problems in new ways and improving on the status quo:

And last, but not least, was Texas lawyer Michael Whelan. During his talk, “Teach Like A Lawyer,” he discussed how the legal landscape is changing at a rapid pace. He emphasized the need to keep up with the changes and find new, creative ways to deliver legal services to legal consumers:

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In other words, the evening ended where it began: with a call to embrace change. All in all, a great set of talks, in addition to lots of insightful discussion throughout the evening about the legal profession, the rapid pace of change, and of course, the Trumpmeister’s hair.


Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikiblack and she can be reached atniki.black@mycase.com.

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