Technology

Today's Tech: The New Frontier Of Legal Innovation

Legal conferences focused on the future of law and/or innovation are popping up all over the place, but legal technology evangelist Nicole Black says this one is the best she's ever attended.

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Digital TechnologyLegal conferences focused on the future of law and/or innovation are popping up all over the place these days. It seems as if just about everyone is incredibly excited about the possibilities that the future holds — or else they’re simply trying to cash in on a trendy topic.

Sometimes, if you’re not familiar with the conference organizers, it can be hard to tell which is which. But if the organizers know what they’re doing, these conferences can truly be interesting, informative, and inspiring.

I spoke at just such a conference last week in Toronto. It was called “The New Frontier of Legal Innovation,” and conference organizers included Matthew Peters and David Cohen of McCarthy Tétrault LLP, along with Jason Moyse and Aron Solomon, both of whom are well known for their experience in the legal technology space, including their involvement with MARS LegalIX, the legal technology branch of the Canada-based urban innovation hub.

The organizers lined up an impressive group of speakers — including lawyers, legal technology entrepreneurs, and legal technology experts — from across the U.S. and Canada, and each presentation provided a unique view of what the legal profession could expect in years to come. Whether it was exploring whether the changing legal landscape was eviscerating Biglaw as we know it, taking an in-depth look into the ways that online marketing tools such as Yelp were affecting the delivery of legal services, or considering the impact of globalization on legal job prospects, each panel provided lots of food for thought on the many implications of the impact of 21st century trends and technologies on the practice of law.

Although I don’t often find the time to attend sessions at most of the conferences at which I speak, this one was an exception. The topics drew me in and the breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm of the speakers kept me in my seat all day.

And it wasn’t just the speakers. The more than 200 attendees were an incredibly engaged and enthusiastic bunch. So much so that the Twitter hashtag for the conference, #lextech16, was the top trending hashtag in Canada for the better part of the day, with more than 1,000 tweets about the event. I can’t think of another legal technology/futures conference that I’ve attended that had even close to that amount of online engagement.

Also of note was the format. Instead of falling back on the legal conference standby — large panels lasting over an hour where each person drones on and on in turn about whatever topic they feel is within their comfort zone — the event included smaller, more intimate panels lasting varying lengths of time, where the panelists engaged in interactive, moderated discussions on the topic at hand.

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The organizers wisely understood that mixing things up and scheduling panels of varying lengths gave attendees a break from the same old predictable format and provided relief from the typical monotony of most conferences. This resulted in an engaged, interactive audience which contributed to the overall success of the conference as a whole.

All in all this was one of the best conferences I’ve attended in recent memory. It wasn’t sponsor-driven nor was it unduly influenced by a small group of stakeholders with a vested business interest in the event. Both of the aforementioned situations are common for many legal technology conferences and often result in stale or biased discussions by the same old people, year after year.

This conference was a welcome exception to that rule, offering a fresh, innovative, and informative look at the future of legal services. I highly recommend it, so keep your eyes open for this year’s event, which will be held in Vancouver on September 26th. It will definitely be worth the trip!

Niki BlackNicole 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 at niki.black@mycase.com.

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