The Circuit: Back To School
Technology columnist Monica Bay's monthly round-up of upcoming events -- with some decidedly cranky commentary.
I’ve never been able to shake academia when it comes to the calendar. September 1 always feels like the “real” new year. It started with kindergarten: every September brought a new class, new teachers, new backpacks, new books, new classmates, and another step up the ladder to adulthood. Of course, life is now much more complicated—schools may start in August or October, and many books have been replaced by technology options. But September still feels fresh.
So if you are lookin’ for some September education, here are options (with some decidedly cranky commentary).
PREX16
Sept. 13-15, Portland, Ore.
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So what the !#@* is PREX16? No worries, I didn’t know either until I wrote this report.
I did know that PREX was a well-respected e-discovery vendor event (put on by Zapproved) and that it draws top dog judges. But I didn’t figure out until now that PREX16 stands for “The 2016 Conference on Preservation Excellence.” (Some nicknames get mighty precious. :-))
The fifth annual gathering will be held at the Portland (Ore.) Art Museum. It starts on Sept. 13th with a user meeting for Zapproved customers only (9 a.m.-5 p.m.), followed with a cocktail party that is open to all conference attendees.
At 1 p.m. on Sept. 14, the “open” presentations begin with a keynote (speaker not yet announced), followed by two sets of concurrent sessions: “Teaching Complience to Employees” and “The New Rules—The New Reality, then “The Perfect Preservation Notice” and “The Art of Cooperation.”
Closing the day is a second keynote, featuring Shira Scheindlin, who recently retired as a judge of the U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. She is now of counsel with Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Titled “Looking Back, Looking Forward,” Maura Grossman, Research Professor at the University of Waterloo (and principal at Maura Grossman Law), will join Scheindlin on the stage.
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Sept. 15 offers a “Judicial Forum,” moderated by retired U.S.D.C. (New Jersey) Magistrate Judge Ronald Hedges, now Senior Counsel, Dentons U.S. Joining will be Scheindlin; U.S.D.C. Magistrate Judges Frank Maas and Andrew Peck (S.D.N.Y.); David Waxse (District of Kansas); and Xavier Rodriguez, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas.
Also: panels address collection; preservation and privacy; preservation plans; embracing emerging technologies; simplifying cross-department complexity; and more.
Cost: $895. Agenda. Speaker list. Registration. Company history.
ABA Business Law Section
Sept. 8-10, Boston
The American Bar Association’s Business Law Section Annual Meeting is expected to draw more than 1,600 business law professionals. It will offer more than 90 continuing legal education programs, in addition to committee meetings and events. There are many opportunities to network, including events specifically designed for newbies.
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Among the panels:
- “Introduction to Legal Informatics,” Sept. 9, from 10:30 to 12:30. It features LitIQ CEO (and Stanford CodeX Fellow) Gurinder “Gary” Sangha; data scientist Mike Bommarito, also a CodeX Fellow and CEO of LexPredict; MIT scientist Dazza Greenwood; and BEworks CEO Kelly Peters. (Warren Agin is the chair of the Legal Analytics Working Group.)
- “Accelerators and Incubators: Their Clients and the Role of the Lawyer,” Sept. 8, 8 a.m-10 a.m.
- “Bangladesh Central Bank: A Case Study in Cyber Theft,” Sept. 8, 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
- “Class Actions After Spokeo,” Sept. 8, 9:00 am.-10:00 a.m.
- “FinTech—Preemptive Strike: Strategic Defenses to Combat Cyper Attacks,” Sept. 9, 8 a.m.-9 a.m.
Prices vary. Registration. First timers. Pro Bono. International Track. Diversity & Inclusion Track.
Clio Cloud Conference 2016
Sept. 19-20, Chicago
Canada-based Themis Solutions Inc. is the creator of Clio, a cloud-based law practice management software. The 2016 conference is expected to draw 600+ lawyers and 40 speakers.
Clio breaks down the 2016 conference into 10 tracks:
Main tracks: Legal Technology; Business of Law; Clio University (Introductory or Master);
Restorative: Health & Well-Being; Screening Room
Specialized: Workshops; Discourse & Dialogue
Ex-Parté: Smart Bar; Clio Lab
Keynotes: Jack Newton, CEO at Clio; Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, VaynerMedia; Kimberley Motley, International Litigator; David Perla, President of Bloomberg BNA Legal.
Price: $399 (conference) $499 (all access).
Website. Speakers. Register. 10 Reasons to Attend. CLE.
Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions User Conference
Sept. 20-22, Orlando, Fla.
I am going to try my very, very best not to scream. In my 17 years as Editor-in-Chief of ALM’s Law Technology News, I quickly banned the word “solution” (unless it was properly used, such as “I figured out the solution to the math question”).
Given the challenges lawyers face—including resistance to the technology that is going to make legal services better, faster, cheaper and more transparent (whether Biglaw equity partners like that or not)—it’s imperative that vendors use language that lawyers can understand.
The word “solution” is sloppy, vague, and meaningless. Lawyers of all ages won’t get it when you use it. Law is all about words. If you want lawyers to buy your products and services, talk to them in the language they understand. It’s time to get rid of self-serving, “we know more than you do” condescension, where you leave the lawyers with headaches instead of inspiration. Use the native language of the potential buyer and you will build bridges of understanding, which will generate business. And this is not aimed at Wolters Kluwer alone—all major tech companies, including Thomson Reuters Legal and LexisNexis, are equally guilty.
O.K., back to the event. What triggered my rant was that reading the press release, I had no clue what ELM Solutions was about (and I’ve been in the industry for 30+ years). Chris Tessier, Global Communications and Public Relations Leader at Wolters Kluwer, gracefully explained that ELM is “enterprise legal management” (coined by Garner Inc.).” The ELM16 event, its second iteration, is expected to bring 200+ legal, compliance and claims professions from major industries, the press release notes.
The event focuses on corporate legal operations that use a set of applications, such as matter management; e-billing; financial/spending management; and legal document and business process management, said Tessier. The company offers Passport and TyMetrix 300° among other technologies.
Speakers will include professors William Henderson (Indiana University); Gary Marchant (Arizona State Univerity, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law); Daniel Katz (Illinois Tech-Chicago Kent College of Law); and general counsel Mary Ann Hynes (Archdiocese of Chicago). The keynote will be presented by Mel Robbins, a commentator on CNN and co-founder of Inspire52.
Costs range from $250 to $1,099.
Website. Registration. Press release. Five reasons to attend. ELM Academy.
Onward to the New Year, September 1 ! May you have a year of inspiring and obvious words.
Planning a technology event? Ping me at [email protected].
Monica Bay is a Fellow at CodeX: The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics and a columnist for Above The Law. She also writes for Bloomberg BNA’s Big Law Business and is an analyst and consultant. A member of the California Bar, she frequently can be found at Yankee Stadium. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @MonicaBay.
