Technology

Legalweek... Or 'Year'... Or Legaltech NY? Whatever It's Called, Virtual Conference Kicks Off 2021.

Identity crisis aside, it's mostly the show we all know and love.

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New York’s annual legal technology showcase kicked off this morning, marking the beginning of the year’s conference circuit for those of us charged with tracking the advancement of all the tools that lawyers use every day and then promptly forget about while they pose as bare-knuckle luddites to sound hard. As if dictating timesheets makes you Clarence Darrow or something. Lawyer culture is weird.

Not that progress in legal technology starts and stops on a calendar. Nothing magical happens in this niche corner of tech when the ball drops on Times Square. The business of lawyering doesn’t stop, so the business of arming lawyers with useful tools doesn’t either.

There’s always something about the show’s February arrival that sets the tone for the year ahead. Announcements are timed to the show, a new fiscal year invites new purchasing opportunities for eager IT departments, and the tech community camp followers from the journalists and critics to the public relations professionals all shake off the holiday break and throw themselves into this world again by bracing the miserable cold of Midtown Manhattan and shuffling to a nearby Starbucks — “not that Starbucks, the other Starbucks, sorry if that wasn’t clear” — to catch up with vendors to hear what they have in store for their New York clientele.

But this year there won’t be any congregating in the Hilton lobby, which is welcome news as the city digs itself out of one of the top 10 snowfalls in its history. Not that attending remotely helped much — dealing with some 20 inches of newly fallen snow still got me logged in a few minutes late for the show’s opening keynote. Traditions are important.

By the way, why exactly is this show starting at 9 a.m.? The legal technology sector may not be as Silicon Valley-centric as the rest of the tech world, but it still seems harsh to kick off at 6 Pacific when everyone’s virtual. It’s one thing when everyone’s flown in a day or two before to acclimate, but when joining from home, we can let the schedule breathe a bit.

In any event, it’s LegaltechNY time! Which was officially rebranded as Legalweek a few years ago. Which is now ominously styled as “Legalweek(year)” as its planners at ALM unchain the event to burst beyond the confines of its traditional three days in February with extra virtual sessions in March, April, May, and July. Is the world ready for this much legal tech action?! More to the point, in a world where we already have other shows scheduled throughout the year, do we need this much Legalweekery?

No matter what you — or common sense — may think, that’s exactly what you’re getting, so buck up buttercup and prepare for webinars until the mere mention of client relations management sets you off like the Queen of Diamonds, bucko!

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Today’s festivities were launched by the annual State of the Industry presentation from ALM Intelligence. James Willer, Lead Legal Analyst for ALM Intelligence, and Heather Nevitt, Editor-in-Chief of Corporate Counsel, recapped a tumultuous year that ended with the industry… pretty much back on track. It wasn’t as though we learned anything groundbreaking here — unlike most years, the subject has garnered non-stop attention over the past year — but it was a surreal contrast to consider how far things have come since last year’s presentation, and how much of that journey was fueled by the tech products on display.

Opening keynote speaker Stacey Abrams discussed her transition from tax lawyer to the rallying point for the ongoing struggle to secure voting rights. The Yale Law grad may not seem like an obvious legal tech speaker, but in between fielding questions about her recent work, she managed to sum up the crux of the legal technology mission, explaining that, as a tax lawyer, she was encouraged to be “innovative and creative” about how to apply the law to help clients. “But we leave that creativity at the water’s edge when it comes to solving pedestrian problems.”

There’s always a better way to deliver legal services and just because lawyers don’t want to think about streamlining billing process doesn’t mean it’s not sitting there as an open issue dragging down your practice. You don’t have to understand how legal technology works to get in on the fun in this sector, just open your mind to the idea that the legal tech nerds are exercising their creativity to solve your pedestrian problems.

So stop by the virtual show and catch a panel discussion! You only have until, I guess, July before they’re all gone.

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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