Meet Me At ILTACON: Hotshot — GenAI Training For The Legal Industry

While ILTACON attendees are sure to be focused on specific generative AI tools this year, there’s a pressing need to make sure that all lawyers and other legal professionals are trained on the underlying technology itself and the issues that they need to be aware of. 

That’s because the role of lawyers and law firms is evolving as new technology continues to take hold, and legal professionals need to be upskilled to remain competitive.

Enter Hotshot, a video-based learning platform for lawyers used by half the Am Law 100 firms, which was selected to participate in ILTACON’s Startup Hub — a curated group limited to 30 innovative new and emerging companies. 

Hotshot creates short, practical videos that people actually want to watch. As an added bonus, CLE is available. Hotshot offers over 300 courses across legal, tech, and business skills and their new GenAI Fundamentals for Lawyers certificate and CLE program will be featured at ILTA.

Here, company co-founder Ian Nelson discusses Hotshot’s approach to GenAI training (and training in general), the ways lawyers can stay on top of tech trends, and why Hotshot is like the “Khan Academy for the legal industry.”

(ILTA attendees – you can book a meeting with Ian here, and be sure to visit Hotshot at the Startup Hub. You can learn more about the company here.)

In a few words, please introduce your company and what sets you apart. 

Hotshot is a video-based learning platform that has brought ed tech to the legal industry. We help firms create more effective, interactive training programs, deliver better on-demand learning, and provide engaging CLE. With 300+ short, video-based courses across tech, legal, and business topics (including a new program on GenAI for lawyers) we help firms better train and support their lawyers and professional staff. Started by former leaders of Practical Law, our customers now include about half of the Am Law 100 firms, top law schools, and corporations.

Can you provide some more detail on the problems you solve and the benefits you provide?

In the era of GenAI, lawyer training and education is more important than ever and has taken on strategic significance to firms, as firms need to help associates add more value more quickly, and our video-based content and other materials are quickly becoming embedded in the way that law firms are delivering training programs for their lawyers.

A recent example is our “GenAI Fundamentals for Lawyers” certificate program — we collaborated with dozens of AI experts from law firms, law schools, legal tech companies, and corporate legal departments to create short videos to educate lawyers about GenAI and firms are quickly adopting this program. Our content covers transactional practice areas, civil litigation, and business and tech skills and we’ re helping firms create dynamic, experiential learning programs that partners and associates love.

And to take a step back and focus on a daily problem associates have — it’s not a secret that law schools don’t always prepare associates for practice. So when an associate gets an assignment and doesn’t know what to do, they turn to Hotshot so they can watch a short, practical video and be much more prepared and confident. It’s kinda/sorta like Khan Academy for the legal industry.

Is there anything new you’re showcasing at ILTACON this year? Anything on the horizon you’d like to spotlight? 

We’ll be showcasing our new Artificial Intelligence topic, which is a great way to provide foundational training on GenAI to everyone at a firm. The topic is a collection of short, practical videos to help lawyers and other legal professionals understand AI and its impact on law and practice. The topic includes our new “GenAI Fundamentals for Lawyers” certificate program, which covers key concepts and terms in AI, GenAI and its impact on the legal industry, large language models, and the risks and limitations of LLMs. People that complete it can earn a credential to share on LinkedIn and get technology or general CLE credits. The videos include insights and perspectives from AI leaders at law firms, legal tech companies, corporate law departments, and law schools.

We’ll also be telling people about our upcoming M&A Simulation that lets firms run great experiential training programs.

What do you think the legal tech industry is doing well? And what might it be missing? 

It’s doing a good job of helping to make sure the legal industry is catching up with the times and has access to tools that other industries have and are using. In terms of what it’s missing — with so many tools out nowadays it’s hard to say what’s missing — but coming at it from a different angle, perhaps what’s missing is making the connection between the legal tech products and how lawyers (and others) can be using these tools, explained in any approachable way using real-world, practical examples.

What’s one thing lawyers can do to be more tech savvy? 

If I’m limited to one thing, I’d say to keep informed about the state of technology. There are loads of great resources out there (not just from Hotshot!). For example, I love the Hard Fork podcast – it comes out every Friday and it’s a great (and often entertaining) way to stay current on the latest tech news, trends, and products.

What can ILTACON attendees expect when they stop by your booth? 

Candy, for starters. And the full-size bars — none of this fun size nonsense. What’s so fun about a tiny piece of candy?

Beyond that, people can expect to engage in substantive conversations around training and if/how we can support firms in their various learning and development initiatives. Of course, we’d be glad to tell people about Hotshot and how we may be able to help them, but they can also expect to discuss how to best deliver foundational training in GenAI, how they can better support practice groups and professional staff, and to talk about the latest trends in lawyer learning and development.

Is there anything else you’d like ILTACON attendees to know about you? 

I used to be an M&A lawyer in NY and after that I helped start and run Practical Law Company in the US — so professionally speaking, I grew up in the legal industry and I have a passion for helping lawyers practice more efficiently. I co-founded Hotshot to help other lawyers feel way less clueless than I did when first starting out!

Will you be seeing the sights in Nashville this year?

For sure. We’ll need to make a trip to the downtown area at least once. We can’t go to Nashville and not hit the honky tonks on Broadway!