EVOLVE 2026… It’s A Wrap

EVOLVE 2026: true to its mission, it maintained its identity as a smaller, more intimate conference that encouraged networking and relationships just like its predecessors. That, in and of itself, made for some interesting interactions between attendees, vendors, and even writers like me. Like the late afternoon when a vendor saw me trying to balance carrying a bunch of swag with all my other stuff. She grabbed a bag from an adjoining vendor table and chased me down to give it to me to help.

All in all, I would say it was a success and well worth coming back to. But that’s not to say there weren’t a few things that could have been better.

The Pace

For example, the conference proceeded at a breathless pace. Three full days of content from morning to night. Even with breaks the pace was pretty exhausting.

That plus the fact that the only formal evening network reception took place after the first day made it seem like a pretty heavy working conference. That’s not necessarily a criticism; people come to conferences to learn and work, so packing a lot of content to enable attendees to get their money’s worth is not necessarily bad.But looking out at the snow-covered Rocky mountains with little time to enjoy them was a bit of a bummer.

The Missing Piece

Because the primary ILTA audience is made up of those who serve lawyer business owners, there was an inevitable us versus them undercurrent at some sessions. A substantial amount of content was directed toward how attendees could convince the lawyers for whom they work to do what they think the lawyers ought to be doing. How to approach them. How to convince them. How to manipulate them to move from point A to point B. Implicit in this was the suggestion that they know more than the lawyers about what’s good for them. That undercurrent is understandable, occurs at lots of legal tech conferences, and is often well deserved.

But missing from many of these conversations is the senior, experienced lawyer to provide the perspective of what it’s like to practice and the business pressures they face. Granted, there were some lawyer panel presenters, but these were mostly younger lawyers, not equity partners.

I know. It’s hard to get these lawyers to take time to speak. But it is nevertheless an often-missing voice in the room.

The Audience Paradox

Of course, having planned large conferences myself, I know how hard it is to connect with an audience with a broad range of experiences and knowledge about things like AI. Some attendees are high up on the learning curve. Some are just learning what ChatGPT is. As a result, it would have been nice to have some skill levels attached to the course descriptions so attendees could better determine whether and what to attend.

In addition, assessing content always has to take into account the audience. EVOLVE attendees are mainly IT professionals or other legal professionals and not lawyers. That skews the content that is offered.

The Content

But still, I have mixed emotions about the content. Some of it was very good. The opening Zach Abramowitz keynote on which I reported was excellent and framed a lot of ongoing issues with AI. But the closing keynote by a non-legal celebrity was a bit disjointed and missed the mark.

In between, I found the content on the AI side a little spotty. But I should quickly point out though that I’m pretty knowledgeable about AI and attend a lot of legal tech conferences. So, I’m a bit jaded. Even so, there did seem to be a lot of repetition of things said at every other conference and too much making the simple complicated.

It also seems we should be beyond talking so much about things like how to prompt and what mundane and repetitive tasks AI can do. We should be beyond talking about how to get general information out of GenAI and doing simple exercises in front of a group.

Instead, it’s time we move on toward learning how to get it to do the things that it does the best. We need to be talking more about how GenAI will impact our profession and where it is going. These are the critical questions that need exploring.

Indeed, someone asked me outside the presentations where I thought we would be with AI in three years. That’s a hard question and one I would have loved to hear some experts talk about since it impacts things like long-range planning.

It’s easy now to address things like prompt-writing issues. It’s much harder to address future impact and preparation. It reminds me of a humorous paraphrase of the John F. Kennedy quote in his famous going to the moon speech. That speech was a challenge to face and do things that are difficult, like, at the time, a manned mission to the moon. The humorous paraphrase: we do these things not because they are easy but because we think they are easy.

That’s not to say that there weren’t some really excellent sessions. I wrote about one panel that delved into why law firms are having such problems with adapting to AI and responding to client pressures. That’s the kind of issue worth discussing.

On the cyber side, however, there were much more technical and informative sessions. These sessions dealt with practical problems the IT folks face. There was even a creative session on dealing with the emotional toll of a data breach. Having been through some data breach situations, I know how incredibly stressful and exhausting they are for all concerned. It was nice to see a panel recognize and offer help on how to deal with that.

The Vendors

I’m glad that ILTA kept the vendors in the convention center hallways adjacent to the presentation rooms instead of placing them in a cavernous exhibit hall. Being in close proximity to the vendors adds to the intimacy of the conference and encourages interactions. You had to walk past the vendors to get to the presentation rooms, to grab coffee, breakfast, and lunch, and even to use the restroom. That meant you started to recognize faces and build more of a rapport than you would otherwise. It was less salesy and more relationship building. Less “hey, look at this” and more “good morning.”

The Venue

I have to admit I am not a particular fan of the Gaylord properties. They are usually cavernous and complicated to navigate. They’re usually far away from things like downtowns, interesting sites, or restaurants. The Gaylord in Nashville is a prime example.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the Denver Gaylord. It was open and airy. It was easy to get around and it flowed well. The food was not bad. And even though it was some distance from Denver, the mountain views were spectacular. I would certainly look forward to coming here again, though next year EVOLVE moves to Savannah, Georgia, which is a pretty cool venue.

The Bottom-Line Vibe

Let’s face it, conferences live and die on their vibe. Their energy. The feeling attendees and vendors have toward what is going on.

Perhaps because EVOLVE has been a smaller, more focused conference where there was more time and space for interactions, conversations, and networking, it has captured an all-important and unique vibe.
 

This year’s conference was, however, larger: in fact, ILTA proudly proclaimed that there were over 500 attendees, a record.  As a result, this year’s conference did have a slightly bigger and faster-paced feel. Maybe it’s also because there were so many sessions over so many days. Maybe it was because there was only one opportunity for everyone to attend an evening networking event where there is more time to talk.

Despite all that, it did still maintain its small conference vibe. I met a lot of people and had a lot of good conversations. I got to meet and talk with several vendors in a relaxed setting. The opening keynote itself made attending worthwhile. The sessions were by and large practically oriented and focused. While I might have wished for slightly different content, the presenters were prepared and did a good job.

All in all, it was a great conference in a great venue. My only hope is that ILTA does not try to transform EVOLVE into the spring version of its sprawling late summer flagship conference. As long as ILTA sticks with its original mission, it will be the kind of conference that I will plan to attend year after year.

Good job, ILTA.

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Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes TechLaw Crossroads, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.