I had the nice fortune to attend my first day of the Legal Geek North America convention this week in Chicago.
The Convention
Authorized Geek touts itself as an atypical authorized tech convention. It was based some 10 years in the past by Jimmy Vestbirk, who needed to create a enjoyable, fast-paced, and impactful authorized convention and get away from ponderous content material periods with audio system who drone on about their credentials and provide wordy and boring energy factors.His ethos: “Come to be taught, and to show. Come to make mates, not promote. Take care of your fellow attendees, you might want their assist some day.” The occasion by and huge lived as much as that imaginative and prescient.
Authorized Geek follows a fast-paced format: quick, punchy talks of 10 minutes in size (actually eight minutes in line with the audio system I talked to), interactive workshops, and startup and vendor alleyways as a substitute of cavernous expo halls.
I needed to marvel how the audio system may follow an eight-minute restrict however nobody went over. By the top of the day, I used to be satisfied the format labored. It compelled audio system to have a degree, get to it shortly, and follow it. All that made the talks rather more impactful.
Additionally networking isn’t solely anticipated, it’s virtually demanded with loads of alternatives for each structured networking in roundtable periods but in addition unstructured ones. And in contrast to some conferences the place content material runs each minute of day-after-day, Authorized Geek supplies time and incentives to community. Excessive fives appear to be the order of the day.
Whereas the vibe sounds casual, the content material tackled some meaty points, specializing in the evolution of authorized companies, how AI is getting used, and the place the occupation could also be headed, all in a concise and centered method.
The Attendees
The Chicago convention, like all however one of many Authorized Geek occasions, was directed primarily towards giant regulation corporations and company counsel. Authorized Geek says there have been roughly 1,000 registrants, 30% from regulation corporations, 30% in-house, and the remaining with tech firms, teachers, thought leaders, and many others. I used to be instructed by Authorized Geek representatives {that a} honest variety of attendees are literally practising legal professionals, though that’s arduous to verify. (In reality, late within the day, one of many presenters requested for a present of palms of practising legal professionals and there weren’t many.)
The Displays
I’m going to quite a lot of conferences so have heard most of the issues the audio system talk about however there have been new issues, and it was good to listen to the ideas expressed in a condensed model. I additionally must admit, once I first noticed all the seller displays, I cringed pondering it will be usual promoting from the rostrum. A few of it was, notably through the five-minute product spotlights, though the startups bought a good quantity of talking elements which I don’t begrudge. And among the vendor materials was extra substantive.
In line with format, here’s a high-speed, fast bullet level abstract of the presentation excessive notes.
Danielle Benecke, chief of Baker McKenzie’s Utilized AI apply, kicked the convention off by figuring out the elephant within the room: what’s going to AI instruments do to the leverage and billing fashions of so many regulation corporations. Benecke candidly instructed that the AI instruments will certainly problem conventional methods of valuing companies supplied by regulation corporations. She believes that in a short while, purchasers can be shopping for imaginative and prescient, technique, and outcomes as a substitute of time. We’re “shifting from enter to output.”
Alma Asay of Crowell & Moring pressured sensible AI use circumstances that ought to meet with little resistance. Issues like creating higher billing narratives, drafting non-billable consumer alerts, capturing handwritten notes and turning them into textual content, extracting knowledge from copious paperwork, and accumulating consumer statements and positions or authorized recommendation given purchasers throughout varied fields. “You must meet legal professionals the place they’re,” mentioned Asay.
Mark Palmer of the Illinois Supreme Court docket Professionalism Fee gave a captivating discuss on utilizing AI to search out the fitting phrases to convey the message you need. Phrases that assist these you are attempting to steer be a part of the expertise you need them to know. Palmer famous that AI can recommend the tone a phrase creates, can recommend alternate phrasing, and may analyze drafts to make sure the phrases used greatest convey what you need. An AI device can establish insights that can resonate effectively with a specific viewers — and people that may backfire.
Nicole Bradick, the World Head of Innovation at Issue, talked about how agentic AI can and can have an effect on how we design instruments to realize sophisticated duties. She perceptively famous that pre AI, regulation was a very lawyer-driven course of and that advocacy required quite a lot of expertise. However now — or quickly — brokers can do quite a lot of these issues {that a} lawyer used to do. The profit is autonomy however the concern stays lawyer management over the method and the place alongside the spectrum between the autonomy and management legal professionals have to be.
Tamara Steffens of Thomson Reuters talked a few future the place experience and worth gained’t essentially come from the information and experiences inside a agency however throughout corporations and enterprise as anonymized knowledge. The important thing to worth sooner or later is not going to be both higher, quicker, or cheaper however can be all three mixed.
Dan Quintas, an Airias Staff Chief, recognized the numerous limitations to profitable implementation when a number of AI applications are run throughout corporations and purchasers and the way it is going to be important to have some AI mechanic to orchestrate and handle all these applications. This can allow higher audit and management features.
Michael Hill of NetDocuments talked about how legal professionals usually ask about how the know-how works and what it may be used for. As a substitute, he says they have to be asking issues like: The way to leverage tech to be higher? How get associates on top of things? What to do about sloppy work that would come from reliance on AI? The way to open up new sorts of work that corporations might not wish to do, like collections? The way to open work that may be executed in an automatic style? And the way AI might change what it means to be a lawyer?
Wendy Rubas of Innovaccer talked in regards to the limitations to tech implementation by and amongst legal professionals. She famous that good legal professionals merely don’t have time to get details about this new know-how and they also merely keep in e mail and Phrase. She mentioned tech adoption needs to be earned from demonstrating how know-how can remedy ache factors. The most important limitations to authorized tech are frankly senior legal professionals. They’re too busy to get acquainted with tech and don’t belief it. Rubas says implementation should begin with youthful legal professionals and create a tradition. Attorneys worry they gained’t perceive tech, they worry shedding work, and notably for senior legal professionals, they worry that they are going to seem silly and outdated. They want tech pep talks.
A Sea Change?
There was a way at Authorized Geek that the authorized occupation is standing at a fork within the street. It was a difficult however exhausting day. A number of new concepts, heaps to consider within the courageous new world of AI.
Are we on the cusp of a authorized sea change or is that this a minor blip within the inexorable authorized inertia? Time will inform however if you happen to attended Authorized Geek, you’ll assume the reply is evident. If true, there are many arduous points we as a occupation want to consider. And that’s the worth of Authorized Geek.
Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger and author. He publishes TechLaw Crossroads, a weblog dedicated to the examination of the stress between know-how, the regulation, and the apply of regulation.
