The annual ILTA conference is back with a vengeance! At least, that is the word we hear on the street and throughout the industry. For the uninformed, the International Legal Technology Association Conference (ILTACON) is the annual gathering of legal professionals. It focuses on all aspects of legal technology, from its use to implementation and the myriad processes surrounding legal operations.
Everyone we talked to at the conference this year was pleased with the turnout at clearly the largest in-person gathering of legal technology professionals in recent memory. We’ve heard the rumor that more than 3000 people were in attendance. Indeed, the exhibit hall was full of software and service providers. And the evening parties were in full swing.
As is usually the case, we did not get to attend as many educational sessions as we would have liked. Still, those sessions I was able to make were full of great content and well-attended.
Mike’s Conference Highlights
My highlights were the two sessions in which I played a role. First, we held a session on Monday to preview the preliminary output from ILTA’s Litigation/Practice Support Survey in collaboration with ACEDS. It’s always interesting to hear from the community on trends across the industry. The survey is still open, by the way, and anyone who would like to complete it may go here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/ILTA1/_2022ILTALitigationPracticeSupportSurvey
The second session I participated in was a project management workshop. Danielle Davidson from Ropes & Gray and I joined forces to interact with attendees on questions about what makes a good project manager and some of the challenges facing project managers. We also presented several scenarios and asked attendees to brainstorm solutions we would discuss within the group.
And I was thrilled to see so many people in person that I had not seen in several years. The value of networking and just catching up with old friends made this the most valuable event I’ve attended in some time.
Maribel’s Conference Highlights
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the ACEDS and ILTACON Community Cocktail sponsored by Everlaw was not my favorite highlight of the conference. Getting to see members from across the globe and enjoying time together was a top goal. ACEDS Global Advisory Board Member Tom O’Connor even shared a few words in honor of Browning Marean, whom we lost on August 22, 2014.
The Wednesday keynote address by the Honorable Tanya R. Kennedy also tops my list of highlights from ILTACON. Judge Kennedy spoke about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the barriers women face in the workplace. She shared, “What people consider normal and ordinary reinforces prejudicial attitudes, and there are a range of double standards that women confront on a daily basis.” She touched on several areas, including privilege and allyship. If Judge Kennedy’s keynote is available to the public, I highly recommend watching it.
I have two final highlights. The first would be the session led by Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius Partner Scott Milner, featuring Deanna Fleener of Integreon, Rebecca Morrison of Untangle Happiness, Michael Kearney of Redgrave Data, and Vivian Liu-Somers of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. The quintet spoke about their e-discovery careers and how they took the skills, experience, and knowledge they gained into new roles.
Of course, there was also my appearance on the Technocat Livestream hosted by Cat Casey of Reveal from ILTACON.
These are just some highlights. There were many other memorable sessions and moments from the conference; it would take a much longer post to include them all. Kudos to Joy Heath Rush and the entire team at ILTA for a great show.
We look forward to seeing everyone next year in Orlando for the 43rd Annual ILTACON.
