In today’s
rapidly evolving marketplace, law firms are more focused than ever on effective
and innovative delivery of legal services. ILTACON has a great slate of
Legal Operations sessions (more than 40!) dedicated to how outside counsel can
leverage technology and human resources to better understand, communicate and
collaborate with clients.
Here are some
of the highlights:
Corporate Legal Day
Corporate
Legal Day (exclusive
to ILTA law department and legal operations staff) kicks off with Gladiators
Welcome! A Corporate Roundtable to Arm You For Battle (Monday
11:00-12:00). This session is focused on how best to work with
outside counsel in five key areas: litigation management, budget/e-billing
management, requests for proposal (RFPs), performance scorecards and technology
exchanges. An interactive discussion of Matter Management: The
Keystone of the Pyramids (Monday 1:00-2:00) follows, in which attendees
will hear real-life stories about options and solutions for this cornerstone of
business operation for corporate legal departments.
In this age
of “Big Data,” most corporations continue to struggle with effective
information governance. Information Management Best Practices:
Building More Than a Great Wall (Monday 2:30-3:30), will
examine the top aspects of an integrated IG program and how to overcome the
perceived challenges of implementing a successful plan.
Stonehenge
and Contract Management: Timeless Mysteries and Modern Complexities
(Monday 4:00-5:00),
examines another major pain point for corporate legal departments. Discover how
the concept of “contract management” is defined by a corporate legal
department, what role an organization’s legal department plays in the
management of contract obligations, the technology for process management and
the analysis of risk mitigation to ensure revenue generation.
Industry Perspectives on Innovation in
the Legal Profession
It’s
important to take a look back to understand where we’ve come from as we move
forward to improve client relationships. 2016 marks the 20-year
anniversary of Richard Susskind's book "The Future of Law."
Since its release, many legal futurists have tossed out predictions about
where legal is headed. Grading Susskind: The State of Legal 20
Years After the “Future of Law” (Wednesday 11:00-12:30), will
take on these predictions, debate whether futurists were right or wrong ,and
discuss where we’re headed from here. The Wikipedia of Legal: ILTA
Staff Legal Industry Perspectives from the ‘80s, ‘90s and Today (Thursday
11:00-12:00) includes a panel of ILTA staff members who review legal
industry perspectives, major trends, challenges and opportunities from the 80's,
90's and today.
The Next
Generation of Legal Innovators (Monday 4:00-5:00), examines whether traditional legal
service providers can be truly innovative, and what can be done to allow the
next generation of legal innovators to bring change.
Returning for
its third year, the popular Bigger and Shinier: Legal Technology Innovation
and Its Effect on the Profession (Tuesday 11-12:30), will explore
what is on the frontier of legal technology innovation. Our thought leaders
will also share what is not changing, with special attention to developments
since ILTACON 2015.
Evolution of Law Firm Roles
Law firms are
challenged to redefine traditional roles and invent new ones to meet client
demands. From the Front Lines: Actual Jobs in “New Law” (Monday
11:00-12:00), examines the new roles law firms and law departments
are asking individuals to assume as everyone attempts to adapt to changing
times. What positions are here to stay, and what skill sets are needed to
deliver legal services in the "new law"? A diverse panel will
discuss real new jobs in new law. Reinventing Traditional Support
Staff Roles in a Buyer’s Market (Thursday 1:30-2:30), focuses
on evolution of existing roles and how technology and the success of practice
support departments can instruct us on how to achieve radical change in other
operational areas affecting the business of law and the bottom line. Attendees
will learn how to turn market challenges into professional development
opportunities and realize greater profitability.
Communication and Collaboration
Opportunities
for better communication and collaboration between law departments and outside
counsel are examined from a number of different angles:
Following Dan
Katz's provocative keynote, innovators from corporate legal operations and law
firms will share their thoughts and lead audience discussions related to
leveraging data and metrics and measuring performance in both client and law
firm organizations at the Client
and Law Firm Workshop: Technology, Data, Metrics, Strategy (Tuesday
11:00-12:30).
Let’s Talk
About Law Firm Performance Measurement (Tuesday 1:30-2:30), includes corporate legal operations
professionals, the senior director of legal management services at the
Association of Corporate Counsel and the author of the new book "Unless
You Ask: A Guide for Law Departments to Get More from External
Relationships," talking about performance measurement by law firms.
Central to the discussion will be a proposed survey of how law firms measure
themselves internally and the extent to which they utilize legal project
management and collaboration tools and provide other value-enabling services to
clients. We’ll also discuss ideas for ways firms might change their metrics to
drive better value to clients. Polling will be used to assess desired behaviors
and pretest survey questions.
Legal
Operations: Different Approaches and Helpful Technology Tools (Tuesday
3:30-4:30), examines
how sophisticated legal operations are changing the way law firms and legal
departments manage their matters and make strategic decisions about litigation
and deals. Legal operations experts from a law firm and legal department will
share their different approaches to legal operations and the essential data,
technological tools and skill sets required for operational excellence.
Building
KM Together: Creating Collaboration Between Law Firms and Law Departments
(Wednesday 1:30-2:30),
addresses how even law firms with robust KM programs might not know how to
leverage internal best practices when working with clients, and law departments
might not know about the KM programs of their outside counsel. A panel of
experts discuss ways law departments and law firms can work together to
jump-start an effective KM program that builds stronger relationships between
attorneys on both sides.
Can We See
What They See: A Preview of What Law Department Analytics Tools Look Like
(Wednesday 3:30-4:30),
takes a look behind the curtain at the tools clients use to track their law
firms' productivity, costs and performance. Attendees will hear from clients
about what they are using now and building for the future, and gain a greater
understanding of how law departments are using the data gathered to drive
decision-making.
Innovative
Data Exchanges and Collaboration with Clients (Thursday 9:00-10:00), takes the challenge to find
innovative solutions that will allow the never-ending exchange of data to
continue without negatively impacting our organization’s security models and
yet enhance the collaboration process. This is an interactive session
discussing the constraints and opportunities that we face in finding creative
solutions to meet budgetary, technology, mobility, security and adoption requirements
in building data exchange environments within our organizations.
A New
Approach to Aligning the Objectives of Outside Counsel, In-House Legal and
Corporate Business (Thursday 2:45-4:30), proposes an approach that aligns outside counsel
and legal departments in their pursuit of better business outcomes that
extended beyond pricing. Come hear a case study exploring how one legal
department and its panel of law firms have partnered differently, and how their
holistic approach to solving legal problems has the power to transform the way
the department delivers value to the business.
The Intersect Between Legal Operations
and Litigation Support
Litigation
Support remains a major area of focus in legal operations, as clients continue
to identify challenges related to e-discovery process and spend as key drivers
in forming litigation strategy and matter management.
Live
Demonstration of a Mobile Device Investigation (Monday 2:30-3:30), takes an in-depth look at the
challenges associated with mobile forensics. Come observe a mobile forensics
expert perform a live smartphone acquisition and see the actual data available
that might help an investigation or litigation matter.
Understanding
Client Systems for Better Collaboration During Litigation (Tuesday
8:30-10), features
a panel of in-house e-discovery leaders and outside technology consultants who
share challenges they have faced when preserving and collecting data from
corporate technology systems during litigation. Learn what in-house leaders
wish their outside counsel knew about the technology their companies use, and
gain a better understanding of common technology systems that need to be
considered during litigation data preservation and collection.
Expanding
Litigation Support into More Practice Areas (Tuesday 3:30-4:30), presents a panel of
litigation and practice support leaders who will share ideas for using
technology and processes commonly associated with litigation support to solve
challenges in other legal practice areas. Hear personal stories of successful
projects that solved non-litigation challenges by reusing the tools and
knowledge already available. Leave with a wealth of ideas to help additional
groups within your firm.
Redefining
Your E-Discovery Reporting (Wednesday 9:00-10:00), is a workshop walking through a
realistic scenario. The audience is asked to participate in a
“choose-your-own adventure” style interactive experience and then foster
discussion amongst our panelists as to what they would choose at each decision
point and why. This will be a collaborative learning experience that will
teach you to think through a situation and choose the right reporting at the
correct time to make the best legal and business decisions possible
Too often,
e-discovery considerations stop at the end of the formal discovery phase.
From Production to Trial: Tools We Use and Still Need (Wednesday
11:00-12:30), explores a new generation of case management and trial
preparation software with three law firm users who have partnered with their
vendors. These presentations will give the audience a view into real-life
workflows and case management tactics. Attendees will also learn about the
detailed features of some of the newest technologies used, all from the
perspective of the user.
The balancing
act of dividing roles and resources in an e-discovery engagement can be
complex. When Project Management and E-Discovery Management
Collide (Wednesday 1:30-2:30), asks when it makes sense to adopt legal
project management (LPM) tools or engage with legal project managers. Do
these efforts add value to the client? A panels of experts explore the pros and
cons of LPM and give practical suggestions all law firms should consider.
The Future
of Law Firms in the E-Discovery Space: A Client’s Perspective (Wednesday
3:30-4:30), examines
today’s challenging climate, with the rise of legal service providers and more
clients taking work in-house. The value chain in the e-discovery world
has been somewhat disrupted. To combat this, we need to delve into clients'
long-term strategies for managing electronic discovery. Get the client’s
perspective on who should be responsible for various tasks today, and how
future strategies and models might affect how we work and how we’re
staffed.
Consistent
with this theme of change, How Future Technology Will Effect Litigation
Support (Thursday 11:00-12:00), features a panel of
e-discovery industry leaders and visionaries who will discuss what future
technologies will have an effect on litigation support and e-discovery. Find
out what these leaders think will happen in the next few years, and what you
need to be ready for with the coming changes in technology.
As ILTACON
comes to a close, Litigation Support professionals are invited to Gather
‘Round for a Litigation Support Roundtable (Thursday 2:45-4:30). What
major challenges will we face next in litigation support? This lively,
moderated roundtable discussion will focus on hot topics in industry-wide
litigation support and issues to consider for the future. Topics will be
selected by session attendees and could include staffing, product selection,
technological advances, recent case decisions and outsourcing.
Visit the
ILTACON website to see the full catalog of exciting sessions and networking
events planned for the week. Looking forward to seeing you later this
month at the Gaylord National!
Joy Holley