LegalTech 2010: Blogstars, eDiscovelebrities, and… Vendors (They’re Cool, Too)

February 4, 2010

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Another cold February ~~weekday~~ workday morning. Another noisy, bumpy, spill-my-coffee-on-my-newspaper-every-two-minutes train to the city. I looked around me, and observed the others commuting from Newark to midtown Manhattan, beginning their ~~daze~~ days with the lethargy one might associate with a Jets fan circa last Monday.

But not me. This was day two of LegalTech New York 2010, and I was on my way to this premier legal technology showcase sponsored by ALM. Given how great my experiences were last year, I was amped up and ready to go. So, with my coffee down and chin up, I grabbed the B line and took to the Hilton New York.The day began with the Blogger’s Breakfast. As you might recall from my last experience with LegalTech, they cater to bloggers, providing them with a meet & greet, as well as prime seating and access to all of the lectures and keynotes. While at the breakfast, I was able to meet some new faces, like the fellas from RocketMatter, and was able to reconnect with blogstars like Ari Kaplan, of Ari Kaplan Advisors, and the one and only Robert Ambrogi, ex-Legal Blog Watcher and founder of LawSites. After a chat about legal research iPhone apps and some “shameless plugging,” I was off to catch some speaker sessions.

LegalTech put together quite an impressive set of panels for this particular day. Some of the most well known names in the industry – eDiscovelebrities, if you will — were featured in timely discussions about the electronic discovery world’s biggest issues. Mark Howitson (Deputy General Counsel, Facebook), Patrick Oot (General Counsel, eDiscovery Institute), Jason Baron (Director of Litigation, National Archives), Laura Kibbe (Senior VP, Epiq), Allison Brecher (Senior Litigation Counsel, Marsh & McLennan) and Fernando M. Pinguelo, partner and co-chair of the Response to Electronic Discovery & Information Group at Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, are just a few (understatement) of the speakers and ediscovelebrities that attendees were able to catch. Plus, those invited to a private Fios, Inc., lunch at the Warwick Hotel across the street were able to listen to an education discussion among key players in the field, including Leonard Gordon (Federal Trade Commission), David G. Keyko, (Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP) and Joshua R. Weiss (Special Counsel, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, LLP), moderated by blogstar Mary Mack (Fios, Inc.).

I even spotted a couple of eDiscovelebrities walking the halls and browsing the exhibits, notably: Laura Zubulake (the princess of eDiscovery), James Batson (Zubulake’s Counsel), and Alex Arato (Associate General Counsel, CA, Inc.).

Throughout the day, I was also able to visit the vendors’ stations, and chat with the ~~models~~ representatives of the various companies. Some vendors’ displays were quite creative this year, with one giving away a smart car, and another by ConnectInPrivate’s Bill Montgomery, which demonstrated (via a glass outhouse in the center of the showroom floor) how secure the internet really is (not very). I was even able to score a t-shirt, hat, and a couple million pens to show off to my peers when I returned to class the next day. But soon enough, 5:00PM came, the vendors started packing it in, and I realized it was time to go…

To the Fios, Inc. VIP afterparty, of course! Thanks to Dennis Kiker (Director, Professional Services, Fios, Inc.), I was able to get into the exclusive event following the show, and met more eDiscovelebrities like Gabe Acevedo, of Gabe’s Guide to the e-Discovery Universe, George Socha, of Socha Consulting, and Brett Burney of Burney Consultants. Plus, who doesn’t like a few free drinks?

In all seriousness, though, it was great to get feedback, blog tips, and career advice from each of the folks I met at LegalTech this year. The spirit of the show as a whole was running high, and attitudes were very positive throughout the entire day. So once again, LegalTech, allow me to thank you for your gracious hospitality, and I look forward to seeing you again next year.

To everyone else, look forward to seeing some video interviews from the show posted soon. (For real this time!)

Article posted on February 4, 2010 at 2:09 AM |