Another year, another LegalTech under our collective belts. This year was our 9th trip to NY for LegalTech and everyone was waiting to see how the "hold your breath because of the economy" scenario would play out.

Overall attendance appeared to be down quite a bit from previous years (compared to a reported 12,797 in 2008) which was not surprising with the current business climate.  Also, there were a few less exhibitors than in 2008 according to Incisive Media.  With that said, it seemed that overall attendee quality was up (see our separate post on our on-site exhibitor InsideLegal flash poll later this week) and there was more eagerness to get business done.  Ironically, the smaller crowd allowed for more indepth talks in the booth without the prospects being pushed away by the crowd. (See post on LTNY exhibit hall pics)

New for vendors in 2009 was expansion of the exhibit space into the 3rd floor ballroom and the removal of booths from the dreaded back hallway.  I was not sure how this would play out, but the hall seemed to have traffic each time I went in and the space looked like it belonged with the show.  This was a creative way to add space, but also did add to the disjointed nature of the exhibit space. 

2009 was the year that LegalTech embraced Twitter.  There were quite a few firm contacts, consultants and less so vendors that twitted about LegalTech and in particular the session on Twitter that was held on Monday afternoon - moderated by Monica Bay (Editor-in-Chief, Law Technology News) and panelists included Matt Homann (Founder, LexThink), Kevin O'Keefe (CEO, LexBlog), and Chris Winfield (President, 10e20).  According to Matt Homann, LegalTech NY made it to the top 10 twittered topics during the session.

Also very noticeable this year, was the abundance of legal industry job seekers, brought to a whole new level with resumes being circulated en mass. Seems like an ideal time to pick-up great talent with so many folks in active job search mode.

One particular complaint of ours (and vendors, consultants and media attendees, etc.) is the lack of meeting space.  Part of the culture of a tradeshow (especially of this size) is that companies have meetings on-site – whether it is with clients, media, industry consultants, potential partners or employees, etc.  LegalTech has all but made this impossible with the sale of about the only meeting space that is available in the Hilton.  The Bridges Bar area (by escalator on floor 1) is sold for thousands of dollars for the duration of the show and only a handful of vendors actually shell out that much money to have the privilege to sit at a table for 4 behind a velvet rope complete with security guard.  We know first hand of a few media editors and a consultant that have stopped coming to LegalTech because of the lack of space to meet with vendors.  Hopefully this will change for 2010.

Here are some details on "extra curriculars" on Monday and Tuesday during the show:

Monday Night – InsideLegal Consultant Reception

On Monday night we hosted a small InsideLegal Consultant Reception.  In attendance were Andy Adkins (Director, Legal Technology Institute), Debbie Foster (Founder/President, InTouch Legal), Adriana Linares (President, LawTech Partners), Larry Smith (Director, ABA LPM), Carly DiVito (Exhibit Manager, ABA TECHSHOW), Dave Glynn (Director of Research, Law Bulletin Publishing), Matt Homann (Founder, LexThink), and Jeremy Hill (Publisher, LegalEase).  Also many thanks to BigHand for sponsoring the event!  BigHand was represented by David Fryer, CEO; Jonathan Carter, Client Solutions Director; David Jones, UK Sales Director; Beth Thomspon, Regional Sales Manager; and Steve Butterworth, President.

  [Andy Adkins (Legal Technology Institute) & David Fyer (BigHand)]

 [JoAnna Forshee (InsideLegal), Matt Homann (LexThink) and Adriana Linares (LawTech Partners)]

  [Debbie Foster (InTouch Legal), Larry Smith (ABA LPM) and Adriana Linares (LawTech Partners)]

Tuesday Night – TechnoLawyer Party & Charles Christian Performance

Tuesday night was the much talked about TechnoLawyer party hosted by Publisher, Neil Squillante. TechnoLawyer is one of the few organizations that host an event to thank the vendors for their patronage and, as always, it was a great party.  Thanks to Neil Squillante!

[Matt Homann (LexThink), Adriana Linares (LawTech Partners), Bob Ambrogi (Legaline), Kevin O'Keefe (LexBlog)]

  [Derek Giles (TimeFrame), Jobst Elster (Envision Agency), JoAnna Forshee (InsideLegal)]

After the TechnoLawyer soiree, we headed downtown for a special performance by Charles Christian, the Editor and Publisher of American Legal Technology Insider, Legal Technology Insider and The Orange Rag blog.  In Charles' free time, he runs a poetry web community and decided to take advantage of his trip to New York to tell a story of his wilder days in the 60s.  It was hilarious and was by far the hit of the evening. 

 [Charles Christian (The Orange Rag)]

Thanks to Adriana Linares for the pictures from the reception!