Recently, InsideLegal heeded the infamous "Go West, Young Man" and embarked upon our annual pilgrimage to Los Angeles for LegalTech West Coast (June 24-25th). Fresh off a LA Lakers NBA basketball 'world' championship and commemorating the one year anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson, the town was a buzz. While big crowds did make their way to the convention center area, we were disappointed to discover the crowds were not there for LegalTech but were mainly split between the naturalization/citizenship event going on day one and the grungy die-hards camped out all over the grounds (literally in tents) for the Twilight 'Eclipse' premiere and red carpet event next door at the Nokia Plaza at the end of day two. Although it was impossible to beat the excitement of the new US citizens dressed in Uncle Sam hats and carrying red, white and blue flowers or compete with the crowds debating 'Edward' or 'Jacob', LegalTech definitely boasted the biggest signage and again hosted a core group of west coast legal techies.

On day one of LegallTech West Coast, we observed moderate exhibit floor traffic with mixed vendor feedback on the quantity and quality of booth traffic and prospect interactions. While we don't have concrete attendance numbers (LegalTech does not release these as other shows do), we did notice a reduction in exhibiting companies from last year. When taking a look back at past show guides, we count 83 exhibitors for 2010 compared to 97 exhibitors in 2009 (a 15% decrease) and 121 exhibitors in 2008 (a reduction in 2010 of 31% compared to 2008). Several large vendors that exhibited in 2009 were absent this year – including Autonomy iManage, Fios, Pitney Bowes and Google. 

On a positive note, it was good to see several 'first time' vendors on their foray into legal. Ladybug Teknologies, for example, took us by surprise with their hand-held breathalyzers and 'BAQ-blood alcohol quotient' smartphone app designed to increase awareness of alcohol consumption. Beyond giving social drinkers (that's got to be a very large target market!) handy tools to monitor their own level of sobriety, Ladybug's CEO Sherry Colbourne highlighted the popularity of such solutions among lawyers-about 80% of the Canadian-based company's clients are law firms/legal professionals (hence, a big reason for exploring the US market). At home, Ladybug has been working with firms who are not only purchasing the devices for staff, but specifically for their clients who might be able to gain leniency with the courts when it comes time to prosecute DUI-related offences. 

Another legal (and LegalTech West Coast) newcomer we chatted with was Vu TelePresence. Described on the corporate site as a 'smarter way to conduct meetings, reviews, and interviews', Vu seems to have a very attractive value proposition for the legal market. Touting low bandwidth (only requires 700KB to operate), attractive pricing (starting at $4,000 per single conference room setup), and easy setup, the company is hoping to make inroads with law firms. According to Roy Jones, District Manager, the response had been very positive based on early booth traffic.

Beyond chatting up exhibitors, we caught up with ILTA's queen of conference coordination, TJ Johnson, who was overseeing the 'Advanced IT' track of sessions that ILTA produces for LegalTech. We got more details on ILTA's annual conference in August; their last minute move to the fabulous ARIA Resort in Las Vegas (due to the Nashville floods); and the 100s of content sessions that she and the ILTA board and track chairs are pulling together. Speaking of, we visited the Aria Resort after leaving LegalTech and we'll have more information on that later. 

We also had the opportunity to visit with Bradford & Barthel's Eric Hunter (IT/KM Director) and Mark Fletcher, the California firm's managing partner overseeing operations and communication liaison between the firm's 13 offices and their staffs. Some might remember B&B's recent move to Google Apps and its aggressive cloud strategy including already replacing Outlook Calendar, email and intranet/extranet collaboration with Google's software-as-a-service alternatives. The next 18 months will see the firm transitioning its users' other critical applications including video, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and document management system. According to Hunter, another aspect of the cloud roll-out is Google Search and how it's integrated throughout the firm's other application: "Utilizing search reshapes email management, information management, and requires a 
different thought process and approach from our users. The potential for voice driven search through mobile is already at play as we test drive our apps interface from Droids. The same potential lies in integrating search through Google Wave playback and video." 

In addition to conducting various client, media and consultant briefings, we had a quick sit down with RealPractice's CEO Carey Ransom and Brad Cooper, SVP of Marketing, who took the day to visit the show from their new Orange County headquarters. In addition to their office move, the company recently announced its name change (now RealPractice, Inc.) and several new hires which according to the guys have infused new energy into executing the company's vision of helping attorneys and law firms realize the potential of their practices. The company’s flagship products are SmartRules and RealDealDocs and new solutions for smaller firms are currently in the works. 

Thursday (day two) again was chock-full of meetings but we took time to visit more vendors and get feedback on their show experience. We talked with some established vendors fairly new to the legal space including CDW, who is in its 3rd year with a legal vertical focus. Lee Curtis, CDW's Senior Account Manager, mentioned BigHand's digital dictation product when we asked what the hottest product was in their legal catalog. Others that celebrated their legal market entry included performance marketing provider MediaWhiz and MyCase Client Manager. According to its CEO Matthew Spiegel, "MyCase is an innovative, easy-to-use system that provides 
clients with 24/7 access to their case files." Spiegel noted the software is positioned to do for the legal industry what online banking did for the financial industry: provide a platform for clients to securely interact with their information, on their own terms, and ensure that information is available anywhere, anytime. MyCase is one of several energetic start-ups we have talked with this year all focused on improving the client experience through collaboration, and better communication via affordable, easy to use legal tech tools. Another company that we met was eClaris, e-discovery consultants tauting their new E-Discovery Project Management, 'a complete and defensible project management platform for electronic discovery'. 

Finally, we caught up David Kalmick, CEO, Stephanie Peck Hall, VP of Marketing and Joseph Scott, General Manager of CompuLaw, one of LegalTech's most established exhibitors. The LA-based publisher of calendar and docket matter management software with built-in court rules databases has been exhibiting here for decades. LegalTech West Coast is their hometown show which allows them to interact with many of their clients. 

In terms of overall show impressions and show value for exhibitors, the reviews were mixed. One long-time LegalTech vendor cited a total of only 12 law firm contacts made in 2 days (including 7 existing clients) and we received a few complaints from vendors of the abundance of job-seekers and salespeople selling to them. Others noted steady traffic and good exposure to law firms, which is increasingly rare on the west coast. This was our 11th year attending LegalTech West Coast (LegalTech LA before) and have seen it make many changes trying to stay relevant – from its location in Century City to its many years at the Westin Bonaventure and then to its move to the Los Angeles Convention Center. Although the show seems to shrink a little each year, it has been the only legal technology show that has managed to hang on for this long on the west coast. Tune in next year June 15-16 to judge for yourself.