Each year, the ABA Law Practice Division's ABA TECHSHOW is held in Chicago and is one of our favorite legal technology events of the year.  One thing that makes TECHSHOW so different than a lot of the other events is the people involved in the planning. A planning committee consisting of industry thought leader volunteers are selected annually and spend the entire year on every detail involved in the running of the conference – from social to educational. This year, the Chair of the TECHSHOW Planning Board was our friend, Brett Burney, owner of Burney Consultants, and prolific speaker and author on all things legal tech, especially eDiscovery, Macs and iPads.

New Players in the Exhibit Hall

Considering this was our 16th visit to ABA TECHSHOW, we know most all the usual exhibitors and established players in the market, so we always enjoy spending time meeting new exhibitors. Here are a few that stood out:

Zola – The first day of TECHSHOW also coincided the launch of Zola practice management technology, although you wouldn't believe it when meeting the cool and calm Victoria Stovall, Co-Founder and VP Marketing. Although Zola is new, the team is not new to legal. Zola was developed by Amicus Creative Media, who have provided “Attorney Website Design and Marketing” services for the past 7 years.
The skinny on Zola: “Zola doesn’t rely on clunky integrations with third party software. Everything you need to run your practice efficiently, from email to billing and even document management, is built-in eliminating the need for additional subscriptions and unreliable syncing. Increase efficiency, strengthen collaboration and maximize revenue with Zola – the engine of modern practice.” Follow Zola on Twitter

CosmoLex – CosmoLex was a bit different in that we had heard of them before, but not had the chance to see it. We connected with Rick Kabra, CEO to learn more about CosmoLex and their first year in legal (originally launched at ABA TECHSHOW 2014). At TECHSHOW 2015, CosmoLex announced the addition of “a full suite of legal & business accounting functions within its already comprehensive practice management system.”
The skinny on CosmoLex: “CosmoLex is cloud-based law practice management software that integrates time tracking, billing, trust (IOLTA) accounting, calendaring, task & document management, all in one application. Specially designed with the needs of solo & small attorneys in mind, CosmoLex gives you and your firm the ability to log in from anywhere, at anytime, on any device to keep your legal cases moving forward…”  Follow CosmoLexLegal on Twitter

Legaler – Friday afternoon, we met Stevie Ghiassi and Kia Kavoosi, co-founders of Legaler, at the Annual Beer for Bloggers get together hosted by ABA Journal and LexBlog. They were there on behalf of their blog, Legaler, run by resident blogger Jacqui Walker, covering all facets of legal life. Legaler definitely deserve an award for traveling from Sydney to exhibit at TECHSHOW. They are a perfect example of a fresh, energetic XXXX [upstarts :-)]. 
The skinny on Legaler: “Legaler is a simpler and smarter way for lawyers and clients to connect through a cloud-based mobile and web platform. The initial release will integrate a client portal with video chat, messaging, document management, scheduling, matter organization, and a profile page to bring lawyers and clients close together in one simple and powerful app.” Follow LegalerHQ on Twitter

Legal Talk Network 

Not familiar with LTN and it's impressive cadre (30+ 'shows') of legal-focused podcasts and programming … well you should be! First off, thanks to Adam, Laurence and the rest of the Legal Talk Network (LTN) team who were onsite broadcasting LIVE from the Chicago Hilton during ABA TECHSHOW. In addition to a slew (we counted at least 15) of 'special report' podcasts focused on select TECHSHOW 2015 sessions, LTN featured a '20 Blawggers in 20 Minutes: Legal Blogs in 60 Seconds' program honoring the '60 in 60' session format, a long established and cherished TECHSHOW tradition. The challenge …describe your blog, where to find it, what it is and why I should care in 60 seconds or less. The result … 20 established blog owners and authors – including InsideLegal's own Jobst Elster – tip off LTN listeners and the general legal market to useful legal, technology and law/lifestyle related content worth checking out. 

We strongly recommend you press play on this podcast while you read our faves of the 20 bloggers and blogs featured in the segment below. There are far more than 20 worthwhile legal blogs out there … the ABA Journal annually ranks the top 100 as part of its Blawg 100 series and a quick glance at our InsideLegal blogroll (located on the left side of our homepage) will reveal even more.

ABA Journal: Law News Now – Any breaking legal news that lawyers might find important.

DennisKennedy.Blog – Legal technology, technology law, the future of law practice, podcasting, and social media since 2003.

The Legal Ease Blog – Practice management, time management, tools, ethics, legal marketing, and social media for lawyers and law firms.

Inter Alia – Internet legal research, legal technology, personal technology, and technology with social media since 2002.

Ernie the Attorney – A personal blog about lawyers seeking efficient enlightenment.

Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog – Short, simple, and easy to read law practice tips for all lawyers.

Slaw – #1 Canadian legal blog with articles from lawyers all over Canada.

ABA TECHSHOW 2016

Plan now to attend ABA TECHSHOW 2016 which will be Chaired by law practice management expert and Affinity Consulting partner Steven Best, March 17-19, 2016 in Chicago. Not only will that coincide with St. Patrick's Day (in Chicago), but it will also be the conference's 30th Anniversary (no pressure Steve!).