InsideLegal

LegalTech West Coast‘s FutureTech program on Friday, June 27th, kicked-off with a very engaging and eye-opening panel session aptly named "Selling Your Tech". Moderated by Monica Bay, Law Technology News‘  Editor-in-Chief, and FutureTech architect, the panel featured Doug Caddell, Chief Information Officer at Foley & Lardner; Rob Kahn, Director, Business Development with Fenwick & West; and Robbie Solomon, Heller Ehrman‘s Firmwide Knowledge Manager. The panelist pairing could not have been more fitting since the three speakers touched on unique aspects of the broader "selling your technology to win new business and stay competitive" topic, but still weaved a common thread throughout. Here are some take-aways from each:

Doug Caddell based his presentation on a feature article he wrote for LTN last summer "Selling Your Tech", detailing his own firm’s shift from transforming IT from the "back room to the boardroom" and how IT can play an active (if not leading) role in helping the firm position technology and increase service levels for prospective (and of course existing) clients. Caddell noted that in the age of cost cutting and the streamlining of legal services, especially when it comes to a GCs decision to widdle down his or her company’s use of outside counsel, being able to demonstrate technological advancement (and what it means for the company) is not only advantageous but almost a necessity. Of the 10 tips provided on marketing technology (read Doug’s article for all of them), the three that resonated most with me were "demonstrate" that your firm is tech savvy via a host of online marketing and technology tools; "develop" technology products that the firm’s attorneys will recognize and use, and in turn be able to articulate and show to their clients; and "think" beyond the historical use of IT in a law firm and get involved in the revenue side of the business.

Picking up with the "thinking outside of the IT box" theme, Rob Kahn focused on explaining how Fenwick & West’s IT department evolved into a practice group of sorts (as opposed to support-focused) and how IT is becoming very involved with the firm’s marketing and sales groups to actively promote its technology. The key according to Kahn is to educate your internal constituents on what technology is available and how they can use it for their client work. It is all about educating broadly and spoon-feeding the attorneys with relevant technology to help them sell it. In fact, what I found astounding is that Fenwick develops a separate marketing plan for the IT group and, as Rob Kahn put it, directly links IT and marketing when it comes to communicating to prospects.

Heller’s Robbie Solomon provided a very insightful and witty philosophical approach to selling your tech and added some realism to what you can and can’t achieve with your tech agenda. Here are some valuable insights:

• "What technology you have may not be as important as how you use it"- avoid acquiring technology for the sake of owning it (on occasion however, "keeping up with the Joneses" might be necessary).  Instead, use and build what you need keeping the end-game in mind (approach it strategically) and don’t neglect scalability.
• "Who talks/presents your tech approach should depend upon the client and the circumstances".  While it makes sense to bring in IT for a demo on occasion, your firm needs to be able to truly customize your pitch to the appropriate audience, this applies to "selling change" internally as well as to clients and prospects- leverage the right spokesperson and market the technology accordingly.
• "One size does not fit all" when it comes to your clients technology need as well as your firm. Technology may not be used by everyone and that’s OK. At the same time avoid "one-off" tech solutions as they will not satisfy your entire user population and might lead to more divisions than unity.

Lastly, Robbie talked about how technology has transcended from being an isolated department or function to becoming public domain across the firm. Heller approaches IT like everyone is involved with it, everybody touches it, interacts with, and is affected by it.

Following Robbie, Monica Bay led a short Q&A session.  All in all, we truly enjoyed the session, liked the idea of a track run by the LTN editorial staff and were impressed by the panel put together by Monica. 

One complaint we did have…  Although the program content was created by LTN’s editorial team which has very strict rules for separating educational content and paid sponsors/advertising, the session was concluded with a final ad message from the track vendor sponsor.  Even despite our opinion that educational content should never be sold – just as editorial content shouldn’t be sponsored – we realize that these sponsorships are becoming more and more of a reality at some shows.  With that said, this was the first time we have ever been in a session where the audience was asked to stay for a special 2 minute presentation by the session sponsor.   Although the sponsor did a pretty respectful job of speaking, in our opinion it did take away a little from the overall positive impact of the session.  Just as speakers who promote their products and writers who "sell" their products in articles, it also doesn’t show the sponsor in the best light.  The normal sponsorship items (signage in the room, handouts available, etc.) get the point across in a much more subtle way.  Regardless, we hope that is not a new trend.  Let us know what you think…

(L-R) Rob Kahn, Doug Caddell, Robbie Solomon  (Photo courtesy of Russ Curtis)

LegalTech West Coast Photos

Now that the dust has settled from last week’s LegalTech West Coast trade show, we can provide our perspective on what appears to be another EDD/litigation support heavy show. In fact, over 45% (about 57 of approximately 125 vendors) of exhibiting companies offer a combination of electronic data discovery, litigation support software and services, and a good chunk of the education tracks, including both keynote addresses focused on the hottest topic in the legal industry today. Beyond EDD, we noticed the continued trend of large corporations dedicating resources to the legal market including Symantec Corp., Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company and EMC Corporation (represented by first time exhibitors Mozy Online Backup).

In terms of buzz and feedback it seemed to be a mixed bag, but mostly positive. Walking the floor just pre-wrap-up on day one, all the vendors we talked to seemed content with attendee traffic and the caliber of contacts made and leads gathered. There was a vast difference in the attendance and energy from the 2007 show offering a welcome improvement to vendors trying to reach out to the important west coast law firm world.  In fact, there was broad agreement that business was good, in many cases better than ever, and that there had not been a lull in prospective activity and purchasing desire despite the current economy.

Friday was a bit of a different story, with the aisles appearing a little emptier.  This allowed us a lot more time to talk to vendors without getting in the way of prospective networking and new business development. This time the answer to "how is the show going?" was a little less harmonious and favorable than the day before. Who knows why?  Too many parties the night before? Realities of a summer Friday afternoon in LA? …  LegalTech may want to consider a move to Wednesday-Thursday to avoid the inevitable Friday lull. 

All in all, it seemed that the vendors were much more pleased with LegalTech West Coast 2008 than 2007.  We are thinking that ALM’s strategy of moving the show from the Westin Bonaventure to the LA Convention Center to allow for growth will turn out to be a successful one.  Although the LA Convention Center is not on my list of the nicest venues, it does allow for growth – something that wasn’t possible at the Bonaventure.  The west coast has always seemed to be cursed with no show truly taking hold as LegalTech New York did on the east coast.  Let’s hope that LegalTech West Coast becomes a smaller version of LegalTech NY that truly pulls the great firms from the west coast.  If that happens, no one will be happier than the vendors! 

Also, the expansive network of bloggers once again did a terrific job of covering all LegalTech activities. John Bringardner in particular managed to be in most places at the same time, and provides a great highlight reel in Blogging at LegalTech West Coast Style. Sean Doherty reports on both keynotes and both day’s vendor sessions and some product showcases in Technology in Action on the West Coast.  Lastly, Friday’s "FutureTech" program presented by Law Technology News , kicked off with a riveting "Selling your Tech" panel discussion.  Stay tuned for a separate post on this dynamic session moderated by Monica Bay.

Believe it or not, LegalTech West Coast is only two days away. In fact, Jobst and I are getting ready to head west for the show taking place at the LA Convention Center, June 26-27th. The educational program looks promising with a variety of tracks and sessions covering practice management, e-discovery (both for law firms and corporate), legal outsourcing, knowledge management and the annual vendor-focused emerging technology tracks. In addition to the ever popular "Advanced IT" track orchestrated by ILTA, a LegalTech first will include "FutureTech," a three part panel session program presented by Law Technology News on Friday, June 27.

Last year, ALM made the strategic decision to move the show from the Westin Bonaventure, where it had been for years, to the LA Convention Center to allow for future growth and to have space for additional exhibitors.  So far, that seems to have worked as there are 129+ exhibitors registered to demonstrate their wares this year.

If you are still looking to register, check out the different registration options available.

See you in LA!

As you probably know, the demand for attendance at the ILTA conference also affects the demand on hotel rooms at the show.  In the coming years, ILTA will be at properties that can accommodate the whole group onsite, but until then we have some help.  The conference hotel (Gaylord Palms) as well as the two official overflow properties (Great Wolf Lodge and Hilton DFW Lakes) are sold out, but below is a list properties with availability (as of posting) approximately 1 mile away.  Note: Only the two official overflow properties listed above will have shuttle service so remember to prepare for transportation as well.

Embassy Suites Dallas – DFW Airport North Outdoor World

SpringHill Suites Dallas DFW Airport North/Grapevine

Hyatt Place Dallas/Grapevine

Homewood Suites by Hilton Dallas-Grapevine

Residence Inn DFW Airport North/Grapevine

Westin Dallas Fort Worth Airport (about 4 mi away but a little more upscale)