A new Thomson Reuters Report highlights a phenomenon unique to legal and big law: clients aren’t talking to their lawyers about things that could disrupt the status quo—especially around AI and billing.

The report is full of interesting findings, but here’s one with broad and troubling implications: 57% of clients want their firms to use GenAI, but 71% don’t even…
Continue Reading The AI Conversation Law Firms and Clients Aren’t Having And Why It Matters

If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions. Albert Einstein

The ABA TechShow, which I had the honor of co-chairing this year, wrapped up on April 5, 2025, in Chicago, marking its 40th anniversary. The conference featured over 70 educational sessions, high-energy networking receptions, dozens…
Continue Reading ABA TechShow 2025: A Landmark Event That Highlights the Power of Team

Today is World Backup Day (yes, that’s a thing). World BackUp Day has been observed every year since 2011. The idea behind World Backup Day is simple:

• • Raise awareness of the crucial role data plays in all aspects of our lives

• Highlight the importance of safeguarding and preserving valuable digital assets and information

• Emphasize the need to back up

…
Continue Reading World BackUP Day

Here is my concluding post about SXSW for Above the Law. What did I learn at SXSW? Here are my top ten things from the need for social contact to privacy threats to solving the rural lawyer crisis and more.
Continue Reading 10 Lessons From SXSW That Apply to Legal

LegalWeek 2025 comes to a close today, March 27th. A week filled with educational sessions, parties, and announcements. Add to that an endless stream of meetings with vendors all too eager to show off their latest and greatest and you can see why I might be pooped. And I get to do it again next week at ABA TechShow.
Continue Reading LegalWeek 2025: Fewer Big Bangs, More Smart Fixes

The actor and well-known personality Rob Lowe took the keynote stage at LegalWeek 2025 yesterday (March 26) for a roughly 45-minute interview with ALM’s Gina Passarella, editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer. Lowe is not just an actor—he’s also a producer, director, and author. The keynote was entitled The Art of Reinvention: Turning Setbacks into Stepping Stones.

Lowe was engaging, funny, and…
Continue Reading To Be or Not To Be: LegalTech Conference Keynotes, the Eternal Debate

I attended an interesting panel discussion at the opening day at LegalWeek 2025. The presentation was called Do My Eyes Deceive Me? GenAI Hallucinations in Legal Research Citation Tools. The presentation was put on by AALL and the panelists were all law librarians — Anna Russell from Cornell, Diana Koppang from Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, Mandy Lee from Seton…
Continue Reading Law Librarians to Lawyers: Read the Cases. Critically. Carefully

The next two weeks will be heaven for legal tech enthusiasts: LegalWeek and ABA TechShow will both happen between March 24 and April 5.

LegalWeek 2025, the glitzy New York legal tech shows kicks off this week. It’s one of the biggest legal tech events and is geared toward big law though perhaps not exclusively. It’s put on annually by…
Continue Reading LegalWeek 2025 Kicks Off This Week: Big Law, Big Tech, Big Parties and Big Crowds

While at SXSW I heard the results of a survey of rural residents by Mother. The data and research reveal interesting factors driving those living in rural areas. The sense of community, the values, the nature of creativity, and their aspirations all need to be taken into account in trying to solve the legal desert in rural areas.  Here’s…
Continue Reading How a SXSW Panel Should Make Us Rethink the Legal Profession’s Rural Crisis

There’s a concept in public speaking called the informed audicence. It means your audience should inform how you convey your message. In giving presentations to lawyers about Gen AI, presenters should focus on not only on the risks but on the benefits. And give practical demonstrations. A SXSW presentation drove these points home. Here’s my post for Above the Law…
Continue Reading SXSW’s Panel Educates Even When It Misses the Mark

Here’s my post for Above the Law on lessons for litigators from SXSW panels on live theatre and marketing: start with the story and not with the technology, help you audicence experiance the story, don’t just tell them use data and AI to learn more about how to tailor arguments to individual decision makers, establish an emotional connection between your…
Continue Reading SXSW and the Power of Storytelling in Persuasion

Here is my post for Above the Law about the Emerging Trends Report presented by Amy Webb of Future Today Strategy Group at SXSW last week.  The so what for legal? Don’t fixate on obstacles but anticipate the changes that will be occurring. And ask the right “what if” questions.
Continue Reading The Emerging Trends Report at SXSW: The Stone in Legal’s Shoe and the What-If Questions We Need to Ask

Meredith Whittaker, CEO of Signal, presented a chilling picture of the modern privacy landscape at a SXSW session. Data proliferation and AI tools are combining to seriously threaten everyone’s privacy. But the awareness level among lawyers and legal professionals may not be where it should be. Legal professionals need to be aware of these threats to protect confidential…
Continue Reading SXSW Privacy Discussion: The Rising Risks Lawyers Can’t Ignore