Stephen Embry

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This week I’m attending the annual extravaganza put on by Clio, the cloud based practice management provider. ClioCon never disappoints. In addition to offering sessions devoted to its products, it also provides presentations that make you think about broader issues that impact the profession. One of these session was the Tuesday Keynote by Nita Farahany. Farahany is the
Continue Reading Neurotechnology in Litigation: The End of the Beginning or the Beginning of the End?

I am thrilled to post this insightful article from my good friend, Tara Cheever. Tara is a co-founder of LitSoftware. LitSoftware suite of products, including TrialPad and TranscriptPad, among others, revolutionized how litigators practice their cases. Thanks Tara!

A cultural clash has been brewing within law firms for years. On one side are midlevel associates who grew up
Continue Reading Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Apple: Is Your IT Team Holding You Back?

As many of you know, I regularly participate in Bob Ambrogi’s LegalTech Week journalist roundtable on Fridays. This past week, we actually did the roundtable live and in person at Relativity Fest. I raised two articles/developments during the roundtable. The first one had to do with the settlement by DoNotPay with the FTC, which Richard Tromans of Artificial
Continue Reading Access to Justice: Perfection Can’t Be the Enemy of Progress

I’m attending Relativity Fest this week in Chicago. Relativity Fest is put on by the e-discovery software provider Relativity. Relativity is one of the largest discovery software providers. Relativity Fest is its extravagant user conference. According to Relativity, there are a record 2000 attendees at this year’s show, the 15th annual one.

I attended a panel discussion early in
Continue Reading Relativity Fest 2024: E-Discovery Providers Like Relativity Pave The Way for Legal Embrace of GenAI

I recently chatted with Noah Waisberg, co-founder and CEO of Zuva, an M&A contract analysis firm. Noah was kind enough to give me a copy of the book he and Dr. Alexander Hudek recently authored AI For Lawyers, which is an excellent read.

In his book, Waisberg and Hudek talks about something called the Jevons Paradox.
Continue Reading Unlocking Potential: Can AI and Gen AI Can Transform Insurance Defense and Carrier Relationships?

I recently attended LexSummit2024, the Filevine user conference. Filevine is a case management software provider. I also got a demo of vLex’s enhancement of its AI tool, Vincent from its Chief Strategy Officer, Ed Walters. VLex has historically been thought of as a legal research provider although now we its expansion, Walters describes vLex as a “legal intelligence
Continue Reading A New Day For Litigation: AI Tools Are Redefining the Future

The Filevine user conference, LEXSummit2024 kicked off recently in Salt Lake City with a keynote presentation by its CEO, Ryan Anderson. Anderson offered up his view of where the company in specific, and perhaps legal tech, in general, should be going.

Anderson called to mind Steve Jobs and the iPhone introduction in 2007 as a map for the future.
Continue Reading Ryan Anderson Lays Out Future of Filevine

I recently returned from the annual Conference of the International Legal Technology Association or, as it is usually referred to, ILTA. Over 4000 registrants from 32 countries. Over 200 exhibitors. Almost 350 speakers. To say this is a really big show would be an understatement. It’s certainly one of the biggest if not the biggest legal tech conference. I have
Continue Reading The Top Ten Things I Learned at ILTACon This Year

Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.

Robert Kennedy

The ILTA Conference I am attending this week is great for seeing where the legal tech industry is going. This is true especially for Big Law and
Continue Reading Gen AI’s Second Wave: The Rise of Consolidation in Legal Tech

The gargantuan ILTA (International Legal Technology Association) Conference kicked off today at Nashville’s sprawling Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center. (Well, sort of in Nashville. The Gaylord is in the Nashville suburbs, not downtown Nashville). Over 4000 registrants from 32 counties. Over 200 exhibitors many of whom hawking their AI and Gen AI wares. Almost 350 speakers (as in most
Continue Reading Beyond the Hype: Opening ILTA Keynote  Reminds Lawyers and Legal Professionals of Limits and Risks of Data Analytics and Gen AI

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Mark Twain 

I was told one time that there are firms that want to innovate, and there are firms that want to say they innovate. Meaning, of course, that some firms just want to get on the bandwagon and appear to follow trends for appearance’s sake. These firms either
Continue Reading Mind the Gap: the Disconnect Between Surveys and Anecdotal Evidence On Gen AI Use By Lawyers

I was recently at a conference of elite trial lawyers where I presented with Dr. Maura Grossman and was on a panel session where we demonstrated how Generative AI could be practically used. But perhaps the most enlightening time was spent outside of the conference in networking conversations which is, of course, typical.

One of those times was when I
Continue Reading Law Firm Management: It’s Not All (Or Only) About Tech

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changesTurn and face the strange

David Bowie

I recently read Jordan Furlong’s excellent piece entitled Forget Everything You Think You Know About Law Firms. Jordan, one of the most insightful thinkers in the legal space, believes that law firm leaders need to better understand and react to changes, changes that are already altering the legal landscape. The challenge
Continue Reading What If? Forget Everything You Think You Know About Litigation

Yesterday (July 21), Thomson Reuters announced that it added another generative AI  tool to Westlaw Precision with CoCounsel. The new tool, called Claims Explorer, will enable legal professionals to enter the facts of their case into the platform. Claims Explorer will then identify potential applicable claims or counterclaims. 

From experience, making sure you have know of and plead
Continue Reading Streamlining Claims Analysis: Thomson Reuters Introduces AI Based Claims Explorer

The annual AALL (Association of Law Librarians) Conference kicked off today in Chicago. I’m a regular attendee since I find the attendees knowledgeable and savvy about tech products. Similar to the ABA TechShow whose attendees are mainly lawyers that use the products, AALL attracts law librarians who are also actual users. Users generally have a much lower tolerance for bullshit.
Continue Reading AALL 2024 Conference Day One: 117 Years of Law Librarian Evolution and A Warning for the Future of Legal Tech