TechLaw Crossroads

Exploring the intersection of technology and the law.

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By: Stephen Embry

Latest from TechLaw Crossroads - Page 2

Two TechShow keynotes. Two very different speakers. But the same conclusion.Jordan Furlong opened TechShow by talking about the human lawyer: the one who walks through the valley with clients, who has their back, who builds the kind of trust AI can replace.Nilay Patel by arrived at the same place from a different direction. His argument: law is built on ambiguity…
Continue Reading The Furlong And Patel TECHSHOW Keynote Bookends: Saying The Same Thing, Differently

Jordan Furlong’s ABA TechShow keynote was one of the best I’ve heard. His thesis: AI will commoditize legal knowledge, mechanize legal work, and reconfigure law firms. The lawyers who suceed won’t necessarily be the ones who know the most, if that was even ever the case. Instead, they will be the ones clients want in the foxhole with them when…
Continue Reading Jordan Furlong’s TECHSHOW Keynote: The Lawyers Who Will Thrive In The New World Order Will Be Entrepreneurs — And Humans

ABA TechShow 2026 kicks off this Wednesday in Chicago and it’s a little different from every other legal tech conference on the calendar.Two strong keynotes (Jordan Furlong and Nilay Patel), a genuinely important Saturday session on the rule of law with three ABA presidents, 47 educational sessions, 120+ exhibitors, and the traditional startup pitch competition moderated by Bob Ambrogi. Oh,…
Continue Reading TECHSHOW 2026: Where The Legal Tech Family Gathers

When it comes to AI, all to often law firm management freeze up from too many choices and do nothing, or overcorrect and buy everything in sight. 8am’s Legal Industry Report, for example, shows nearly 75% of legal professionals are already using general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for work, while 71% say their firms offer zero training on…
Continue Reading Law Firm AI Adoption: So Many Choices

Here’s my 2026 Legalweek recap for Above the Law: good show and good new venue (Javits instead of the Hilton). And the complaints were predictable, especially from the crowd that usually champions change. The exhibit space was a genuine improvement. The judges keynote was outstanding. The commercialization of sessions a little less so.And btw, after summer like weather all week,…
Continue Reading It’s Not Legalweek Unless It Snows. Here’s My 2026 Recap

At Legalweek, while everyone else was talking about AI features, I sat down with Michel Sahyoun of NopalCyber to talk about something the legal profession isn’t paying nearly enough attention to: cybersecurity in the age of GenAI.Some facts: the average time to exploit a breach is 29 minutes. AI tools can automatically and repeatedly probe for vulnerabilities. Cyber insurance that…
Continue Reading Lawyers and Cybersecurity: Talk to An Experts. Before It’s Too Late

The final Legalweek keynote made the argument that law firms need to do what Apple and Netflix did in the early 2000s: blow up a their existing business model for a better one. Hard to argue with that. But it’s hard to see that it’s happening in legal.Here’s the data: only 19% of firms have modified fee arrangements aligned with…
Continue Reading Legalweek Final Keynote: An Industry Still Whistling Past the Graveyard?

I attended Legalweek’s annual judicial panel expecting the usual e-discovery update. What I heard instead was a sobering account of murder, death threats, swatting, and doxing directed at sitting federal judges and a stark warning about what it means for the rule of law and our profession. Four sitting federal judges spoke with remarkable candor and courage. We have a…
Continue Reading Legalweek’s Annual Judicial Panel: A Clear And Present Danger To Our Judges — And The Rule Of Law

Two federal judges with  seemingly opposite rulings on whether using GenAI tools waives the work product privilege. But the cases present facts that differ in important ways.Here’s what reading them together can tell us about discovery risk, waiver, and pro se status. The bottom line is that privilege issues can still be minefield, and neither ruling necessarily gives you a safe…
Continue Reading The Heppner And Warner Rulings: Hobgoblin Consistency Or An Application Of Principle?

As I recently warned, a client’s chats with publicly facing GenAI tools may not be protected by the attorney-client or work product privilege. At least one federal judge has now so ruled. The reasons matter. If you or your clients are putting sensitive material into public GenAI tools, the Hepper case out of SDNY is required reading. Here’s my post…
Continue Reading Hate To Say I Told You So Again: Your Chats Ain’t Private

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.Antoine de Saint-ExupéryThat philosophy of reduction is exactly what GenAI can offer trial lawyers, and here’s why that matters. Indeed, I recently talked about how slow and cumbersome the process was, particularly in light of how people learn and digest…
Continue Reading The 2 ½ Minute Opening Statement: Why Aren’t You Using GenAI?

GenAI slowing productivity increases? Creating more not less work? It’s all part of something called the Solow paradox. The paradox may apply to legal more than other businesses. More information, more things to analyze and argue over. More verification. More searching for problems. More billable hours. More lawsuits. GenAI has been overhyped and oversold as the ultimate time-saver and productivity enhancer. What…
Continue Reading Before We Predict The End Of Lawyers, Let’s Take A Deep Breath

A recent survey suggests non equity partners are not entirely happy with their lot.  And for some good reasons. But the economic reality is that it’s here to stay. And that’s for a good reason as well: more profit for equity partners. There’s no use pretending: for law firm management it’s no longer personal (if it ever was). It’s just business.
Continue Reading Nonequity Partners: It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Business