LegalTech New York 2011: Kick off the Holiday Languor with 13,000 of Your Closest Friends

It’s that time of year again. The legal community is shucking its “holiday hangover” and jumping back in to the business of law. And what better way to hone your business and technical prowess than with a visit to LegalTech New York?

On January 31, New York will open its arms to more than 13,000 lawyers, litigation support professionals, MIS directors and records management experts. The programming, which begins that same day, extends until February 2 and is punctuated with keynote presentations on United Nations War Crime Investigations and a Look at Law in the Year 2020.

It’s long been viewed as a stalwart of education for law firms, but the programming meets the healthy expectations of today’s in-house professionals – including an entire track devoted to the corporate legal department on the opening day. Here are some sessions of particular interest that you might want to bookmark (asterisks denote CLE eligible sessions):

January 31

Legal vs. IT: Turn the Battle into a Solution to Meet Compliance*

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Featuring Gabriel Buigas, VP and Deputy General Counsel Hewlett-Packard Company

In an organization the size and breadth of Hewlett-Packard, lawyers working in-house are constantly challenged with having access to necessary information in real-time, working globally and meeting multiple countries’ regulatory and compliance demands. Gabriel Buigas, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Hewlett-Packard, will discuss how legal worked with IT to ensure that the appropriate tools, systems and processes are in place to meet these challenges.

Why the Legal Industry Needs to Change and Embrace Technology*

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Featuring:

Honorable Dennis M. Sweeney (Ret.), Circuit Court for Howard County, Maryland
Joseph FitzGerald, Senior Vice President, Legal and Public Affairs, Symantec Corporation
Honorable David J. Waxse, US District Court, District of Kansas

As an industry, the legal field remains resistant to change and equally resistant to the technology. This panel presentation features members of the bench spearheading the movement to increased technology adoption within the legal world. Hear first hand why they feel now is the time to step up and how this impacts the legal industry going forward. Understand why you need to be working to meet their requirements and avoid the potential sanctions and issues which could affect you, your firm or your litigation.

A Game Show: Top Concerns of the General Counsel*

3:15 – 3:45 p.m.

Featuring:

Carmen Oveissi Field, Principal, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP
Dennis Browne, Senior Director and AGC, Capital One

Join this unique format to hear the issues and concerns facing your colleagues today. This discussion will feature in-house counsel as they discuss the challenges and issues they are facing today. Panelists will offer the top issues keeping them up at night and then discuss options and solutions they are employing in an interesting interactive format.

February 1

Efficiencies for your Bottom Line: Five Steps to Reducing Costs in the Next 6 Months

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.

Featuring:

Joy Saphla, Managing Director, Huron Consulting

Gary Nelson, Director of Operations, Medtronic

Lani Miller, Assistant General Counsel, Bank of America

Mary Pape, Legal Director, Litigation, Dell

The session focuses on moving away from the hourly rate model, cost drivers that really need to be managed, negotiating the right fixed fee arrangement and essential issues to raise while discussing fixed fee arrangements.

February 2

Intersection of Project Management and Practice Support*

10:30 – 11:45 a.m.

Featuring:
Michelle Mahoney, Director, Applied Legal Technology
Mallesons Stephen Jaques

The session will focus on project management principles, how to apply to the business of practice support and cost savings from applying project management.

A Look at the Law: 2020: A Radical Perspective on how Technology will Shape the Legal Industry 10 years from Now. Will you be Ready?*

3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Featuring Michael Rogers, New York Times Futurist-in-Residence MSNBC.com author of the Practical Futurist column

It’s 2020, and the challenges that are transforming every profession have also engulfed the practice of law. Will you still need an office? Will you meet more clients on social networks than at your club? Will courts convene in cyberspace? Will you outsource a third of your work to Mumbai? Will an MIT PhD in computer science be up for partner in your firm? Will you argue cases about virtual property‰ÛÓand get paid in virtual currency? But most important, when all this happens: will you be ready? Please join us as Practical Futurist Michael Rogers offers an enlightened look at what the future holds for the legal industry.

Cyber Cafe Visit

Stop by the Cyber Cafe on the second floor of the exhibit hall in between breakout sessions to hear about the latest Onit news and see a demo of our premium product. We’ll also be tweeting about the latest LegalTech news so follow us at http://twitter.com/dependonit.

Unable to attend this year? Catch real-time notes and comments by following LegalTech Twitter comments at #LTNY or join the LegalTech LinkedIn Group.