THe Tech-savvy lawyer at the 2024 aba techshow in chicago!

I just got back from Chicago after attending last week's ABA TECHSHOW! And I had a blast. It was not just because it had technology (and I'm a geek) or just because I am a lawyer (which is my day job). It was because the TECHSHOW provided a great marriage of the two to show and teach lawyers how technology can improve their practice of law.

The conference started off with an intro session titled "Your Future Starts Here: Technology and the Era of Legal Practice." Speakers Cynthia Thomas, Jayne Reardon, Dan Pinngton, and Reid Trautz gave a great session discussing the changing nature of legal work and the world in which we practice. The conference had a great mix of how lawyers use technology, like Brett Burney and Tara Cheever's two-part session on Winning Trials with TrialPad or Dan Dan Siegel and Pamela Myers session on Using PDFs and Adobe Acrobat in Your Law Office or Alicia Aquino and Heidi Barcus' session on electronically organizing your trial documents from beginning to voir dire or Barron Henley of Affinity Consulting Group session on Word Power Tips for Legal Users – if you are not mastering the power of Word then you are wasting a lot of time! And there were many more engaging and informative sessions!

Judge (ret.) Herbert Dixon, Jr. and Judge Scott Schlegel share their insights and experiences on technology in the courtroom!

There were many sessions on the practical and ethical concerns about the use of AI. There were plenty of sessions on improving a firm's online marketing, introducing numerous Law Practice Management companies, and getting your firm's mentality to embrace technology in their legal work. Lastly, one of my favorite sessions was with Judge (ret.) Herbert Dixon, Jr. and Judge Scott Schlegel on Embracing the Digital Courtroom: Exploring Current and Future Trends. They gave a great history of the courthouse's use of technology in trial and its future! Meanwhile, many legal technology companies were on display on the vendor's floor – everything from LPMs like CLIO, Filevine, Practice Panther, and more, virtual assistants, marketing, Fujitsu/RICOH with their solo- to small-firm cornerstone hardware, the ScanSnap, and many more!

Catching up with previous podcast guest annette choti of law quill!

The finishing highlight was the infamous 60 in 60, where some of the ABA's brightest highlight 60 tech programs, hardware, and work-tricks in 60 minutes!

The next TECHSHOW will be held at a new hotel in Chicago from April 2 - 5, 2025!

I hope to see you there!