LegalTech Matters

After a surge in dealmaking last year, industry leaders are keeping a close eye on M&A deal activity heading into the second half of 2022. Companies and private equity players have many uncertainties to balance in today’s market. Deals will likely see a year-over-year decrease, but the question remains: Will 2022 exceed pre-pandemic deal volume? Join our panel of experts as they share their opinions.

Legal professionals know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) saves time, reduces drudgery, and streamlines legal workflows—but that’s not all. AI and other technologies have revolutionized law firms’ operations, from talent acquisition and retention to improving matter efficiency. As we look to the future, the use of technology—and AI specifically—will continue to impact what it means to do legal work.

Caroline Hill, Editor-in-Chief at Legal IT Insider, talks with Dru Armstrong about her career path from law student to lawyer to CEO of legal payments company AffiniPay. Dru explains her drive to build businesses that use technology to give time back to lawyers so they can focus on what matters most – helping clients.

Caroline Hill, Editor-in-Chief for Legal IT Insider, talks with Haley Altman, Strategic Advisor to Litera, about the recent acquisition of talent management software developer Micron Systems Inc. and specifically how Litera is committed to solving one of the most pervasive challenges facing the legal market – talent engagement and retention. Haley also talks about her new role at Litera as a Strategic Advisor.

In the run-up to ILTACON 22, Litera’s Sherry Kappel speaks with Barry Solomon, also Litera, about his recent blog on the three phases of legal tech. Phase one focuses on the centralization of systems. Phase two sees lawyers leaving their firms for start-ups to develop point solutions to discreet problems. The third phase, which is just starting, will see the emergence of ecosystems using integration and collaboration to break down silos and share information and data across systems.

Ari Kaplan talks with Jack Thompson, Asst. Dir for Global eDiscovery & Legal Ops at Sanofi, on the relationship between eDiscovery and Legal Ops, the expectations that corporate legal teams have of outside counsel, how ILTA’s programming for corporate professionals has evolved, key sessions for law department leaders, and best practices for getting the most from ILTACON22.

This week Caroline Hill, Legal IT Insider Editor-in-Chief, talks with Joy Heath Rush, ILTA CEO, about preparation for this year's in-person only ILTACON. Kicking off the event will be keynote speaker, Patrick Schwerdtfeger, an author, and business futurist, specializing in big data and AI. Joy expects his ideas will resonate throughout the conference as subthemes as we question what is practical technology, where will we work, how will we work, and how will we keep up with the pace of change

LEGALTECH MATTERS host, Adriana Linares, talks with Chris Kragthorpe about his role at Litera and his team’s work to empower smaller firms and corporate legal to focus more on the practice of law and less on the management and production of documents. With 60% of attorneys working in firms with ten employees or less, small law is big.

Our LEGALTECH MATTERS podcast host, Ari Kaplan, talks with Sherry Kappel, Litera evangelist, about her involvement with various legal tech groups and shows dedicated to helping the community adapt and change to new technologies. She shares her experience attending ILTACON conferences and offers advice on getting the most from this year’s National Harbor event in August.

Our LEGALTECH MATTERS podcast host, Adriana Linares, talks with Jon Tobin, Founder and Partner for Counsel for Creators LLP, about his subscription-based law firm and how it helps creative professionals access legal services more easily. He explains why he needed to redesign the law firm experience from the ground up.