Reflections On ILTACON 2023 From A Longtime Volunteer

ILTACON is right around the corner, and — as a longtime ILTA volunteer, business partner, and member — I’m excited about some of the new content and the changes that have been made to the format.

Here are some tips to help you navigate the experience.

Great Education Awaits

Back in the days when I was a law firm CIO, I was often the only person from my firm sent to the conference, tasked with bringing back information about what other firms were doing with a wide range of technology.

It was often difficult to decide which sessions to attend since so many interested me.

In previous years, ILTACON had six educational tracks. This year, they added a seventh track that will include sessions on professional development, leadership, and change management, which will make the decision on what to attend that much more difficult!

All Things AI

As I think back to where we were as an industry just one year ago, it is amazing to see the explosion of AI interest in the legal industry.

This year’s ILTACON has 11 sessions covering different aspects of AI, including risk management, chatbots, and one that I find fascinating, “Why taxonomies still matter in a world of AI.” (Of course, having spent my entire career in the legal industry either using document management systems or working for companies that make them, I may be somewhat biased.) 

ILTA has asked all of their business partners to come ready to talk about their AI strategies, so remember to add Company Updates to your agenda.

Standards Advancement for the Legal Industry

For those interested in the organization of information, be sure to sit in on Tuesday afternoon’s session on SALI — the Standards Advancement for the Legal Industry.

For anyone unfamiliar with SALI, it is an independent non-profit organization that works toward drafting standards in the legal industry, including LMSS — the Legal Matter Specification Standard — which provides metadata that can support business intelligence systems or machine learning systems.

It will be interesting to learn more about what they’ve been working on.

Building Team Effectiveness

ILTACON is not just about the sessions dedicated to legal technology.

Marcia Stokes of Ogletree will be leading two consecutive sessions, the second a continuation of the first, on “Building Team Effectiveness: Understanding DISC Behavioral Assessments @ Work.”

As with most behavioral frameworks, the goal of the DISC assessment is to better understand your own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your colleagues so you can better understand how to work together. 

I had the pleasure of attending one of Marcia’s sessions at LegalSEC in 2022 and it was outstanding.

We observed many session attendees were of the same personality types, which was not surprising given that the audience was comprised of security focused people.

The ILTACON audience is much more diverse, which I imagine will provide for a rich and stimulating session.

Explore the Exhibit Hall

As both an attendee and a business partner, a big part of the draw of the conference was the chance to meet with business partners.

As an attendee, I would have the opportunity not only to meet with my business partners, but also to introduce them to others whose products I wanted them to integrate with.

As a business partner, it is a great opportunity to cement relationships with other business partners and discuss product integrations and co-marketing opportunities.

What I’ll Miss

There are so many exciting things planned for this year’s ILTACON, so I am also sad that I will miss seeing my friends who are a part of Women Who Lead.

They have a panel discussion on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. with Karen Campbell, CIO of Foley Hoag LLP, and Yvonne Sexton, CIO of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. They will be discussing the challenges women face in a more diverse workplace.

I am part of the Women in Security subgroup. Look for an announcement about an exciting webinar presented by our subgroup coming up in October discussing the challenges involved in recruiting more women into the security field.

This past year has been an exciting one for me since the acquisition of Worldox by NetDocuments back in October.

I’ve attended many conferences on behalf of NetDocuments since then and have had the opportunity to meet with Worldox and NetDocuments users alike.

It is this face-to-face interaction that makes ILTACON so special. It is the premier event in the legal technology field, providing opportunities to engage with peers — attendees and business partners alike — while learning about all the new technology that will help your firm advance.

The addition of more professional development content this year makes it even more compelling.

ILTACON, I will miss you this year, but I look forward to continuing to volunteer as a speaker and conference committee member in years to come. And, I look forward to attending again in future years, as ILTACON is always an outstanding experience!

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Rebecca Sattin is Senior Director, Partner Success for NetDocuments and formerly Chief Information Officer of World Software Corporation. She has more than 30 years of experience in law firm technology working in law firms and legal technology companies, and has spoken on topics such as cybersecurity, design thinking, collaboration, and deployment planning at bar associations, ILTA, LegalTech, and other technology forums. She has also served on the advisory board for LA City College’s Computer Technology department and Ithaca College’s Cybersecurity program.