Coming Full Circle with the 2021 ABA TECHSHOW
Written by Doug Austin, Editor of eDiscovery Today
As we get closer to one full year since the pandemic changed our way of life, it’s worth noting that the last in-person conference that many of you may have attended was last year’s ABA TECHSHOW, which was conducted February 26-29 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago (yes, 2020 was SO challenging, we had to endure 366 days last year). This year’s ABA TECHSHOW (like many other conferences) will be virtual, but still a very exciting event, as it always is!
This year, the ABA TECHSHOW will be conducted from March 8th through March 12th. It begins with the Start-Up Pitch Competition at 11am ET on Monday, March 8th, where “ABA TECHSHOW will host a startup competition showcasing 15 innovative legal startups that will face off in a pitch competition – judged by TECHSHOW attendees – to pick the most innovative startup for the year”. It concludes with the 60 in 60 session on Friday, March 12th at 3:45pm, which provides “an hour of the latest in apps, work hacks, hot technologies, and more”. And there are plenty of interesting other sessions in between – there’s literally a full week of legal technology education! Here are some of the highlights (all times ET):
- Monday: Ethical AI: Playbook for a Rapidly Changing World (2:15pm), Data Security and Privacy for Lawyers (4:30pm);
- Tuesday: Lawyer’s Guide to Zoom (11:15am), The Amazing Depth of Cyber Investigations (1:00pm), How Attorneys Get Hacked (and What You Can Do About It) (2:45pm);
- Wednesday: Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Practice (11:15am), Is Legal Innovation an Oxymoron? (1:45pm);
- Thursday: Outsourcing as an Efficiency Tool (3:45pm), Mixing People and Automation: Finding the Sweet Spot (also at 3:45pm);
- Friday: The Future of AI, Mindmapping, and Online Dispute Resolution (11:15am), Cloud Based E-Discovery for Small Firms (12:00 pm), Artificial Intelligence and Analytics in Litigation and Beyond (2:15pm, with Maura Grossman!).
The schedule of sessions is available here organized by day and available here in a PDF file organized by day and topic.
As for CLE credit, the ABA will seek 15 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states, and 18 hours of CLE credit for this program in 50-minute states including 3 hours of CLE ethics credit in 60-minute states and 3.6 hours of CLE ethics credit in 50-minute states. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules. And, even though all sessions will be recorded and made available to view for at least 30 days post-show, only live attendance at sessions will give you CLE credit.
The Full Conference rates for all five days of the conference are $295 for an ABA or LP member, $350 for a Non-Member (Government/Professional Affiliates/Standard). So, that’s no more than $350 for an entire week of great educational topics! The cost is only $25(!) for a Law Student (provided they’re an ABA member, which is free). Single-day passes for all attendees are $175, so, unless only one day of sessions interests you, it’s a significantly better value to register for the entire conference. Note: prices for all will go up after 3/5, so you’ll want to lock in before that for the best rates. Here’s the page with complete pricing info and to register for the event.
And there will still be a TECHSHOW EXPO this year! There are a number of sponsors who will be participating this year, including IPRO. You can request a meeting with IPRO at the ABA TECHSHOW here – it’s a great opportunity to learn about exciting development with the IPRO product suite!
ABA TECHSHOW is always one of the most unique conferences of the year – it’s probably the conference that has the widest appeal and participation across the spectrum of law firm and legal professionals, from solo and small firms to Am Law 100 firms, large corporations and government entities. It’s truly a conference for everybody in legal technology! Hope to see you there!
For more educational topics from Doug Austin related to eDiscovery, cybersecurity and data privacy, follow, eDiscovery Today! And as part of the continued educational partnership between IPRO and eDiscovery Today, he’ll be here in the IPRO Newsroom next week with more educational content!
