Here’s a Preview of Notable Sessions at Next Week’s ILTACON

Written by Doug Austin, Editor of eDiscovery Today

What a difference a year makes! Last year on the eve of the annual ILTACON conference, I wrote about in-person legal technology conferences and asked these questions: Are We Ready for In-Person Legal Tech Conferences? Or Are We Jumping the Gun?

Last year, we might have been jumping the gun. ILTACON 2021 had the unfortunate timing of being scheduled right as the Delta variant was hitting its peak – which was too late for ILTA to reschedule or go fully virtual (as many conferences did last year). Last year’s conference was a hybrid of in-person and virtual attendees, but many attendees chose to attend virtually (many switched at the last minute) and in-person ILTACON had a fraction of its normal attendance. I attended one session with eight in-person session attendees. Eight attendees – in a room that held about 300 attendees.

Regardless, the educational content was still terrific last year and promises to be great again for this year’s conference, which starts Sunday August 21st at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. This year’s conference is fully in-person (here’s a link to the full detailed agenda). Earlier this week, I created a word cloud based on the titles and descriptions of the sessions which you can check out on the eDiscovery Today website.

I will be at the conference itself and will once again be covering the conference as press for eDiscovery Today! With that in mind, here is a preview of seven notable eDiscovery and Information Governance related sessions that I plan to attend and cover.

eDiscovery and IG Related Sessions

Mon Aug 22, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM EDT:
The Great Pivot – Leveraging eDiscovery Skills into New Career Paths

eDiscovery sometimes gets viewed as a niche legal profession or as a branch of IT.  There are, however, all sorts of jobs and industries that could and do benefit from the knowledge, skills and experience of a litigation support/eDiscovery professional.  Come to this career-focused session to speak with peers who have leveraged their eDiscovery backgrounds into new roles that may or may not seem immediately obvious.  Hear why and how they did it, challenges they experienced, lessons and practical tips learned, and specific steps you may want to consider in forging your own path.

Mon Aug 22, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT:
Automate the Boring Stuff: 9 Ideas in 90 minutes for the Lit Support Superstar

A panel of litigation support gurus will share their hacks and automation tricks for common tasks we all have. By leveraging some really simple and accessible scripts or formulas to handle some our routine tasks, we free ourselves up for more interesting work.

Walk away from the session with practical examples you can start incorporating immediately. Wow colleagues and clients with your newfound efficiency!

Tue Aug 23, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT:
Litigation Support Roundtable: Global Edition

This program is a “can’t miss” for anyone interested in global developments in litigation. This dynamic, interactive session is your chance to engage with and learn from your peers while sharing experiences in current and trending hot topics, challenges, and opportunities in litigation support throughout the world. This year’s topics include:

• Litigation “Around the Grounds”
• eDiscovery Case Law in Review
• Technology Trends in Litigation
• What’s New, What’s Changed and What May Be Coming Next

Tue Aug 23, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT:
You Are Doing It All Wrong: How to Think Like an eDiscovery Data Scientist & Why it Matters

How to think systematically about your approach to eDiscovery and achieve better results. This session will look at how you can win over the legal team by adopting a critical thinking, counterfactually aware, and measurement-oriented mindset.

Wed Aug 24, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM EDT:
I Was Told There Would Be No Math: How to Talk to Lawyers about eDiscovery and Data

Technical communication between lawyers, clients and eDiscovery teams must be efficient, accurate and timely.  Sometimes, however, these collaborations can be short-circuited by a lack of a common knowledge, vocabulary, and approach.  Attorneys often have very little time or patience to grapple with complex data issues.  This session will explore potential stumbling blocks and provide suggestions for improving the discourse between the people involved in the technical and legal aspects of an eDiscovery project.

Thu Aug 25, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT:
Considerations When Selecting a Third Party Information Governance Solution for Your Collaboration Systems

The demand to use collaboration systems (DMS, MS Teams, High-Q, File Shares, etc.)  to support different collaborative processes (Litigation, Transactions, Recruiting, Month End Close, etc.) is on the rise in most organization, so is the need to improve governance of the information shared via these platforms.  Join us as we:

• Discuss how the world has changed over the last decade regarding where information is stored, the impact of Outside Counsel Guideline and what are today’s required governance requirements for security, ethical walls, legal hold, matter mobility and more;
• Compare the governance tools available within the systems themselves and leading third-party solutions being considered by our peers;
• Review the challenges of governing data shared across numerous systems and how a third-party solution can increase our ability to gain control and minimize risk; and
• Discuss what we need Business Partners to create next.

Thu Aug 25, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT:
eDiscovery Storytellers: Uncovering the Narrative Within Your Data

Across the EDRM, there are stories big and small. Large volumes of eDiscovery data hide many insights and secrets and it is up to us in Litigation Support to help discover and present them. A panel of data enthusiasts will share tips and tricks for asking the right questions of your data, uncovering the truths, and how to visually present findings for maximum impact.

We will explore what can be accomplished with a little curiosity and some metadata. From Microsoft Office to cutting edge AI, you will be able to apply these new skills to tell the story of your data through the lifecycle of a matter.

Conclusion

As evidenced by these selected sessions, ILTACON has a strong educational curriculum about eDiscovery, litigation support and Information Governance trends and best practices, covering many of the topics we cover on this blog regularly! We must be doing something right! Regardless, in-person conferences like ILTACON are not only a way to get educated, but also a great opportunity to network within our industry. Hope to see you there!

For more educational topics from me related to eDiscovery, cybersecurity, and data privacy, feel free to follow my blog, eDiscovery Today!

Don’t forget to join IPRO at the Women in eDiscovery™ ILTACON2022 event at Bobby McKey’s Dueling Piano Bar.