The temptation is there to lead the recap of another big legal industry conference with an interesting set of numbers, and yes, read on for quantitative commentary and subjective analysis of professional interaction and hot topics from Legalweek 24 in New York City.
The lead, however, must be the long-overdue shining of a light on issues around harassment and sexual misconduct that can occur at all large events, including events in our industry. Those who have bravely come forward to report incidents are galvanizing efforts to affect change. Although the legal industry isn’t isolated here, it’s important to focus on our own backyard and recognize that these pervasive problems have abounded for years at all kinds of industry events, from multi-day conferences to hosted dinners.
I’m proud to work with a female-founded and led company in the legal industry. I’m proud to call that CEO/founder my partner and wife. And I know full well that just about every woman and many men and other individuals have suffered from sexual misconduct in a professional setting. Any act, from an offhand misogynist comment to worse, can rip open wounds. I know I’m not alone in saying that while I’m glad so many are now actively engaged in finding ways to improve safety and respect in our industry, I’m simultaneously saddened that we’re still here.
On that sobering note, I also want to celebrate some of the tremendous successes of this year’s LegalWeek. Here are some stats:
- 6,000 attendees from 34 countries
- 37% of attendees were first-timers
- 154 exhibitors
- 89 speaker sessions, not including the keynotes that included Malcolm’s dad who went on to establish a meth empire in the southwest
- 31 speaker sessions that contained “AI” in the title.
That’s right. More than a third of all the sessions across the four days of Legalweek had AI in the title! You wouldn’t want to bet on AI being discussed in less than 90% of all panels for the week. There seemed to be much FOMO throughout the labyrinthine exhibit halls as well, as booth messaging featured many variations on “powered by Gen AI”.
Your humble correspondent did notice an evolution in the conversation around AI. Even as recently as the ACC in November, I had heard several discussions around what generative AI actually is, and the differences between machine learning, large language models and ChatGPT. Now it seems that the chats are more focused on how Gen AI is actually driving tech solutions.
Several of the vendors I spoke with were convinced that traffic in the exhibitor halls was up again this year compared to last. More importantly, attendees were more likely to engage in conversations or take in a demo. Booth traffic was solid throughout the week. I even walked through on Thursday morning, traditionally a time utterly bereft of humanity, and there was still traffic!
On the coffee front, it was heartening to see that multiple vendors had heard my pleas and brilliantly invested in barista stations at their booths, thus driving enthusiastic attendance and providing an alternative to the usual dismal conference center offering.
My delight at the improved coffee situation was somewhat mitigated, however, by the sight of many exhibitors still sitting behind desks at their booths, fixated on their phones as opportunities literally passed them by.
See you in Chicago for ABA Techshow!
