via
8am)
As
one
of
my
partners
used
to
say,
if
I
had
more
time,
I’d
have
written
a
shorter
letter.
That
philosophy
certainly
seems
on
display
as
the
first
8am
Kaleidoscope
conference
kicks
off
this
week
in
Austin,
Texas.
If
the
past
is
any
indication,
short
educational
sessions
with
expert
panelists
equals
a
hard
hitting
and
dynamic
conference.
For
those
who
haven’t
heard,
8am
is
the
newly
branded
company
that
encompasses
the
various
legal
brands
of
AffiniPay,
which
included
LawPay, MyCase,
Docketwise,
Casepeer,
and
CPACharge.
I
have
to
hand
it
to
8am.
Not
many
companies
would
simultaneously
try
to
pull
off
a
first-ever,
state-of-the-art
legal
tech
conference
and
a
rebranding
at
the
same
time.
8am
obviously
loves
a
challenge.
The
Rebrand
Why
the
rebrand
and
a
somewhat
cryptic
name,
at
least
on
the
surface?
AffiniPay
had
clearly
branched
out
into
other
services
beyond
payment,
so
the
name
change
made
some
sense.
A
new
name
that
didn’t
come
with
a
historic
payment
label
gave
clarity
to
what
the
AffiniPay
companies
were
actually
doing:
providing
all
sorts
of
back-office
tools
from
intake
to
billing
to
practice
management
and
more.
So
that
part
makes
sense.
But
the
name
8am?
I
have
to
say
it
had
some
people
scratching
their
heads.
(To
me,
when
I
first
heard
it,
I
thought
of
coffee.)
As
I
understand
it,
the
name
was
designed
to
reflect
the
idea
that
most
lawyers
and
legal
professionals
start
their
day
by
working
on
all
the
non-billable
sorts
of
work
that
has
to
be
done
to
keep
the
lights
on.
Hence
the
name
8am.
Of
course,
the
first
reaction
from
many
is
WTF?
But
name
changes
and
rebranding
are
commonplace
and
this
time
next
year,
8am
will
be
a
standard
name
in
the
industry
to
which
no
one
gives
a
second
thought.
Changing
a
name,
rebranding,
and
selecting
a
name
that
has
people
talking
isn’t
all
bad.
It’s
a
far
cry
from
changing
what
a
company
stands
for
like
Cracker
Barrell
recently
tried
to
do.
Or
changing
the
product
completely
like
Coca-Cola
did
with
new
Coke,
way
back
when.
Come
to
think
of
it,
the
fact
I
thought
of
coffee
when
I
first
heard
the
name
is
also
not
a
bad
thing.
Before
doing
all
the
back
office
non-billable
stuff
in
the
morning,
most
of
us
first
grab
a
cup
of
coffee
.
Having
a
name
that
accurately
reflects
what
you
do
and
your
focus
enables
you
to
better
compete.
It
reinforces
to
your
employees
what
you
are
about.
You
might
not
necessarily
have
picked
the
name
for
your
company
but
then
again,
you
aren’t
8am.
Names
matter.
So,
get
over
it.
But
let’s
talk
about
the
conference.
About
the
Conference
Best
I
can
tell,
8am
is
patterning
the
conference
a
bit
like
its
previous
live
webinars
about
which
I
wrote
last
March.
The
sessions
are
all
composed
of
a
panel
of
experts
with
a
moderator
armed
with
questions.
What’s
different
about
the
format
is
that
the
questions
are
not
soft
balls.
They
are
designed
to
bring
out
the
expertise
of
the
panelists
and,
to
some
extent,
incite
debate
and
discussion.
Questions
like
what
are
the
downsides
of
sticking
with
an
hourly
billing
model?
Or
how
can
outdated
pricing
structures
limit
profitability,
growth,
or
client
satisfactions?
Or
will
AI
really
change
how
I
practice
law?
Is
AI
more
likely
to
expand
access
to
legal
service
—
or
entrench
two-tiered
systems
where
only
the
rich
get
“human”
lawyers?
Not
easy
questions.
Not
easy
answers.
Again,
best
I
can
tell,
the
panelists
were
carefully
chosen
so
that
they
can
talk
about
the
topic
and
respond
to
questions
within
their
area
of
expertise.
As
8am
puts
it,
the
presentation
will
be
“delivered
in
a
unique
expert
and
peer
driven
environment.”
The
Topics
By
way
of
disclosure,
I
am
on
three
panels.
I
have
seen
the
questions
and
discussed
them
with
both
the
moderators
and
the
other
panelists
so
we
will
come
locked
and
loaded.
I
can
safely
say
the
discussions
won’t
just
be
thought-provoking;
they’re
designed
to
cut
through
the
noise
on
pressing
issues
in
legal
right
now.
So,
what
are
the
topics?
I’m
on
one
panel
that
will
discuss
emerging
issues
in
legal
with
my
fellow
participants
on
the
weekly
LegalTech
Week
journalists’
roundtable.
We
don’t
always
see
eye
to
eye,
so
it
should
be
interesting.
I’m
also
on
a
panel
entitled
“Adapting
Your
Billable
Hour
Model”
with
Gabriela
Cubeiro
of
8am,
the
always
interesting
and
insightful
Kim
Bennett,
CEO
and
Co-Founder
of
Fidu,
and
CPA
Kelly
Rohrs.
Anytime
you
get
a
group
like
this
together
to
discuss
how
lawyers
bill
—
or
should
bill
—
for
their
services,
you’re
going
to
get
some
interesting
takes.
The
final
panel
I’m
on
is
30
use
cases
for
AI
in
30
minutes.
That
too
should
be
a
good
discussion,
not
the
least
of
which
to
see
whether
the
moderator
can
keep
us
three
panelists
to
the
time
allotted.
Other
equally
fascinating
discussions
include
management
and
growth
strategies
for
solo
and
small
firms,
how
to
use
social
media,
the
future
of
accounting,
how
to
turn
invoices
into
revenue,
ethical
consideration
for
the
use
of
chatbots,
growing
your
team,
mastering
client
communications,
ethical
texting
with
clients
(with
the
esteemed
Mark
Palmer),
how
to
avoid
the
10
most
costly
mistakes
of
firms,
AI-enabled
marketing
(with
ace
marketer
Gyi
Tsakalakis),
and
much
more.
I
know
or
know
of
most
of
the
panelists
and
am
confident
that
it’s
going
to
be
an
interesting
couple
of
days.
The
Sessions:
Mercifully
Short
Also,
in
keeping
with
the
previous
virtual
conference,
the
sessions
at
Kaleidoscope
2025
are
short
by
legal
tech
conference
standards.
Other
than
the
Keynotes,
one
by
Leslie
Witt,
8am’s
Chief
Product
Officer,
and
the
other
a
conversation
with
Olympian
Gabby
Thomas,
the
sessions
are
mercifully
short.
Most
are
30
to
45
minutes
in
length.
I
say
mercifully
because
a
shorter
session
makes
the
speakers
really
focus
on
what’s
important
and
what’s
not.
What
I
said
about
the
live
webinar
equally
applies
here:
an
approach
where
speakers
have
to
be
concise
and
deliver
hard-hitting
points
in
a
limited
period
is
a
refreshing
change
from
the
typical
hour-long
mundane
and
PowerPoint-heavy
presentations
we
typically
see.
I’ve
attended
way
more
than
my
share
of
presentation
where
the
speaker
introduction
goes
on
for
10
or
more
minutes,
the
speaker
blabbers
on
and
reads
their
wordy
slides,
and
the
audience
reads
their
emails.
When
a
three-person
panel
only
has
30
minutes
to
make
their
points,
you
better
listen,
or
you
will
miss
it.
And
the
panel
better
be
concise.
Thanks
8am
In
a
world
of
often
bloated
legal
tech
conferences,
sometimes
the
best
approach
is
simply
showing
up
at
8
a.m.,
ready
to
work.
(The
conference
kicks
off
at
8
a.m.
with
breakfast
btw).
So,
kudos
to
8am
for
a)
pulling
off
a
rebranding
and
b)
putting
together
what
looks
to
be
a
dynamic
and
thought-provoking
conference.
All
at
the
same
time.
Full
disclosure:
I
am
on
three
panels
at
the
conference.
8am
is
picking
up
my
travel
expense
and
registration
fees
for
attending.
Stephen
Embry
is
a
lawyer,
speaker,
blogger,
and
writer.
He
publishes TechLaw
Crossroads,
a
blog
devoted
to
the
examination
of
the
tension
between
technology,
the
law,
and
the
practice
of
law.