Last
week,
Law.com
Legalweek
pulled
off
something
genuinely
impressive:
It
moved.
After
39
years
at
the
New
York
Hilton
Midtown,
one
of
the
world’s
leading
legal
technology
conferences
relocated
to
the
Jacob
K.
Javits
Convention
Center,
a
sprawling
glass
and
steel
pavilion
1.6
miles
away
on
Manhattan’s
far
west
side,
steps
from
the
entrance
to
the
Lincoln
Tunnel,
and
—
setting
aside
the
not-so-trivial
issue
of
its
less-than-convenient
location
—
the
transition
was,
by
most
measures,
a
success.
That
it
felt
strange
and
disorienting
at
first,
at
least
to
veterans,
was
entirely
expected.
The
location,
far
removed
from
the
hotels,
restaurants
and
bars
that
had
made
midtown
so
convenient,
presented
real
challenges.
But
what
was
not
expected
was
how
quickly
attendees
acclimated
to
the
new
space.
While
the
Javits
is
a
much-different
space
than
the
Hilton,
its
advantages
compensated
for
what
was
lost
in
leaving
the
Hilton
–
and
while
kinks
remain,
they
are
largely
fixable.
A
Brief
History
of
Legalweek
To
understand
why
the
move
was
such
a
big
deal
—
and,
no
doubt,
a
difficult
decision
for
ALM,
the
company
that
produces
Legalweek
—
the
conference’s
history
provides
some
context.
Although
the
full
history
is
a
bit
murky,
according
to
my
research
(some
of
which
I
detailed
in
this
prior
post),
the
conference,
originally
called
Legal
Tech,
started
in
1982.
It
was
founded
and
originally
produced
by Janet
Felleman,
in
partnership
with
Price
Waterhouse,
to
help
attorneys
learn
how
to
use
and
manage
technology
in
the
law
office.
She
ran
it
until
2001,
when
it
was
taken
over
by
the
National
Law
Publishing
Company,
which
was
publisher
of
the
The
National
Law
Journal
and
The
New
York
Law
Journal.
In
1997,
American
Lawyer
Media
—
the
predecessor
to
today’s
ALM
—
acquired
that
company,
and
with
it,
the
conference,
whose
name
had
by
then
evolved
to
the
space-omitting
LegalTech.
The
original
home
to
the
conference
was
the
Sheraton
New
York,
just
a
block
away
from
the
Hilton.
As
best
as
I
can
tell,
it
remained
at
the
Sheraton
for
its
first
four
years,
moving
to
the
Hilton
in
1986.
On
the
Internet
Archive,
I
even
managed
to
find
a
review
of
the
1985
conference,
written
by
Norvell
E.
Brasch,
a
Colorado
attorney,
for
PC
Magazine.
Of
the
conference,
he
wrote:
“The
first
Legal
Tech
for
1985.
held
at
the
Sheraton
Centre
in
New
York
City
from
January
28-30,
offered
lectures
on
managing
and
operating
computer
technology
along
with
hands-on
sessions
that
taught
some
basic
microcomputer
applications
for
the
law
office.
Prepared
with
the
right
questions
and
a
fundamental
understanding
of
the
management
problems
and
possible
solutions,
even
a
computer
novice
could
glean
the
right
information
from
the
exhibitors.
For
a
law
firm
looking
to
purchase
or
update
its
word
processing
or
time
and
billing
systems.
sending
a
delegate
to
a
Legal
Tech
conference
is
a
wise
investment.”
(In
fact,
for
some
years
in
the
1990s,
there
were
LegalTech
events
in
multiple
cities,
including
Los
Angeles,
Atlanta
and
Chicago.)
In
2017,
ALM
rebranded
the
conference
from
Legaltech
to
Legalweek,
aiming
to
broaden
its
scope
to
include
programming
targeted
at
CIOs,
legal
marketers,
legal
business
professionals,
and
others.
(It
even
experimented
with
a
small-firm
track.)
As
I
wrote
at
the
time,
the
conference’s
reinvention
as
Legalweek
made
sense,
as
Legaltech
had
been
crying
for
a
shake-up,
having
become
dominated
by
e-discovery,
to
the
virtual
exclusion
of
all
else.
The
Move
to
the
Javits
But
it
continued
on
in
the
Hilton,
where
attendees
would
routinely,
year
after
year,
gripe
and
groan
about
the
facilities.
The
exhibit
hall
was
too
cramped
and
dark,
they
would
say,
not
to
mention
spread
confusingly
over
multiple
floors
and
spaces.
There
is
nowhere
to
sit
and
have
conversations,
they
would
complain.
The
Hilton’s
hotel
rooms
were
cramped
and
overpriced.
(Note:
There
was
no
in-person
Legalweek
in
2021
because
of
the
pandemic.)
But
as
the
conference
continued
to
grow
and
as
the
Hilton
threatened
to
dramatically
raise
its
prices,
Legalweek
needed
to
find
a
new
home,
one
with
space
to
expand
and
where
the
conference’s
producers
could
have
more
control
over
its
sales
and
pricing
of
exhibit
and
meeting
spaces.
The
irony,
of
course,
is
that,
upon
arriving
this
year
at
the
Javits,
many
of
those
veteran
attendees
–
the
ones
who
had
griped
and
groaned
about
the
Hilton
–
suddenly
found
themselves
with
a
bad
case
of
nostalgia.
Maybe
the
Hilton
was
not
so
bad,
after
all?
Location,
Location,
Location
Let’s
face
it.
Javits
has
its
issues.
The
biggest
is
its
location.
Way
off
on
11th
Avenue
on
the
west
side,
steps
from
the
entrance
to
the
Lincoln
Tunnel,
it
lacks
the
Hilton’s
midtown
proximity
to
a
host
of
hotels,
bars,
restaurants
and
more.
Hotels
were
a
particular
problem.
Whereas
many
Legalweek
attendees
previously
booked
their
stays
directly
in
the
Hilton
or
in
one
of
the
hotels
adjacent
to
it,
this
year’s
attendees
were
scrambling
for
rooms
all
over
the
city,
with
most
of
them,
it
seemed,
landing
in
one
of
the
Times
Square-area
spots.
That
meant
that,
for
most
attendees,
just
getting
from
their
hotel
to
the
conference
was
a
good
10
to
15-minute
walk.
People’s
step
counters
were
routinely
clocking
15,000
or
more
a
day.
Fortunately
for
them,
this
had
to
have
been
the
record-best
weather
ever
for
this
conference,
which
had
traditionally
been
in
January
or
February,
with
temperatures
last
week
in
the
60s
and
70s
most
of
the
time.
Besides
the
lack
of
nearby
hotels,
the
location
also
made
it
difficult
for
vendors
or
others
to
set
up
suites
or
host
off-site
meetings.
At
the
Hilton,
vendors
would
often
reserve
high-end
suites
to
meet
with
customers
and
prospects,
either
directly
in
the
Hilton
or
at
one
of
the
close-by
hotels.
At
Javits,
finding
such
spaces
was
difficult.
Some
vendors
had
events
in
the
nearby
Hudson
Yards
complex,
but
getting
there
was
another
10-minute
or
more
walk.
Given
that
many
Legalweek
attendees
tightly
schedule
their
time
and
meetings,
that
extra
10
minutes
each
way
could
play
havoc
with
someone’s
schedule.
In
lieu
of
suites,
many
vendors
reserved
meeting
“rooms”
in
a
fifth-floor
area
of
the
Javits,
only
to
find
out
that
they
consisted
of
nothing
more
than
a
big
room
subdivided
by
curtained-off
meeting
areas.
That
meant
not
only
that
the
rooms
could
be
noisy
at
times,
but,
more
importantly,
that
they
lacked
the
privacy
to
conduct
the
business
that
sometimes
takes
place
in
such
spaces.
No
‘Center
of
Gravity’
On
a
practical
note,
another
downside
to
the
location
was
the
lack
of
food.
While
Legalweek
served
a
boxed
lunch
in
the
exhibit
hall
each
day,
that
was
about
it
for
food
options.
A
small
cart
located
within
Javits
had
coffee
and
a
few
other
items,
but
all
way
over-priced.
For
any
other
food,
the
best
option
was
to
trudge
over
to
Hudson
Yards.
But
for
me,
the
greatest
downside
to
the
location
was
that
it
lacked
a
“center
of
gravity.”
I
have
always
maintained
that
the
strongest
reason
to
attend
a
conference
of
this
sort
is
not
the
programs
or
the
exhibitors,
but
the
people.
In
this
age
of
Zoom
calls
and
working
from
home,
there
is
no
substitute
for
getting
out
to
a
major
conference
where
you
can
meet
face-to-face
with
old
friends
and
make
new
ones.
Say
what
you
will
about
the
Hilton,
but
at
least
it
had
a
center
of
gravity,
and
that
was
its
lobby
and
lobby
bar.
It
was
a
place
of
serendipity,
where
you
would
run
into
people
you
did
not
even
know
you
were
looking
for.
And
at
the
end
of
the
day,
after
whatever
dinners
or
receptions
you’d
attended,
you
knew
you
could
stop
there
and
find
friends.
With
the
conference
now
at
the
Javits,
there
is
no
such
place.
There
is
not
even
a
nearby
hotel
that
could
serve
as
the
default.
I
jokingly
told
one
ALM
executive
that,
next
year,
the
company
should
designate
an
“official
bar.”
Granted,
the
lawyers
in
the
room
might
see
some
liability
issues
in
that
suggestion,
but
surely
ChatGPT
can
figure
out
a
way
around
those
issues.
A
Well-Executed
Transition
By
now
in
reading
this
post,
you
might
be
wanting
to
ask,
“Other
than
that
Mrs.
Lincoln,
how
was
the
play?”
But
the
fact
is,
the
play
was
pretty
darn
good.
Setting
aside
the
inconvenience
of
the
location
of
the
Javits,
the
substance
of
what
took
place
inside
its
light-filled
halls
was
fully
in
keeping
with
the
track
record
of
what
has
made
this
conference
a
44-year
success
and
a
must-attend
annual
pilgrimage
for
many
in
the
worlds
of
legal
tech
and
legal
practice.
The
headline
of
all
this
is
how
seamlessly
Legalweek’s
organizers
managed
the
move.
Given
the
task
of
taking
a
major
conference
that
had
been
in
the
same
location
for
some
four
decades
and
moving
it
to
a
very
different
type
of
location,
it
went
off
virtually
without
a
hitch.
Purely
from
logistical
and
organizational
standpoint,
the
Legalweek
organizers
deserve
props.
The
most-dramatic
improvement
was
in
the
exhibit
hall
itself.
With
high
ceilings,
plenty
of
light,
and
plenty
of
space,
it
was
highly
conducive
to
wandering
and
exploring
and
checking
out
the
various
booths.
Of
the
exhibitors
I
spoke
to,
virtually
all
agreed
it
was
a
better
space
for
them
and
for
the
attendees.
Word
has
it
that
Legalweek
has
already
reserved
even
more
space
for
next
year
to
accommodate
vendors
it
had
to
turn
away
this
year.
In
the
world
of
legal
tech
conferences,
we
have
seen
major
moves
such
as
this
not
go
so
smoothly.
Compare
this
move
to
ABA
Techshow’s
move
last
year
from
Chicago’s
Hyatt
Regency
to
the
McCormick
Convention
Center.
As
I
wrote
then,
although
the
move
did
not
negatively
impact
the
programming,
conference
organizers
made
poor
use
of
the
space,
resulting
in
attendees
“navigating
a
waste
land”
of
empty
space.
Another
example
of
“venue
shock”
was
when
Clio
moved
its
conference
in
2022
to
the
Gaylord
Opryland
Resort
and
Convention
Center,
which
I
described
as
“a
sprawling,
byzantine
facility
that
appears
to
have
been
designed
by
a
team
inspired
by
the
drawings
of
graphic
artist
MC
Escher.”
By
contrast,
Legalweek’s
organizers
made
good
use
of
the
new
space
within
the
Javits,
planning
the
layout
well,
with
the
exhibit
hall
directly
adjacent
to
the
registration
area
on
one
floor,
and
a
good
flow
through
seminar
rooms
and
meeting
spaces
on
higher
floors.
Still
Some
Rough
Edges
But
a
well-executed
move
is
not
the
same
as
a
perfect
one,
and
there
are
still
rough
edges
that
bear
mentioning.
To
the
chagrin
of
Hilton
veterans,
one
of
the
most
irksome
was
the
seating,
or
lack
thereof.
Although
the
overall
space
within
the
Javits
seemed
cavernous,
somehow
there
were
never
enough
places
to
sit
and
have
meetings
or
conversations.
The
handful
of
spaces
with
tables
and
chairs
were
always
full,
and
what
few
other
options
existed
were
also
always
full.
For
those
of
us
in
the
media,
we
were
initially
glad
to
learn
there
would
be
a
media
room
for
us
to
work,
record
podcasts,
and
hold
meetings.
Unfortunately,
it
was
nothing
more
than
a
cordoned-off
space
with
too
few
tables
and
seats.
Other
than
early
or
late
in
the
day,
I
rarely
could
find
space
there
even
to
just
sit
by
myself
and
work.
But
just
as
Clio
was
able
to
work
out
many
of
the
kinks
with
the
Opryland
by
its
second
year
there,
we
can
expect
Legalweek
to
do
the
same.
(We
do
not
know
yet
about
ABA
Techshow’s
second
year
in
the
McCormick,
as
that
happens
next
week.)
Keynotes
and
Panels
Because
of
my
tight
meeting
schedule,
I
did
not
attend
a
single
one
of
the
more
than
100
panels
or
two
keynotes.
As
is
becoming
an
annoying
routine
at
legal
tech
conferences,
the
keynote
speakers
were
celebrities
who
knew
nothing
about
law
or
tech
–
in
this
case
former
NFL
quarterback
Eli
Manning
and
Mindy
Kaling,
the
actress,
producer,
screenwriter
and
comedian.
By
all
accounts,
they
were
both
entertaining,
and
each
had
enthusiastic
fans
who
were
thrilled
at
the
opportunity
to
see
them
live.
Of
the
panels,
the
one
I
heard
the
most
people
talk
about
was
the
annual
judicial
panel,
which
this
year
sounded
the
alarm
on
the
significant
threats
we
face
in
our
nation
to
the
rule
of
law.
My
friend
Stephen
Embry
has
a
thorough
report
on
this
panel
over
at
Above
the
Law.
A
New
Dominant
Tech
There
is
some
irony
in
the
fact
that,
as
I
noted
above,
the
conference
formerly
known
as
Legaltech
rebranded
as
Legalweek
in
an
attempt
to
shake
off
its
dominance
by
e-discovery
technology.
Because
now,
of
course,
as
Legalweek
has
again
made
a
big
move,
it
is
again
dominated
by
a
specific
technology,
only
this
time
it
is
AI.
One
did
not
even
have
to
step
foot
inside
the
Javits
to
be
assaulted
by
marketing
for
AI
products
such
as
Harvey
and
Legora
and
CoCounsel.
Legora,
one
of
the
principal
competitors
in
the
legal
AI
space,
chose
this
week
–
its
first
anniversary
of
doing
business
in
the
United
States
–
to
announce
a
$550
million
Series
D
funding
round.
Within
the
exhibit
hall,
there
was
hardly
a
booth
that
did
not
tout
some
AI-related
product
or
feature.
But
that,
of
course,
was
to
be
expected
–
and,
in
fact,
is
the
reason
the
conference
drew
so
many
attendees,
eager
and
curious
to
learn
all
they
could
about
this
still-emerging
technology.
There
will
come
a
time
when
AI
will
no
longer
be
the
spotlight
technology
of
Legalweek,
just
as
e-discovery
no
longer
is
or
contract-lifecycle
management
no
longer
is.
It
is
not
that
AI
will
disappear,
but
rather
that
it
will
become
table
stakes
–
so
embedded
and
routine
in
legal
tech
that
we
will
no
longer
think
about
it,
just
like
we
no
longer
think
about
the
cloud
as
a
“thing.”
Clients
At
the
Forefront
Over
all
these
years
and
iterations
of
Legalweek,
there
has,
perhaps,
been
one
important
change
in
its
focus
–
and
it
is
a
change
that
AI
is
helping
to
drive.
In
that
1985
review
by
lawyer
Norvell
Brasch,
he
criticized
the
conference’s
lack
of
focus
on
how
technology
could
help
not
just
lawyers,
but
also
their
clients.
“As
I
see
it,
the
prospect
of
using
computers
in
the
substantive
practice
of
law
rather
than
just
in
the
administration
of
the
law
office
is
the
most
exciting
new
trend
in
technology
for
lawyers,”
Brasch
presciently
wrote.
“In
other
words,
can
a
computer
help
solve
the
legal
problems
of
my
clients,
in
addition
to
making
the
documents
I
prepare
for
them
neater
and
the
bill
I
send
them
more
accurate?”
Unfortunately,
he
concluded
back
then,
the
Legal
Tech
conference
was
sorely
lacking
in
that
regard.
“The
New
York
conference
concentrated
on
computers
as
a
management
tool
to
the
exclusion
of
some
of
the
analytical
uses
of
computers.
…
In
the
focus
on
the
‘back
office’
functions,
the
more
primary
tasks
of
a
lawyer
were
largely
neglected.”
Forty-one
years
later,
there
is
still
plenty
of
emphasis
on
the
back
office,
as
well
there
should
be,
because
that
is
a
critical
aspect
of
running
a
law
practice.
But
solving
the
legal
problems
of
clients
–
the
substantive
practice
of
law
–
is
now
very
much
at
the
forefront
of
legal
tech
development,
and
therefore
of
this
conference.
After
all,
the
promise
of
generative
AI
is
that
it
will
enable
legal
professionals
to
serve
their
clients
more
effectively
and
at
lower
cost.
And
it
is
that
promise
that
will
no
doubt
draw
even
more
attendees
to
the
Javits
Center
for
next
year’s
Legalweek.