Earlier this Summer, Xperate attended ILTACON 2024. Representing Xperate were CEO Simon Hill, COO Mark Garnish, and North American President Anand Ablack.
ILTACON 2024
ILTACON is one of the most important events in the legal sector. It is a rare opportunity for key stakeholders to gather in the same place, have meaningful conversations, and exchange innovative ideas. Held once again at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, USA, this year hosted nearly 4000 attendees.
This unique conference served as a great chance for Xperate to reconnect with clients and key partners in the space; and also to introduce Anand Ablack as the leader of their North American operations. Xperate provides services not only to law firms but also to vendors in the legal sector, so ILTACON was the perfect place to engage with attendees. The team stayed extremely busy and fruitful throughout the 4-day event.
The Xperate team spent the majority of their time speaking to clients and other attendees. They managed to hold over 25 individual meetings with crucial contacts in a condensed time frame, which proved to be incredibly useful. These interactions have set the stage for exciting developments, with more announcements to come in the near future.
Key Takeaways from ILTACON 2024
There were 2 key themes that regularly came up in conversations with delegates - generative AI and the cloud.
Artificial intelligence (AI) took centre stage at this year's ILTA conference. Discussions around AI have previously been more speculative, whereas this year's event showcased a significant shift towards real-world use cases, across all areas of the legal landscape, such as finance and billing. Building on last year's theme, AI remained the focal point of discussion. However, the level of maturity and understanding surrounding AI has evolved significantly. Firms are now expressing clearer strategies for adopting AI, with a clear focus on practical implementations, such as automating legal processes, enhancing client services, and improving overall efficiency through AI-driven tools and platforms. A number of different firms made interesting announcements about their AI-led innovations, and it is becoming more apparent that the potential of AI in the legal industry is powerful. However, as Caroline Hill of The Legal IT Insider noted in her post-ILTACON piece, despite the surge in AI visibility, vendors are already unveiling products that are still in development, to firms without the budget to afford these. ILTA served as a vibrant platform for in-depth AI discussions, offering attendees a valuable glimpse into the current state of AI in legal tech.
Law firms are increasingly embracing cloud-based solutions as the cornerstone of their tech stacks. This shift has been a notable trend in recent years, and moving to cloud-based systems could transform the way that law firms operate, cutting costs and allowing for more efficient workflows. However, there are still challenges that come with these advancements. It is important that the effort is put in to ensure that new cloud systems replicate the functionality of their on-premises predecessors, particularly for large firms with heavily customised solutions. Law firms often invest substantial time and resources into tailoring their systems, and the cloud environment must carefully replicate their custom applications and workflows that have been developed previously. This was a clear theme that came up with clients and vendor partners alike, and Xperate is well-positioned to work with both to ultimately help deliver real value for law firms and their clients.
Conference Success
ILTACON is targeted at the larger end of the legal market, with many of the top 200 global firms in attendance. However, the themes and discussions were relevant and useful for all firms across the industry, no matter the size.
Overall, ILTA was a huge success not only for Xperate, but for hundreds of the other delegates who attended. Meeting with top global law firms and legal tech leaders at ILTA was invaluable. Xperate not only strengthened existing relationships but also forged new connections in the industry.
Whilst speaking to delegates, the team discovered that the problems they are currently facing are all very similar, and these are problems that Xperate can help with. The event enabled Xperate to foster meaningful conversations with key partners, driving collaboration on innovative ideas and gaining valuable customer insights.
Staying in Nashville
ILTACON was held at the same venue as previous years, and despite the large scale, the event was excellently run. The Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center allowed for many business opportunities, whether that was in the hotel reception, or at the conference itself.
Nashville was the perfect city to host ILTA. It’s an incredible city, with a truly unique vibe. There were plenty of places to meet socially outside of the venue, including many of the iconic bars and restaurants in downtown Nashville.
Xperate were thrilled to host several clients at Tootsies, one of Nashville’s most famous music venues. Whilst ILTA was a business conference, it was great to interact with others outside of the venue in a more social setting too.
Everyone who attended the conference thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of Nashville. It’s a culturally rich city, and all attendees took advantage of the opportunity to explore and enjoy what it had to offer.
Here is what Simon Hill, Xperate CEO, had to say about ILTACON 2024:
“ILTACON24 in Nashville was an exceptional event for Xperate that truly showcased the latest innovations and trends in legal tech. The energy and enthusiasm of all delegates made for a fantastic opportunity for networking and knowledge sharing. The event enabled us to network with many of our clients (both law firms and legal tech vendors) and participate in a highly dynamic and forward-thinking community. The event coincided with the recent launch of our North American office, led by Anand Ablack, our President of North America. This timing provided an excellent opportunity for our newly established NA team to participate in the year's premier legal tech event. I also managed to do the ILTA Nashville 7k run every morning which turned into a community in itself!”
ILTACON 2024 was a fantastic event, and Xperate looks forward to the next one!