August was a very busy month. The Large Firm Principal Administrators Retreat kicked off the month in San Diego, followed quickly by the ALA Board of Directors’ meeting in Chicago. A week later, I found myself in National Harbor, Maryland, for the International Legal Technology Association’s (ILTA) annual conference.
At each of these events, the focus was on change, innovation and technology. While these topics aren’t new, what impressed me most was the sense of convergence. One of the definitions of convergence is “the merging of distinct technologies, industries or devices into a unified whole.” A simpler definition might be “things coming together.”
The LFA Retreat featured presentations by the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium about the explosion of corporate legal operations and the importance of working together across the legal ecosystem to improve service delivery. The program also featured a session on how firms can leverage technology to drive innovation. A discussion with the LFA Steering Committee focused on ways to shake up the retreat with new formats to create peer-driven solutions to industry challenges.
ALA’s Board meeting also focused on innovation with robust discussions on enhancing member value and engagement, improving governance structures, and building greater collaboration with our peer associations.
The pace of change in the legal industry isn’t slowing down. But despite the uncertainty and disruption change creates, it also creates opportunity.
At ILTACON, ALA was invited to share its perspectives on and support of blockchain technologies for advancing the business of law. As an organization of legal management professionals responsible for improving the delivery of legal services, we recognize the significant contributions that technologies like blockchain can make. (For more on blockchain, see “Get Ready for Blockchain” in this issue.)
Likewise, developing industry standards for legal matters (as reflected in our partnership with the Legal Marketing Association on the SALI Alliance) and legal operations (through the launch of ALA’s Uniform Process Based Management System) represent initiatives that can bring the entire legal industry — law firms, clients, technology providers, alternative legal service providers and industry associations — together.
The pace of change in the legal industry isn’t slowing down. But despite the uncertainty and disruption change creates, it also creates opportunity. Through my travels this August, I’ve discovered that these changes also create convergence, and that to face these challenges, we are better together. So, we will continue to look for opportunities to collaborate with our sister associations, business partners and members to ensure a thriving legal ecosystem.