It’s an understatement at this point to say that AI will reshape everything in legal, including and perhaps especially, the discipline known as legal operations (legal ops for short). It’s the how that’s the question. The upcoming preeminent legal ops conference will have its hands full tackling just that. And what to do about it.
The 11thCorporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) Global Institute kicks off on Tuesday, May 11, at McCormick Place in Chicago and runs four days. There are some changes this year and some critical challenges as the Consortium looks clear-eyed at the impact of AI on legal ops and the role of legal ops in the future. From the looks of the content, it’s a challenge CLOC is taking head on.
The conference is legal ops’ largest and most influential annual gathering and CLOC is the premier legal ops organization. Legal ops, as most know, focuses on the business part of the legal practice by looking at things like improving how legal services are delivered by applying disciplines like process design, technology, data analytics, vendor management, and financial oversight to drive greater efficiency, predictability, and strategic value.
According to CLOC’s website, there will be over 2,100 attendees from across the legal ecosystem and over 25 countries. There are some 90 sessions and 200 speakers planned. There is typically a vendor hall with 100+ exhibitors. It’s a big conference.
According to press release announcing the conference, this year’s theme is “Stronger by Design,” with a focus on how better design can create “stronger teams, smarter processes, and more connected organizations.”
The Big Move
Perhaps one of the most interesting questions this year may be the reaction to the big move. The conference is moving across the country from its traditional Las Vegas venue to McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. According to the press release, “The move to Chicago reflects a long-standing request from the legal operations community for a rotation beyond Las Vegas.”
Having co-chaired a conference that made a similar move from a traditional venue to McCormick, I know it will generate a response from attendees. A fair amount of that reaction will be bad; people just don’t like change.
And the change from the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas with close by restaurant and shopping choices galore to McCormick will be palpable. There is a smattering of restaurants around McCormick but if you aren’t used to it, it’s a bit of a haul to downtown Chicago and all it has to offer.
So, it will be interesting to see the reaction. I hope the move doesn’t become the story of the conference.
The Keynotes
CLOC will offer three keynotes this year. Interestingly, all are being offered by those outside legal. The opening keynote will be by a former OpenAI executive, Zack Kass. According to the course description, he plans to discuss the risks of AI: job displacement, identity crisis, deepfakes, and cognitive decline. Not surprisingly, he then plans to tell us how AI will in fact greatly improve our lives.
The second is even further removed from legal and is offered by Second City Works. That’s right, the comedy and improvisation institution. According to the description, the presenters will blend “improv, storytelling, and interactive exercises to show how strong listening exercises drives legal operations.” I’ve been to a session that tried to use improv to help a group of 40 people who already knew each other better communicate. I question how well it will work with 2,000 people, many of whom don’t know each other very well.
The final keynote will be by the economist Judd Kessler and will deal with something he calls “hidden markets.” I think what he means by hidden markets is the economic disruption brought about when a technology like AI changes cost and capabilities. He has made the point in interviews in the past that we should focus not on the jobs or industries AI will disrupt but instead on what new forms of economic capability it will create. How and if he ties this to the legal market will be the big question.
So, the three keynotes are all focused on subjects broader than just legal and legal ops. That can be good if the lessons are imparted in a structured way and there is clear applicability to what the attendees do day to day. But it doesn’t work where that applicability is not made clear. The headline will be whether the lessons translate to what those in the room actually do every day.
The Educational Sessions
This year, unlike last, CLOC is not offering attendees any sort of per se track nomenclature associated with its sessions. It instead offers a “who should attend” section in each course description and some broad filters.
In planning conferences, I’ve had more than once the debate about how important tracks are. The argument is that tracks enable attendees to better pick the sessions they want to attend. Many, like me, pick mainly based on the course descriptions. So, I doubt there will be much push back here.
As expected, many of the sessions will focus on AI and AI agents and how these technologies will impact legal ops and the legal profession. The sessions will focus less on writing prompts and more on useful and practical things like how to spot hallucinations and inaccuracies and the impact on the value of legal services. In keeping with the focus on the business of the practice, CLOC will also offer sessions on determining ROI, and buying and spending decisions associated with adopting AI platforms, among other things.
Some of the non-AI topics will focus on the always relevant topic of cybersecurity which of course is itself impacted by AI. Other interesting sessions will focus on the issue of neurodiversity and career growth.
Perhaps most importantly, there will be a presentation discussing the findings of CLOC and Harbor’s State of the Industry Survey. I have found the Survey to be well done and revealing. I’m looking forward to this year’s discussion and findings.
The Key Questions and Challenges
The content is more of what you might expect to see at a business conference as opposed to a pure legal tech conference. But that’s not surprising since the business of legal ops is in fact business. How to apply a business structure to the practice of law. Adopting and applying business principles to what lawyers do. It’s also clear that CLOC, like everyone else, is concerned about the impact of AI on what its practitioners do.
As with the keynotes, the question will be how all this resonates with the audience and whether attendees walk away with lessons that they can actually apply. And with a better picture of the future and how to prepare for it. These are the key questions CLOC and every legally related conference needs to be trying to answer.
I’ll be there and will let you know how well CLOC meets the challenge and whether it can translate business lessons into legal relevance. Which, come to think of it, is exactly what legal ops promises to do.
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.
The post The CLOC Global Institute: Some Changes And Challenges appeared first on Above the Law.
It’s an understatement at this point to say that AI will reshape everything in legal, including and perhaps especially, the discipline known as legal operations (legal ops for short). It’s the how that’s the question. The upcoming preeminent legal ops conference will have its hands full tackling just that. And what to do about it.
The 11thCorporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) Global Institute kicks off on Tuesday, May 11, at McCormick Place in Chicago and runs four days. There are some changes this year and some critical challenges as the Consortium looks clear-eyed at the impact of AI on legal ops and the role of legal ops in the future. From the looks of the content, it’s a challenge CLOC is taking head on.
The conference is legal ops’ largest and most influential annual gathering and CLOC is the premier legal ops organization. Legal ops, as most know, focuses on the business part of the legal practice by looking at things like improving how legal services are delivered by applying disciplines like process design, technology, data analytics, vendor management, and financial oversight to drive greater efficiency, predictability, and strategic value.
According to CLOC’s website, there will be over 2,100 attendees from across the legal ecosystem and over 25 countries. There are some 90 sessions and 200 speakers planned. There is typically a vendor hall with 100+ exhibitors. It’s a big conference.
According to press release announcing the conference, this year’s theme is “Stronger by Design,” with a focus on how better design can create “stronger teams, smarter processes, and more connected organizations.”
The Big Move
Perhaps one of the most interesting questions this year may be the reaction to the big move. The conference is moving across the country from its traditional Las Vegas venue to McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. According to the press release, “The move to Chicago reflects a long-standing request from the legal operations community for a rotation beyond Las Vegas.”
Having co-chaired a conference that made a similar move from a traditional venue to McCormick, I know it will generate a response from attendees. A fair amount of that reaction will be bad; people just don’t like change.
And the change from the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas with close by restaurant and shopping choices galore to McCormick will be palpable. There is a smattering of restaurants around McCormick but if you aren’t used to it, it’s a bit of a haul to downtown Chicago and all it has to offer.
So, it will be interesting to see the reaction. I hope the move doesn’t become the story of the conference.
The Keynotes
CLOC will offer three keynotes this year. Interestingly, all are being offered by those outside legal. The opening keynote will be by a former OpenAI executive, Zack Kass. According to the course description, he plans to discuss the risks of AI: job displacement, identity crisis, deepfakes, and cognitive decline. Not surprisingly, he then plans to tell us how AI will in fact greatly improve our lives.
The second is even further removed from legal and is offered by Second City Works. That’s right, the comedy and improvisation institution. According to the description, the presenters will blend “improv, storytelling, and interactive exercises to show how strong listening exercises drives legal operations.” I’ve been to a session that tried to use improv to help a group of 40 people who already knew each other better communicate. I question how well it will work with 2,000 people, many of whom don’t know each other very well.
The final keynote will be by the economist Judd Kessler and will deal with something he calls “hidden markets.” I think what he means by hidden markets is the economic disruption brought about when a technology like AI changes cost and capabilities. He has made the point in interviews in the past that we should focus not on the jobs or industries AI will disrupt but instead on what new forms of economic capability it will create. How and if he ties this to the legal market will be the big question.
So, the three keynotes are all focused on subjects broader than just legal and legal ops. That can be good if the lessons are imparted in a structured way and there is clear applicability to what the attendees do day to day. But it doesn’t work where that applicability is not made clear. The headline will be whether the lessons translate to what those in the room actually do every day.
The Educational Sessions
This year, unlike last, CLOC is not offering attendees any sort of per se track nomenclature associated with its sessions. It instead offers a “who should attend” section in each course description and some broad filters.
In planning conferences, I’ve had more than once the debate about how important tracks are. The argument is that tracks enable attendees to better pick the sessions they want to attend. Many, like me, pick mainly based on the course descriptions. So, I doubt there will be much push back here.
As expected, many of the sessions will focus on AI and AI agents and how these technologies will impact legal ops and the legal profession. The sessions will focus less on writing prompts and more on useful and practical things like how to spot hallucinations and inaccuracies and the impact on the value of legal services. In keeping with the focus on the business of the practice, CLOC will also offer sessions on determining ROI, and buying and spending decisions associated with adopting AI platforms, among other things.
Some of the non-AI topics will focus on the always relevant topic of cybersecurity which of course is itself impacted by AI. Other interesting sessions will focus on the issue of neurodiversity and career growth.
Perhaps most importantly, there will be a presentation discussing the findings of CLOC and Harbor’s State of the Industry Survey. I have found the Survey to be well done and revealing. I’m looking forward to this year’s discussion and findings.
The Key Questions and Challenges
The content is more of what you might expect to see at a business conference as opposed to a pure legal tech conference. But that’s not surprising since the business of legal ops is in fact business. How to apply a business structure to the practice of law. Adopting and applying business principles to what lawyers do. It’s also clear that CLOC, like everyone else, is concerned about the impact of AI on what its practitioners do.
As with the keynotes, the question will be how all this resonates with the audience and whether attendees walk away with lessons that they can actually apply. And with a better picture of the future and how to prepare for it. These are the key questions CLOC and every legally related conference needs to be trying to answer.
I’ll be there and will let you know how well CLOC meets the challenge and whether it can translate business lessons into legal relevance. Which, come to think of it, is exactly what legal ops promises to do.
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.
The post The CLOC Global Institute: Some Changes And Challenges appeared first on Above the Law.
