We survived the first day!  🙂  The International Legal Technology Association’s (ILTA) annual conference ILTACON 2021 is being conducted this week and it is a hybrid event being conducted both in-person and virtual.  And we have already had several interesting sessions on Monday, including those profiled here!  Here are the ILTACON 2021 Tuesday sessions and happenings.

Each day at ILTACON 2021, eDiscovery Today will highlight notable sessions for the day – in most cases, those sessions will relate to eDiscovery, cybersecurity, data privacy, information governance or artificial intelligence (as well as a few other happenings during the week).  Many sessions are available both in-person and virtually, but I will note when certain sessions are only available onsite for your consideration.  All times PT. 

ILTACON 2021 Tuesday Sessions and Happenings:

9:00am-10:00am:

Talent Development in a Hybrid Work Environment

Pandemic and the shift to work from home then to hybrid in/out of the office models have created myriad of challenges and opportunities for law firms. How to onboard and acclimate new hires. How to provide disparate work teams with opportunities to connect, collaborate and create community. How to mentor new associates without the benefit of extensive face time with senior partners. These are the questions that keep many Professional Development , Talent Management and Human Resources professionals up at night. Join Gina Buser and Desirée Moore, Partner and Director of Professional Development as they unpack these challenges and creative ways to engage and develop your talent in a hybrid work environment.

Speakers: Gina Buser, CEO of Traveling Coaches; Desirée Moore, Partner and Director of Professional Development of K&L Gates

2:30pm-3:30pm:

Discovery, Information Governance and Retention: How Long Should This Go On?

A lively discussion on the handling of data during the discovery and review process, and what organizations need to retain from these processes during the matter lifecycle. What needs saved from the various stages of the EDRM, who should store it, and for how long should they be kept? Hear from a panel of law firm, corporate, and vendor experts as they share their experiences and success stories.

Speakers: Richard Brooman – Director of Litigation Support Services, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr; Amanda Cook – Director of Legal Discovery Consulting & Senior Project Advisor, Acorn Legal Solutions

4:00pm-5:00pm:

It (STILL) Takes A Village: Building a Robust Information Governance Awareness Program That Works

When it comes to information management, we can all agree that “It Takes a Village” and that all members of an organization must be educated and trained to do their part to achieve success. Firm leadership can invest time and effort in the creation of policies and systems to support Information Governance (IG) initiatives, but without a robust awareness program and trained professionals to execute them, consistent execution of those policies will remain elusive. The only way to adequately govern the information in our care is to build an Information Governance mindset across the organization. So where do you start? Join us to learn practical tips to help transform your existing records and IT professionals into IG professionals equipped to educate and empower everyone in the organization. Information Governance programs consist of people, processes, and technology. It is time to build and promote comprehensive educational and training programs to help reshape the culture of governance in our organizations.

Speakers: John Churchill – Records Department Manager, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP; Dean Gonsowski – Chief Revenue Officer, Relativity ODA LLC; Jessica Marlette – Information Governance Counsel, White & Case LLP; Darrell Mervau – President, FileTrail

Data Silos are Killing Your Business: Identify, Plan, Unify

Firms are surrounded by mountains of data trapped in internal systems and external resources and locked within the collective consciousness of their people. Too often, these sources are like monoliths, remaining narrowly focused on a specific function and disconnected from the whole. Leaders know there is strategy gold in there somewhere, but sifting truly actionable intelligence out of all that raw material is daunting if not impossible. Without the tools to connect, align, and navigate their data landscape, leaders resort to strategy-by-instinct and making decisions based on incomplete or, worse yet, incorrect information. Firms that accomplish this digital transformation can leverage their collective intelligence operationally and strategically and factor the insights drawn from this broader, informed perspective into planning for the future. During this session, you will hear from peers who have transformed data resources into strategy gold within their firms. Learn about the challenges they faced, the solutions they implemented, and the overall value they continue to deliver.

Speakers: Kate Cain – Director of Innovation and Design, Foundation Software Group; Brownie Davis – Managing Architect, Software Engineering, Fish & Richardson P.C.; Steven Magnuson – Business Intelligence Manager, Ballard Spahr LLP; Amy Wisinski – Strategic Research Manager, Winston & Strawn LLP

There’s even a livestreamed comedy act at 6:15pm!  Tonight, it’s Shivani Nadarajah with “How to Tell a Work Appropriate Joke”.  That should be interesting!

Those are the interesting ILTACON 2021 Tuesday sessions and happenings today.  I’ll also be speaking at one session at ILTACON 2021 – Better Together? E-discovery with Teams and Other Collaboration Platforms on Thursday (August 26 at 11:00am PT): I’ll be moderating an excellent panel including Damon Goduto – Partner, Lineal Services; Rose Jones – Director of E-Discovery Project Management, King & Spalding LLP; Jack Thompson – Sr. Manager – eDiscovery & Legal Operations, Sanofi, Martin Tully – Partner, Redgrave LLC.  We have a lot to cover about the trends, challenges, case law and solutions regarding collaboration apps!  Even with 75 minutes, I’m not sure how we’ll get it all in with these terrific panelists!

Here is a session grid for the week.

So, what do you think?  Are you attending any of the ILTACON 2021 Tuesday sessions?  If you’re here in person, look me up!  And please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.