The CLOC Global Institute (CGI) conference was last week, and I asked several people that I saw last week for their CGI 2023 observations. Here’s the first group of them, in order in which they were received!
CGI 2023 Observations
Don Swanson, Microsoft 365 eDiscovery Consultant, Five Star Legal and Compliance Systems: With 2500+ attendees, CLOC Global Institute remarkably seems to have leapt-ahead of two other legal technology conferences: ILTA and Legal Week. Legal operations (and CLOC) is of keen interest to the corporate legal department and their law firm and technology service providers.
Marla Crawford, General Counsel, Cimplifi: The largest CLOC event ever was packed with super-engaged legal operations professionals who bonded over career goals, challenges in the current economic climate, and the incorporation of Open AI into workflows. Throw the party atmosphere of Vegas into the mix and the result was a glitzy whirlwind conference that was informative on issues such as the management of contracts, legal spend and metrics.
Jeffrey Wolff, Director, Corporate Solutions, IPRO: It was really great to reconnect with some old friends and make new ones at CLOC. This particular CGI really enforced the feeling of community within this event that other legal industry events are lacking. It’s a laser-focused group of leaders who get things done within their respective enterprises.
Amit Dungarani, Vice President, Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives, Casepoint: I really enjoyed CLOC this year. From the sessions to the brain dates to the spontaneous lunch conversations, there was great engagement all around. It was incredible to witness and hear how both multi-billion dollar corporations and fast growing start-ups not only recognize the need for a dedicated legal operations function, but how solving for similar problems required innovative approaches and priorities. It was refreshing to hear: 1) The push for aligning legal operations with overall business goals and priorities; 2) The need for leveraging tech to solve problems and overcome resource constraints; and 3) The importance of legal maturity and working in partnership with your in-house teams, outside counsel, technology providers, and service vendors. I am already looking forward to attending next year’s conference!
Catherine Ostheimer, VP, Marketing, CloudNine: Even more so than in previous years, at CGI 2023 I saw an energized group of people committed to transformation and helping each other succeed. There was ample talk covering and interest in generative AI and contract management and the standard eDiscovery discussions and to a lesser extent modern data (SMS, chat, mobile apps). At CloudNine, we plan to help lead more conversations on eDiscovery and modern data in the future, as the challenge of dealing with this growing type of communications in litigation prep will only continue to intensify.
Elizabeth Rancourt-Smith, Director, Legal Operations, Tilson Technology Management, Inc.: The energy of the conference was high; it seemed that there was a more organic mixing of legal operations professionals and vendor representatives than in years past, and people were hungry for connection and authenticity. Of course, AI was the “buzzword”, as it is everywhere, but there were other conversations taking place on smaller scales in the DEIB space that were of equal importance without the fanfare, including in depth discussions on neurodiversity and mental illness and how these diversity factors effect implementation and adoption of process and technology. I was left with the prevailing feeling that as we take the human element further out of our day to day and aim for efficiency and automation, our professional community is craving deeper connections. The CLOC community’s strength continues to be its personalities, innovative thinkers, and compelling storytellers.
Brian Meegan, Director of Sales & Marketing, ProSearch: I was amazed at how this organization has matured and become such a powerhouse of talent. Mostly I was impressed by the camaraderie, support, and respect they have for one another. Doug, I’m already looking forward to CLOC 2024 at Aria!
Matt Mahon, CEDS, IGP, Executive Director, Discovery Services, Trustpoint.One: Organizations are paying more attention to their data privacy obligations, however they continue to struggle with maturing their information governance programs. The greatest challenge is overcoming competing initiatives for other business units to get cross-functional teams aligned and committed to change. The increase in regulatory enforcement is capturing the attention of the C-Suite, leading to the prioritization of privacy compliance, including data minimization efforts.
Dave Ruel, VP of Product, Hanzo: For Hanzo and for me in particular, this was my first CLOC event. Like many we saw a flurry of activity on the first day once the show floor was open. Although a great deal of the participant’s jobs were concentrated in other areas of LegalOps such as contracts, file and records management etc, we still felt we had valuable connections and prospects for a show of this size. As with LegalWeek this year, AI and Machine Learning was everywhere and there doesn’t seem to be a single part of LegalOps where AI/ML is not having an impact or potential impact. The Hanzo team felt there was a real thirst for knowledge and CLOC seems to really be geared toward helping educate the marketplace in valuable ways. Overall it was a positive experience for Hanzo and we feel that the quality of the audience and prospects warranted a return to other CLOC events.
There were so many observations, I need two posts to cover them all! Look for more observations on Tuesday!
Feeling a case of FOMO? Put your CGI 2023 observations into the comments below!
So, what do you think? Were you at CGI last week? If so, what were your CGI 2023 observations? 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.