The CLOC Global Institute (CGI) conference was last week, and I asked several people that I saw for their CGI 2024 observations. Here are CGI 2024 observations, in the order in which they were received!
CGI 2024 Observations
Marla Crawford, General Counsel, Cimplifi: I loved the feeling of community at CLOC. Seasoned professionals came together with eager newbies to discuss the state of the legal ops union – career paths, best practices, A.I., and the evolutionary Legal Data Intelligence Model. The cornerstone of success in Legal Ops is collaboration – amongst ourselves, within our organizations, and across industries.
Joy Holley, Director of Legal Operations, Baxter International: CGI 2024 was a great gathering of professionals across the ecosystem in a venue well suited for meaningful education and networking. The buzz this year felt truly “post-Covid” in terms of the way we interacted with each other and the wide variety of social events. I’d love to see more advanced content next year, and more workshops like the “ABCs of RFPs” and “Find Your Own Wolf Pack” (the advanced registration requirement and omission of those sessions from the conference app were big misses that negatively impacted attendance).
Jared Coseglia, Founder & CEO, TRU Staffing Partners, Inc.: The most impactful conversations at CGI for me were held during the Braindates. This intimate and collaborative venue for needling in on specific areas of interest between providers and corporate legal departments was energizing, enlightening, and the best way to really exchange ideas at the show. TRUs Braindate dived deep into the job market trends, affecting legal ops professionals, including everything from compensation, speed of hire, remote versus in office requirements, contract versus direct hire options and much more. The Big Takeaway: legal ops hiring managers are not considering contract and contract to hire talent, augmentation frequently or aggressively enough, and should turn to contracting when they can’t get direct hire headcount approval. The talent IS there.
James Vinson, Sr. Director, eData, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP: I was tremendously impressed by CLOC’s annual conference last week. As a first time attendee, I was struck by the talent mix I saw throughout the venue, in the hallways, and at the various networking events. Specifically, I think we all benefit when we can hear the diverse perspectives of in-house teams, service providers, and law firms on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. And, on a personal note, it is always great to renew old friendships and create new ones.
Maribel Rivera, VP, Strategy and Client Engagement at ACEDS: I had a fantastic time at CLOC’s Global Institute! The biggest news was definitely the unveiling of the new Legal Data Intelligence model—could it be a game changer for legal? Networking poolside and after conference hours led to deep conversations about AI, legal continuing education, and why eDiscovery isn’t a focus for some legal ops teams while it is for others. With sessions on DEIB and the obligatory AI overload, it was an overall great experience once again.
Jim Sullivan, Founder, eDiscovery AI: Some of our biggest takeaways from CLOC: 1) The post covid haze seemed to be over and attendees were enjoying LV and the company of their colleagues, 2) As expected, we saw a strong curiosity about AI solutions and how they fit into corporate legal operations, 3) Walking. Lots and lots of walking. The Aria is huge, and my Fitbit has the stats to prove it, and 4) We noticed there was more focus on LSP’s than past shows.
Mike Opel, Director of Sales, Legal Solutions, Cloudficient: We really liked the Enterprise Focus of the event. Most attendees were definitely viable customers for us. The smaller, centralized setup, along with the more relaxed pace, led to more and longer interactions with clients and partners. Because it was centralized, we were able to meet with and interact with prospects that we didn’t have set up for meetings. The booth setup could have been improved, as it did not lend itself to people walking past all the booths. The Aria was a great venue for the event. You had everything you needed without leaving the venue.
Amanda Kaiser, Editor-In-Chief, Today’s General Counsel: This was my first CGI. It was the perfect platform to learn more about the world of legal operations and legal technology. I enjoyed the informative sessions from industry insiders and innovators.
Adam Weiss, Chief Administrative Officer & Chief Legal Officer at Relativity: It is an incredibly exciting time to be a legal professional, and that excitement was palpable at CLOC Global Institute. It was a watershed moment to be in the room where Legal Data Intelligence was first introduced. The new framework not only recognizes the value and versatility of practitioners committed to tackling a vast range of legal data challenges, but also paves the way for ever greater expansion of role and impact.
Cristin Traylor, Senior Director, AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy, Relativity: Las Vegas can be overwhelming, but CLOC’s CGI conference felt like a gathering of a tight knit community and was surprisingly easy to navigate for a first timer. I heard the most buzz around tech solutions that can bring greater efficiencies to corporate legal departments, especially those involving generative AI. Also, I had many discussions around the newly unveiled Legal Data Intelligence framework, and how that can be a tool to better describe the work many of us are already doing.
Josh Kreamer, Chief Strategy Officer, Fileread: From the exhibit floor, the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) space now feels fully saturated. It was difficult to differentiate the various offerings at first glance, as every company was advertising the use of AI for CLM in very similar use cases. From the polished aesthetics and robust agenda to the depth of education and quality of presenters, it is clear that legal operations leaders are working to elevate and raise the profile of the work their teams do. This was particularly evident in the session rolling out the Legal Data Intelligence (LDI) project, which reimagines our ways of working in this space. The effectiveness and enthusiasm of CLOC leaders like Farrah Pepper served as an outstanding example to the entire community. CGI reflected camaraderie over competition. Throughout the event, would-be competitors were discussing new developments in a collaborative way and considering new ways to partner in an environment of rapid change. This will likely be very beneficial to corporate legal department clients who will get more value, pay less for it or both.
Brian Meegan, Director of Sales at ProSearch: This year’s CLOC presentation was first class all the way! Jenn McCarron’s Keynote set the tone for a magnificent exchange of forward-thinking ideas, concepts, and actionable takeaways. The Legal Data Intelligence rollout was an electric moment setting the room a buzz with so much excitement about our future. Well done CLOC!
Thanks to all those who shared their observations – it was great to see you!
Feeling a case of FOMO? Put more CGI 2024 observations into the comments below!
So, what do you think? Were you at CGI last week? If so, do you have more CGI 2024 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.