At the end of ILTACON 2024, I reached out to many of the people I met with for their observations about the conference and covered some of them Wednesday and yesterday. Here’s part three of ILTACON 2024 crowdsourced observations!

FYI, I’ve been publishing their crowdsourced ILTACON 2024 observations in the order they provided them to me and splitting them over three posts. Note: some of the responses are in two paragraphs, so look below if a paragraph doesn’t have a name attached to it.

Overall, the conference was successful. The convention center had many places for lunch/coffee which made it quite easy to meet with customers/clients. Lots of engaging discussion and positive feedback in general to follow up on. Robert Gerhauser – Sales Director, Enterprise, Cloudficient

ILTACON 2024 was a whirlwind of activity spurred on by inspiring conversations around advancements in Legal Tech and new use cases given “what’s possible today”.  The venue was massive, in Gaylord’s 3.3 Million square foot facility of Nashville, which gave plenty of interaction opportunities ranging from 1:1 meetings to larger group dinners at the world class onsite steakhouse. The key theme of “leverage your data for information-based decisions, trust data while verifying for accuracy and always keep an open mind to what other data gaps may exist” persisted in the initial keynote where we heard from Hannah Fry on statistics that challenged our way of thinking all the way through AI related Legal Tech strategy sessions.  From great industry conversations to line dancing and exciting swag + give aways ILTA 2024 was a success, and we look forward to gathering again at Gaylord National Harbor in Maryland for 2025! Jacob Wild – Director of Sales, Enterprise SaaS , Cloudficient

ILTACON 2024 was one of the best I’ve attended in a while. The topics covered a wide range of technology, with focused AI sessions. I was particularly impressed by the inclusion of main stage professional skills talks, which emphasized not only tech growth but also personal development. I also value the focus ongoing conversations and community engagement after the event, from committee involvement to lighter activities like fantasy football. Adam Wehler, Director of Practice Support, Robinson Bradshaw

Given the pace of innovation in the industry and the surrounding buzz, this year’s conference was easily the most energized ILTACON that I’ve attended. With a number of new tools coming to market, I felt a real excitement in every interaction I had with fellow attendees about the potential for GenAI and our Cecilia offering. While most were bullish about the expected adoption and the positive impact of GenAI in law, there were some who expressed concerns about how legal professionals can prepare for the oncoming transformation (which was the subject of my panel discussion). This space is moving so quickly, and I came away from ILTACON2024 eagerly anticipating the developments we’ll see at next year’s event and excited about the new DISCO leadership team’s focus on accelerating our product growth and GenAI innovation. James Park, Director of AI Consulting, DISCO

The variety of sessions was fantastic, truly a diverse selection of topics. And I enjoyed the after-hours curated events that were set in relaxed, intimate settings, such as the Liquor Lab Craft Cocktail, Gibson Garage and House of Cards events. These smaller events allowed for better interaction between everyone. David A. Gomez, Practice Support Project Manager, Robinson Bradshaw

ILTACON has always been one of my favorite conferences due to the wide array of technical and business topics, and ILTA2024 did not disappoint. Hannah Fry’s keynote was a highlight of the event for me. There was a noted shift in conversations around emerging technologies, specifically how to get more from your data estate.  The convention center was perfect for networking, allowing intimate networking without feeling like a 4,000+ attendee event. John Price – Principal Technologist, Cloudficient

ILTACON made it clear that AI is the new frontier in legal technology, with numerous sessions and business partners focusing on its transformative impact on practicing law. Attendees benefited from abundant networking and educational opportunities throughout the conference. While the event was rich in content and connections, some jokingly noted a desire for more live music and line dancing to enhance the experience. Overall, AI took center stage, shaping the discussions and innovations presented. Amy Juers, MBA, CEO, Edge Marketing, Inc.

I always enjoy ILTA, a wonderful event where everyone is comfortable connecting and sharing their questions and best thinking. I particularly enjoyed the roundtable Level Legal hosted for journalists and industry experts. The conversation around the best early use cases, guardrails, and ethical deployment of AI in legal was spirited and informative. My big takeaway is to lead with intention around client outcomes, start with a narrow focus, and plan to iterate. Daniel Bonner, Director – Client Solutions, Level Legal

I was fortunate to join Stacy Shrader, Lead Product Marketing Manager at ShareFile, and Sulabh Upadhyaya, Legal Technology Consultant at Kraft Kennedy, in a MasterClass about Reimagining Manual Workflows. It was a standing-room-only session with an engaged audience of professionals trying to empower their teams to leverage technology to transform their firms. I also had the privilege of moderating a discussion about Bridging Discovery and Case Management with Kim Bookout, Director of Solution Consulting at Opus 2, Rachelle Rennagel, Special Counsel at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and Jeff Chivers, CEO at Syllo. Both were lucky opportunities to share my research on key trends in the legal sector and learn from leaders who drive change daily. ILTACON always assembles the most experienced and dedicated individuals pushing the legal profession forward; this year was no exception. Congratulations to Joy Heath Rush and her entire team on producing another extraordinary event. Ari Kaplan, Principal, Ari Kaplan Advisors

ILTA hotel situation was a nightmare. We and dozens of others got bumped by Gaylord – some didn’t know til they showed up at 3am with no place to sleep! AI, AI, AI! Everyone talking about it, no one knows quite what to do with it. Joey Seeber, CEO, Level Legal

My biggest takeaway from ILTACON 2024 is that at times of change, we need human interaction and validation more than ever. The conference was probably the best one I’ve been to and that was down to the emotional availability of people, to having conversations and exchanges around where they are, and where the industry is, when it comes to the adoption of Gen AI. There was little in the way of other conversation.  There was a visible increase in real-world Gen AI use cases, and an excitement around new developments that enable users to leverage Gen AI to search their document management repository. However, adoption is not just about use cases, it’s about cost. Where larger vendors are insisting on enterprise licenses, many firms do not have the budget. 

This is such an interesting juncture and we can learn a lot from the experiences of the eDiscovery community in the adoption of TAR. The legal sector sometimes forgets that this is not the first time that we have been faced with new technology. Caroline Hill, Editor-in-Chief, Legal IT Insider

ILTACON 2024 did not disappoint – Nashville was my favorite venue of the three, and the energy just felt different in the best way. I especially appreciated that ILTACON provided a town hall forum to build awareness and obtain community input on Operation Safe Spaces. The AI-related sessions I attended were engaging and insightful and, of course, the networking and social events were highlights. I look forward to returning here in 2026! Cristin Traylor, Senior Director of AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy at Relativity

Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry buys his dad a top-of-the-line digital pocket organizer that his dad promptly dubs a “tip calculator,” as though he didn’t understand “calculators” existed until he got an expensive, overpowered device. Anyway, a couple ILTACON chats taught me that fancy GenAI interfaces have senior partners directly using discovery platforms — often for the first time ever — and they’re apparently *amazed* to see all the stuff TAR has done for years. Some people just need expensive tip calculators, I guess. Joe Patrice, Senior Editor, Above the Law

Thanks to all who crowdsourced ILTACON 2024 observations for me – you saved me writing three posts this week! 😀

So, what do you think? Did you attend ILTACON 2024? If so, feel free to comment with your own observations below! 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.