ILTACON starts Sunday, August 10th! Yesterday, I provided the ILTACON 2025 Word Cloud. Here is Part 2 of my ILTACON 2025 preview!

Part 2 of my ILTACON 2025 preview identifies eight notable sessions to check out next week! Here they are:

Monday, August 11, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

eDiscovery & Litigation Support Roundtable: From TAR to Generative AI (National Harbor 2/3)

In the 2025 edition of The Roundtable, we examine how legal teams have handled rapid changes in technology. Critiques of keyword search in the first decade of this century set the stage for the 2012 landmark opinion and order in Da Silva Moore v. Publicis Groupe, which opened a new era for technology assisted review (TAR)—with another new era beginning in November 2022 with release of ChatGPT. What impact have these changes had on the world of eDiscovery and litigation support? How are legal teams using generative AI and other advanced technologies? How does it differ from how they worked with TAR? What are the differences between small, mid-size, and larger firms? Find out as practice group, litigation support, and legal operations leaders discuss the impact of these technological changes and what they mean for your career. As always, The Roundtable is your opportunity to join the discussion..

Speakers: Janis Cheston – Lead, eDiscovery Services – Operations, Miller Thomson LLP; David Horrigan – Discovery Counsel and Legal Education Director, Relativity ODA LLC; Scott Milner – Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P.; Melissa Weberman – Counsel | Head of eData, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP; Phil Weldon – Director of eDiscovery and Litigation Support Technology, Hecker & Fink LLP.

Monday, August 11, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM

The Human Element: Digital Legal Skills Evolution? (National Harbor 2/3)

This session explores how legal professionals can adapt to the rapid advancements in eDiscovery, practice support, and legal technology. Topics include mastering legal tech tools, enhancing efficiency through automation, and cultivating the human judgment and ethical considerations that technology alone cannot replicate. Through real-world examples and interactive discussions, discover how leading firms are reimagining their workflows in response to technological disruption. Perfect for legal practitioners seeking to future-proof their careers and sharpen their digital acumen.

Speakers: Jeffrey Chivers – Chief Executive Officer, Syllo; Jamie LaMorgese – Practice Support Director, Holland & Hart; Shana Pederson – Recruiting Manager, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P.

Monday, August 11, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

From Reactive to Proactive: Building a Litigation Response Playbook (National Harbor 2/3)

“Plans are useless but planning is indispensable” – Eisenhower. Legal teams often have to reinvent the wheel each time a new litigation matter hits. This session will guide attendees through creating a proactive litigation response playbook, covering workflows, technology preparation, and cross-functional collaboration to reduce downtime and stress.

Speakers: Doug Austin – Editor, eDiscovery Today; Ross Dubinsky – Managing Director, Harbor.

Tuesday, August 12, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Kids’ Meal eDiscovery: Shoestring Solutions for Small-Scale Projects (National Harbor 2/3)

Many eDiscovery projects are very small, and using the state-of-the-art cloud review platform would be overkill, would take too long or cost too much. What software is available right now, likely already on your workstation or a download away?  What simple individual tasks can be combined to create a powerful and defensible workflow to get small amounts of data reviewed and produced quickly and inexpensively?  Can GenAI help?  Let our panel teach you a few helpful tricks!

Speakers: Tameca Brooks – Director of eDiscovery, S2|Data; Brett Burney – Vice President eDiscovery, NextPoint Law Group; Jonathan Sabin – Partner, Kane Kessler, P.C.

Wednesday, August 13, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Sailing the AI Seas: Navigating Innovation in eDiscovery (National Harbor 2/3)

Dive into the transformative power of AI in eDiscovery. This session will explore how advanced analytics solutions are reshaping document review, data analysis, and case strategy. Panelists will share real-world use cases and discuss ethical considerations when integrating AI into eDiscovery workflows.

Speakers: Stephen Dooley – Director of Electronic Discovery and Litigation Support, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Todd Itami – Partner / Director; George Phillips – eData Director of Operations, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P.; Daryl Shetterly – Director, Orrick Analytics, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP; Cristin Traylor – Senior Director, AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy, Relativity ODA LLC.

Wednesday, August 13, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Generative AI in e-Discovery: How to Test, Trust, and Thrive in a New AI Era (Maryland A)

As generative AI transforms e-discovery, ensuring its outputs are accurate, consistent, and legally defensible is paramount. This session dives into the critical validation methods organizations can use to build trust in AI-powered workflows, and well as considerations for legal defensibility when using AI. 

Join experts as they explore the strategies you can put into practice, including how to set up effective and robust testing frameworks, implement statistically informative sampling, and choose appropriate metrics. This session is ideal for legal data intelligence teams looking to confidently implement generative AI solutions. Walk away with actionable insights to validate your AI systems and maximize their potential while minimizing risk.

Takeaways:

• Establish trust in the deployment of generative AI tools for e-Discovery
• Gain insights on qualitative assessments of generative AI tools
• Learn methods for quantitative validation of generative AI tools
• Enhance confidence to tackle objections regarding the use of generative AI in e-Discovery

Speakers: Tara Emory – Special Counsel, eDiscovery, AI, and Information Governance, Covington & Burling LLP; Elizabeth Gary – Associate, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P.; Ben Sexton – Vice President, JND Legal Administration; Cristin Traylor – Senior Director, AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy, Relativity ODA LLC.

Wednesday, August 13, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Creative AI Prompt Showdown (National Harbor 10/11)

Set sail on a thrilling adventure into the uncharted seas of creativity at our prompting contest! Learn from our captains in a quest to uncover the hidden treasures of powerful prompts that spark innovation, imagination, and the hidden gold in your data.

In this interactive session, you’ll learn the secrets of crafting prompts that lead to exceptional AI-generated content. From discovering buried ideas to navigating the high seas of creativity, our expert crew will guide you through practical techniques and challenges. Whether ye be a landlubber or a seasoned pro, this event promises to sharpen your skills and inspire your inner buccaneer.

Sharpen your quills, polish your cutlasses, and prepare to hoist the flag of imagination as we embark on a journey to claim the ultimate prize: the title of Prompting Buccaneer Extraordinaire!

Don’t miss this chance to learn, compete, and revel in the spirit of adventure. Are ye ready to set sail and claim the buried treasure? Join us, or risk walking the plank of mediocrity!

Speakers: Sean Harrington – Director of Technology Innovation, University of Oklahoma College of Law; Andy Kim – eDiscovery Counsel, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.

Thursday, August 14, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Unmasking Synthetic Media and Deepfakes (National Harbor 2/3)

Explore the rapidly evolving world of synthetic media and deepfakes in this engaging session. Learn how artificial intelligence is used to create hyper-realistic content, including manipulated videos, audio, and images, and discover the profound implications for society, privacy, and information integrity. This session will provide an overview of the technology behind deepfakes, practical tools for identifying them, and strategies to navigate the ethical and security challenges they present.

Speakers: Sergey Demyanov – Founder & CEO, Discover Beagle, Inc.; David Greetham – VP of Digital Forensics, Level Legal.

There are many other interesting sessions next week and it was tough to pick just eight of them from the agenda (linked here)! Tune in each day as I preview all of the interesting sessions each day!

So, that’s Part 2 of your ILTACON 2025 preview! Look for daily previews each day next week!

So, what do you think? Are you planning to attend ILTACON 2025? 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 authors and speakers themselves, 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.