Fall in love with legal technology at this year’s ABA Techshow

Episode Notes

Transcript

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the ABA Journal Legal Rebels podcast where we talk to men and women who are remaking the legal profession, changing the way the law is practiced, and setting standards that will guide us into the future.

Victor Li:

It’s that time of year again, the American Bar Association’s annual Technological Showcase. ABA Tech Show starts on February 14th of this year and runs through the weekend in Chicago. What better way to spend Valentine’s Day than with your favorite lawyers, legal professionals, technologists and thought leaders who will be on hand to teach lucky conference goers, all about the latest trends and developments in the field of legal tech, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of chocolate involved too. My name is Victor Lee and I’m assistant managing editor of the ABA Journal. My guest today is Sofia Stephanie Lingos. She’s managing editor of Trident Legal, a Boston-based law firm that serves small businesses entrepreneurs as startups, and she serves as co-chair of this year’s ABA tech show. She’s here today to talk about what’s new with this year’s show and what we can expect to see. Welcome to the show, Sofia.

Sofia Lingos:

Thank you so much for having me, Victor.

Victor Li:

So I obviously just gave a very, very quick version of your bio. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Sofia Lingos:

Absolutely. So I’ve founded Trident Legal to represent small businesses and startups and just to deliver legal services differently. I really was looking for a firm to join that had technology as the nexus of really working with startups and working in the field that they did and I didn’t find it, and so tech show was a great place for me to actually really start building a practice around all the tools and technologies that were available. I’m also a law professor at Northeastern University as well as Northern Kentucky University. I teach law practice management, access to justice and legal technology.

Victor Li:

Gotcha, and why did you get into legal technology? I mean a lot of lawyers, they might not necessarily go to law school with that in mind, so what was it that drew you to that field?

Sofia Lingos:

It’s always been excited about technology in general, and then once you start looking at its applicability in this field and the lack of utilization, even when I was on co-op at Northeastern, we have co-op programs that give us real world experience while we are actually students and just the technology from the basics of Lexus and Westlaw that wasn’t even being utilized and knowing that there had to be additional tools that were available, understanding that a lot of our technology classes were learning how can we efficiently use these tools when we get out there because of the costs that we’re transitioning over to clients. And then at the time that I was starting a practice knowing that this tech boom with startup entrepreneurs who were very excited about their forms of technology and I got to learn from them a lot just because as a business attorney you get a little piece of each company that you work with, and so I don’t think that all technology has to have the legal technology label slapped on it.

I found a lot of off-label texts that was something that being able to log in remotely before the ability to connect Vieth the cloud and everybody else in Boston was chopping into the office on a snowy day. I’m like, well, why don’t you just connect your server remotely? And it was just blowing people’s minds. I think also the idea from an efficiency standpoint, that was always surprising to me. Obviously the idea of the billable hour is counterintuitive to that efficiency quotient and when you’re working in an access to justice world, especially working with startups and small businesses, there’s also that misconception that businesses aren’t an access to justice mission, but most business owners actually are barely playing themselves when you’re talking about people on Main Street. And so trying to figure out how those individuals could actually have representation and the solution was technology.

Victor Li:

Yeah, that’s interesting because I mean, I think there is a sort of built-in, I don’t want to say bias, but an inclination for some people that think, okay, well if you’re in the industry, you’re doing business and you’re probably doing really well, you’re probably making lots of money and you probably don’t have time for people who are barely getting by. I mean, is that a pretty big misconception on my part?

Sofia Lingos:

Yeah, I mean I think that a lot of times that when we think access to justice, I think that we’ve kind of identified a group of individuals and it’s pretty loaded term depending especially what part of the world of it that you’re working in. But businesses are, especially when you’re talking about mainstream businesses, I think that what we saw from startup representation or depending on what firm you’re working at, emerging industries, really representation was centered around, all right, well even if we do deferred fees, when you get your first round of investments, then we’re going to be able to recoup our fees. We definitely work with clients who are going through that type of work, but on the other side, there’s plenty of people who do need legal representation who are never going to be looking for fundraising. And so the idea of them even having access to Counsel was just impossible, wasn’t even part of conversations that they were having. And so people think of business representation as kind of the taking companies public, making sure that we’re having their quarterly filings as opposed to making sure their contracts exist, making sure they have limited liability protection, things that are just small business centric.

Victor Li:

Gotcha. So let’s talk about Textio then. When did you first start going to the show?

Sofia Lingos:

This will be my 12th tech show. This is actually the 39th annual tech show. Admittedly, I have not been going for 39 years. I just had my 40th birthday a couple weeks ago, so that would’ve really been a feat. But yeah, 39 years of tech show and I’ve made it to quite a number of them.

Victor Li:

Yeah, I think I counted this coming one will be my 11th one. Definitely. Yeah, the time definitely flies. I still remember my first tech show and I remember being kind of overwhelmed by everything. There wasn’t anything that I was really used to and I was just trying to stay afloat and now I just kind feel like, ah, I know where everything is, I know where things are. So there’s definitely kind of a comfort factor for me. But for you, what are some things that you like about the show? What are some of your memories of the show and how has it changed over the years?

Sofia Lingos:

Yeah, I definitely remember my first tech show too and being incredibly overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to expect. I was a new lawyer with my new practice and a very limited budget, and everyone kept telling me, you have to go to tech show. I said, well, that’s a really big investment on my behalf. How do I get to Chicago? How do I pay for this? How do I pay for the hotel? And I dug in, I said, you know what? If enough people tell you that you have to go, this is going to be your professional development for the year, you’re going to go to ABA tech show. And I remember walking in and sitting in the sessions and I just couldn’t get enough of it from doing. And I love that there’s all different levels of learning. So I feel like I’m a pretty sophisticated individual when it comes to legal tech.

I am a law professor that teaches it, so I like to think that my competency is pretty high, but I still every single year learn things in the sessions. Even as tech show chair, I’ve already such a hard decision because there’s so many great tracks that are all happening at the same time to figure out, okay, I’m going to go sit in this session, I want to learn this. And so my big takeaways from the beginning was just getting all of the information, trying to figure out doing the hands-on workshops to even just things like Word being a word super user and tools that already exist so you don’t have to have the additional investment going downstairs and walking on the trade floor. And I remember that I had just bought our new practice management software, which is no longer in existence, and realizing that even then there were just a couple of key players and then the next year I came back and there were maybe 60 and it just blew my mind that even in such a short period of time, I think it’s been very exciting as we watch the investments that come into the different technologies.

So being a business attorney, working with a lot of tech companies, I certainly have seen the investment and I was waiting for it to get caught up looking into the legal tech world and all of a sudden we saw that start to explode and you can see that on the tech show vendor floor besides just kind of looking at the vendors as they’ve continued to grow, it’s kind of fun watching some of these startup companies grow before your eyes at tech show. So I’m always looking forward to see what new things they’re going to announce as they come, and this is a great platform for them to do just that. I really get excited about seeing the different products. There’s some people that you see often come back as different speakers, but they really know what the changes have been in that particular field of expertise, even within the technology niche.

And so one thing that’s been really exciting is Bob Ambrogi has been doing for many, many years the Startup Alley, and I think that is a great way that kind of integrates all the different aspects of tech show from being down on the vendor floor to being an attorney, to developing legal tech tools and getting to be really a part of watching these companies launch and then utilizing them. I love to play with all the different tools that we get to see this year. We had hundreds of applicants. It’s wild to look through how many people have looked at this as their big opportunity. And then we have built in a place where they can actually have Startup Alley, so special boost where it’s not as big of a lift for the big companies where they can actually come and be part of their first trade show and just see where they show up the next year in the main trade floor.

Victor Li:

Gotcha. So before we continue, let’s take a quick break for a word from our sponsor and we’re back. So let’s talk about this year’s show. What are some new things that we can expect from this year’s incarnation of tech show?

Sofia Lingos:

So one thing we wanted to provide is a little bit of a more framework to be able to experience the show. Like I mentioned, there’s so many big things going on and a lot of times people come with a particular purpose. I really need to figure out from a financial standpoint all the different integrations I’m looking for, my tech stack, my online marketing hasn’t been what I want it to be. And so we wanted to really think about the pillars of the law practice Division, build them into basically a workbook where people can walk away and build their practice plan based off of all of the sessions as well as the vendors that are available. And so I think we’re going to be giving those out in advance so people will be able to download them. They’re going to be interactive and then actually on Saturday, so this is really a four day show this year.

Then we’re going to be doing a pretty interactive workshop with individuals working on action plans to go. And so it was an opportunity to kind of flush it all out. I think one thing that was often my takeaway is it was I got to do so much and see so much and you take a few days off of work and then you get back in the office and you just jump back into your regular work. And it’s hard to really flush out, okay, I saw this tool, how am I going to integrate in my practice? And so we’re going to really try and work with people so that there’s a takeaway of not just what you experienced while you’re here, but how are you going to use those tools, how are you going to integrate them, what kind of training are you going to need to do?

And with such an amazing roster of technology experts as well as practice management experts, we’re going to have those individuals to assist on Saturday kind of working through all the plans. So I’m excited to see how that goes. We’ve got a lot of new vendors on the floor, so I think it’s going to be interesting for people to meet and see how we’re expanding in that legal tech space or technology in general that is applicable for lawyers. We’re going to have some fun evening events and some morning events. So we are continuing with the 5K, we are going to be having yogas and workouts. We are having a little bit thinking from a wellness perspective, the idea of also unplugging, which is an important part actually of utilizing technology in the technology world. There’s also an app for that. There’s an app for a lot of different things.

So we’re going to have a wellness space that kind of allows people to either unplug or look at how we can use technology to support our wellness, which is an important piece. Obviously from the practice of law. We’ll still have our concierge team and we are adding tech show tours. So if it is your first time attending, if you are a seasoned professional or you’re looking for a particular solution, there are going to be four different tours that you can sign up for at that concierge booth. So we can help you navigate the trade floor a little bit better, especially for people who gone through that experience previously.

Victor Li:

Okay. Yeah, I’m glad you brought up the whole thing about workshopping with people to help them implement some of the ideas because that is one, I don’t want to say complaint, but one thing that I have heard from a lot of people who have come to the show is just like they get inundated with ideas. They get just so many tips and they learn about so many things and that you get a little overwhelmed by that and then you’re not really sure what to do’s kind of decision paralysis, right? It’s kind of like, okay, well there’s so many things I could do, so maybe it’s just easier to not do any of them. Was that why you guys decided to do that? Just the idea of people wanting some help to actually implement some of these ideas? That’s

Sofia Lingos:

Exactly what it is. We tried to do a little bit of crowdsourcing to try and figure out what did people think was missing after 39 years. It’s hard to do things. We want to keep things that are going really well, we want to build off of them and do anything that we can better, but that was actually something we were being specifically responsive to is okay, learned a lot, but how do I make sure that I’m implementing it to get the most value from my investment?

Victor Li:

And so obviously talking a little bit about some of the sessions now, generative AI and chat GPT is high on everyone’s minds. Just looking at the preliminary schedule, it looks like there are going to be quite a few sessions that deal with this technology. So let’s just first talk about this. I’m going to ask you this. Have you been surprised at how much interest there is in this topic and are you seeing a lot of adoption of generative AI tools amongst lawyers that you know or that you’re familiar with?

Sofia Lingos:

Yeah, it’s an interesting area and it’s a scary area and I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for people to build off, especially now that chat, GBT has the ability to build your own. I get a lot of questions from lawyers. I do a lot of CLEs with lawyers and can we use it? Can we not use it? The first thing that I always bring up, and I was actually teaching this in class last night, was the idea that let’s be very thoughtful about confidentiality, and I think that’s a potential risk. I think accuracy is also terrifying. I think that part of our job as lawyers for a while has been sorting through misinformation where clients come and say, well, I know this because of, please cite your source. Where did you get this information? Chat GPT sounds really good. And so there’s definitely a role for it.

Why not have a kind letter that’s written, but I think that people get so caught up on it that they’re already being less efficient. So you could have chat GPT, write you a great letter, now let’s take it to the next step. Now let’s build that into one of our programs from a document automation. Let’s not go back to chat GP every single time that we need to have a letter written like that. So we’re definitely seeing a lot of it. We saw tons and tons. We had hundreds of people who applied to speak this year, and there was a lot of ai. One thing we are going to be doing with AI this year, which is another new ad, something we started a little bit last year, but we’re going to be doing an AI and lawyering basically a breakout workshop with the idea with all the different people who know a lot.

Our goal is to create some sort of information to bring back to bar associations because we get a lot of questions from them. And so there can be some sort of potentially opinion coming out of the bars or at least some information about what the risks are. Relevant technology is going to be always moving faster than regulations can keep up. And so we will be doing this breakout session on Friday really delving into AI and lawyering, but everybody wants to know what’s out there. I think also people got really caught up on chat, GPT and chat. GPT is not all that’s out there. And so it’ll be nice to see how people experience these other options, especially in generat by ai. But the legal field is ripe for that. I think we also hear a lot of people with some relevant fears. I never am a person who says that technology is replacing lawyers. I don’t think that’s going to happen. And so I think that alleviating fears and just making sure, one of the big pieces that I always remind people about legal technology is this should be supporting us. It exists, so we need to use it. It’s not something to be afraid of and your competitors are going to be using it. So it’s something that you really need to understand the existence of the value of the risks of utilization and to do so with caution, but not to avoid things because of fear,

Victor Li:

Although it may not replace lawyers, but maybe at some point I might replace text show speakers.

Sofia Lingos:

It could be interesting. We’ve toyed around with the idea of seeing how some robots join us.

Victor Li:

So if I’m still on the fence about this technology and I run a law practice or I’m in charge of implementing technology at a law practice or whatnot, what would you recommend that I do in order to learn more about it, go to some of the sessions, talk to people on the floor, or maybe a little bit of both?

Sofia Lingos:

Definitely a little bit of both. First of all, you’re going to find a number of different solutions. That’s one nice thing about this show with so many different vendors, you can find the piece that’s right for you, but once you’ve kind of identified where your holes are, and that will be part of kind of this workbook helping you say, okay, what am I looking for? Because some people don’t even know what could fill the holes. And so the first thing is to think of your holes and then you’re going to be finding your solutions, going to the different sessions, listening to speakers. The speakers are wonderful and also you always have an opportunity to speak with them afterwards. I have spoken with every single one of them who are more than happy to stay a little bit later or meet you on the floor or give you a little bit of information.

But also don’t forget about talking to other practitioners. That’s what’s really unique about this particular legal tech conference is that you have rooms full of attorneys who are different stages of implementing technology. Maybe they got really excited about their project management solutions as well as their tech stack. And you can talk to your colleagues and say, how has that worked? What issues have arisen? How did you train your staff? How do you make sure that everyone’s on board? So besides just going the trade floor and listening to speakers, make sure you engage with your colleagues. One thing that we do every year is a taste of tech show. So people can sign up and they can join a group of colleagues to go out to dinner on Thursday night and sit around and just kind of figure out what works best for other people. And I love that aspect it because even within our own practice, figuring out what other people have liked have disliked, but actually putting into practice. Obviously if you own the business, you’re going to be selling the product. And a lot of times our speakers, no one’s allowed to sell from the floor, which is also something that’s unique even if people happen to work for a particular company. This is just to be about education as opposed to getting you into a speaker session to try and sell something. So you can talk to them just more generally about what solutions that you’re looking for.

Victor Li:

Gotcha. And let’s say I’m completely over this whole generative AI thing. I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to talk about it. I think it’s just completely taken over the discourse. So what are some other topics and issues that’ll be covered?

Sofia Lingos:

Every single session will have plenty of other things. If you want no, nothing to do with AI and maybe you only need to go to one ai, I would recommend that if you’re not familiar or you think you’re familiar, you would pop into one. But we still have all of the core technologies, things from a financial standpoint. I mean people think that numbers are numbers and that would be the case, but the tools that we can utilize from a financial standpoint and the background are always progressing from a firm management standpoint. We’ve got some great speakers who are talking about how we can utilize technology from firm management, hiring perspective, making sure that we have good hiring practices, management of employees, whether we’re talking about employees in the office or we’re looking at this new scape post covid or even before or we have a lot of people working remotely.

So thinking about how remote technology can be part of our law firm experience connecting with clients. At the end of the day, the most important people that we’re usually dealing with are going to be our clients. And so there’s a lot of different ways that we can use technology to enhance the client experience. And you’re going to see a number of speakers who are going to be talking about that. Your basic tools, your PDFs, your office, your word, your email, all of those things are going to be covered. Document automation I think is one of the most important things I tell my students. If there’s one thing that you walk out of these classes that you’re really going to double down on, make sure you know how to automate your documents. That’s something that you can do at any law firm, even if they’re not investing in the technology, you’re investing in yourself learning how to use this tool, making sure things are secure.

We’re going to be talking about cybersecurity. We’re going to be talking about how to make sure our documents are secure, even simple things that people don’t realize about locking down documents, making sure that we can share them without being fearful that there’s going to be exposed confidential information, that there’s a number of different pieces from a Litigation standpoint that people, we’ve got some great judges who are going to be joining us, some people who work, people who are using all these tools and technologies in the Courtroom. And so we have a judge who’s actually on tech show board with us this year, which has been exciting to make sure we’ve built that into all the pieces. And really it’s everything from managing attorneys, first time attendees, law students. There is something for everyone. And I would actually argue that in every session, regardless of what your role is in the profession, that you’re going to get something out of every single session that we chose. And that’s why it was really, really hard as we sorted through all the amazing topics and great speakers who came to us to speak this year. And so we have a pretty amazing lineup.

Victor Li:

Gotcha. So let’s take a quick break for a word from our sponsor and we’re back. So to pick up on your last point, one thing I’ve always liked about tech show is that it provides something for everyone. Neophytes can learn about very basic workplace software. While more experienced conference goers can learn about advanced cutting edge technology to make their practices more efficient. So let’s talk about each scenario in this case. So let’s say first I’m a rookie. This is my first show. I can barely use word or email. How would you suggest that I plan my schedule so that I get the most out of the show?

Sofia Lingos:

So the first thing that I would do is the app is going to be available a few days in advance. So start planning before you arrive at tech show. Look at all the sessions because it can get a little overwhelming when you realize that you could not be in eight places at any given time and what you’re going to be looking for. We’re also organizing things this year, Vieth tags. So let’s say you’re really interested, we will have a first time tag, but also if you’re looking for technology for financial, if you’re looking for marketing pieces, you’ll be able to sort sessions by those tags. That’s going to be both on the website as well as in the app. So it’s going to give you an ability to do some planning, do that planning before you go, there’s going to be an email that goes out, no, before you go it’s going to give you a lot of that information.

We have some opportunities for first time attendees, so stop by the concierge desk and we can set you up, introduce you to people, make sure you pick up that first time attendee tag, experienced tech show individuals are going to be walking around looking to meet you and introduce you and get you into sessions that we think will help whatever you’re looking to solve for, and make sure you stay through the entire show so you can take advantage of that Saturday workshop where you’re going to be debriefing, go to the evening activities, socialize, stop by, introduce yourself to the chairs or any of the individuals wearing shirts. But each of the sessions are going to, again, within that particular session is going to have a little bit for everyone. So we kind looked, originally I’m a skier. I like to think of, oh, is this our green, blue or black?

We realized that the particular topic gives an opportunity to kind of address the bunny slope all the way down to the glades. And so you can really go to any session to get those experiences, but find someone to kind of help you navigate. And then don’t forget the tours that will take you kind of through the tech show floor and figuring out what’s downstairs. But I think planning is really critical because there’s so much and try to go to everything. Wake up early, even if you’re not a yogi, I am not, but I will be there. I’m not running the 5K, but my amazing co-chair, Cynthia Thomas, she will be out there running a 5K. If you’re a runner go, you get a really cool free, and I know they’re going to be very coveted so you can sign up, but you’re investing in yourself by attending this conference. Take advantage of every opportunity that’s there.

Victor Li:

Yeah, luckily I think it’s going to be warmer in Chicago than it was a few weeks ago when we were in Sub-Zero temperature.

Sofia Lingos:

We’re not supposed to talk about the weather. Victor

Victor Li:

In Chicago, we got nothing else to talk about.

Sofia Lingos:

I live in Boston. Same thing.

Victor Li:

Alright, so the next scenario, let’s say I’m somewhere in the middle. I use some tech in my practice, but I want want to take my office to the next level. So how would you suggest then that I plan my schedule so that I can get the most out of the show?

Sofia Lingos:

So people who are in the middle, I think the most important thing is to be very specific about the solutions you’re coming in looking for. You’re not just kind of looking at an overall tech stack. You’re coming for, okay, I could really up my game from a marketing perspective. I think that as I’m adding employees, I need a little bit more work around how I’m going to manage everyone who’s in the office. So come with a couple of goals. What are you trying to solve for and double down on those, make sure you’re having a progressive track. And you’ll see the way that we’ve really organized our different sessions is to allow you to kind of go through those progressive tracks. And I would recommend that you kind of work from a planning perspective to solve for where you’ve identified holes within your technology plan.

Victor Li:

Gotcha. And then finally, let’s say I’m a regular attendee. This is my however many shows in a row. For me, I know a lot of people at the show. I already, my practice is pretty much where I want it to be. I may not be Ed Walters or Jack Newton, but I still am pretty well connected and I’m pretty up to date on the latest trends of technology and whatnot. So how would you then suggest that play on my skill so that I get something out of the show?

Sofia Lingos:

Yeah, so first of all, I like to think of tech show as a family. It’s one of those places where all of a sudden people come and go, ah, I haven’t seen you since last year. And it’s just so exciting to reconnect and kind of have that opportunity and you’ve got to reconnect with a number of people and you can figure out what they’ve been looking at, what they’ve been doing, what they’re excited to see. We really want to make sure that our, and we have a lot of really experienced individuals realize we’ve done work to get a number of new speakers. This year we did a lot of different outreach because we didn’t want to just see the same faces even though they’re wonderful faces. But what we want to do is allow other people, so it wasn’t just letting them going through the applications, but we went through their videos, we looked at all the different speaking engagements.

So go check out some new speakers, see what else they have to share. I think you’d be surprised, even the people that you don’t know, I promise that we have vetted them on the backend to be sure that they have a lot of really exciting things to share. Obviously things are changing, so go be part of these new topics, not just our new speakers. And feel free to also contribute. Please go and join our tech show dinners. We always have our tried and true individuals be on the trade floor, make the most of connecting with your friends, but please welcome the people who’ve been there before. But these are people who we are always building a show around and wanting to welcome back. It is our goal to have, I don’t think anyone’s made it to all 39 shows. If there is somebody who wants to reach out and tell me they have, I promise there will be a prize for you.

We will make sure that we’ll get you on stage this year and next year’s the 40th. And so I will make sure that our vice chairs are ready to welcome you to stage if you make it for all 40. But it’s still pretty amazing how many shows that so many people have been, and those people have been creating their own kind of rituals about, okay, there’s this person who hosted this dinner or there’s this experience. And I think that that’s really cool to have this tech show family that you come back and see, but it’s not just a vacation. There’s a lot of awesome content that’s going to be taking place and a lot of experience that we’re building to provide to not just our first time attendees, but to our tried and true tech show family.

Victor Li:

Gotcha. Do you have any preliminary attendance figures? Will it be kind similar to last year?

Sofia Lingos:

Right now we have about 1100 registered, which is great. And usually we find leading up the last couple of weeks it seems, people in Chicago, you just wait until the end from a registration. Either you get right in and you do that early bird registration or you just sign up on site. And so we’re okay with that. We do want all of our Chicago and surrounding area people to come, but it’s definitely not too late. The show is not sold out. We hope that more people are going to be signing up, becoming cheap flights, great hotel rates, an awesome place to be, a lot of fun celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s also my daughter’s birthday. Oh, okay.

Victor Li:

Happy birthday.

Sofia Lingos:

Valentine’s Day, baby. So think that we will, I mean, I know we’re just going to continue to watch those numbers grow and those are just registrants. Those are our P MAs, our lawyers, our law librarians, our law firm managers. And so don’t forget all the people who are on the trade floor. It’s going to be a big show on Friday night. We’re going to have a big party to celebrate that.

Victor Li:

Well, that kind of segues into what you had said earlier. So do you have a favorite tradition or a favorite thing that you like to do when you go to tech show? I

Sofia Lingos:

Really do love taste of tech shows. I think that’s a lot of fun to kind of sit down with dinner and meet new people. I enjoy lunch and learns, being able to, I dunno, I guess I’m centering around the food. No, I also sit down religiously and plan out all my sessions to try and get a little bit of everything. I also really love the swag downstairs on the trade floors. That’s what I will be bringing back for my daughter’s birthday. No, what I love, I love meeting everybody downstairs. I love to see what people are doing in their booths. As a business attorney, it’s exciting to see these businesses and I represent a lot of legal technology companies and so see what they’re doing on the trade floor, seeing their representatives, their energy, really what they’re building for us to be able to deliver legal services better. And so I do enjoy spending a lot of time downstairs meeting that part of our teams and seeing what’s coming down the pipeline. Actually, I have one more. I really do love Startup. The startup pitch show is so cool. They just do such a great job. Bob has always done such an amazing job organizing it, just so well run. And that also gives us some great insight to kind of what’s happening.

Victor Li:

Yeah, I really enjoy setup rally too. It is a lot of fun and plus it’s cool to learn about these companies and the fun things they’re doing. And also from a selfish standpoint, we get a lot of good story ideas from them. So it’s definitely a nice thing for us.

Sofia Lingos:

Well, we’ve actually, we keep having to move. We’ve tried many different locations of where to do it. Finally, we’re like, you know what? Everybody comes in on Wednesday now because they know that it’s the place to be. So we get to kick off with that, and then we can go straight down to the trade floor and start our first social happy hour and go from there.

Victor Li:

So to wrap up, if our listeners wish to get in touch with you for Tech Share Related Matters or just for general questions about technology and whatnot, what’s the best way to do so? People

Sofia Lingos:

Can feel free to reach out to me directly, Vieth email, OF IGOs at Trident Legal. You can find that information on our website, Trident Legal. There’s information about myself, my co-chair, Cynthia Thomas, and the rest of our amazing planning board directly on the tech show website, tech show.com, so you can go find our information out there. If you’re planning to attend, make sure you go to the website and look at all that’s going to be happening, make a plan in advance. But I would welcome anyone stopping by, please introduce yourself. Let me know that you’re going to be there. I would love to meet you. I can answer any questions, and I’m so excited to see everybody on February 14th.

Victor Li:

Great. Thank you very much for joining us, Sofia. I appreciate it.

Sofia Lingos:

Thank you so much for having me.

Victor Li:

If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more, please go to your favorite app and check out some other titles from Legal Talk Network. In the meantime, I’m Victor Li and I’ll see you next time on the ABA Journal Legal Rebels podcast.

Speaker 1:

If you’d like more information about today’s show, please visit Legal Rebels dot com, legal talk network.com. Subscribe Via, iTunes and RSS. Find both the ABA, Journal and Legal Talk Network on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or download the free apps from ABA, Journal and Legal Talk Network in Google Play and iTunes. The views expressed by the participants of this program are their own and do not represent the views of nor are they endorsed by Legal Talk Network is officers, directors, employees, agents, represen shareholders, and subsidiaries. None of the content should be considered legal advice. As always, consult a lawyer.

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