On the floor, ILTACON 2025, the Worldwide Authorized Know-how Affiliation’s largest annual authorized expertise occasion, had all of the makings of an amazing convention. However regardless of the thought-provoking classes and keynotes, networking alternatives and PR fanfare, I couldn’t shake the sense that we have been within the midst of a seismic shift in authorized tech, surrounded by the stressed vitality of a boomtown.
The convention was held final week, and its venue wasn’t the issue. It was fairly beautiful, all issues thought of. Out of all of the Gaylord’s and their post-apocalyptic dome environs, the Maryland facility is probably the most navigable and conference-goer pleasant. It doesn’t take lengthy to get the place that you must go, and issues are sometimes proper the place you’d anticipate them to be.
And it wasn’t the convention itself both. So far as authorized tech conferences go, this one was well-planned, with many participating actions, networking occasions and seminars. There have been loads of alternatives to community. The wine choice wasn’t unhealthy—one thing that’s notably essential to me—and a spotlight to element was evident. There have been info cubicles, rigorously positioned drop packing containers for the Klik SmartBadges post-conference, and ILTAcon representatives have been conveniently situated all through the power, prepared to help with instructions and extra.
The gold rush
It wasn’t ILTACON that bothered me; it was the heady, gold-rushed, “something goes and no matter sticks works” atmosphere that was unsettling. Whereas this yr’s convention was pirate-themed, it felt extra just like the Wild West to me.
This angle permeated the convention, pushed largely by the frenzied, frontier-style synthetic intelligence revolution. The AI prepare is hurtling ahead at lightning pace, vacation spot unknown, and everyone seems to be making an attempt to money in earlier than it derails.
AI roadmaps and merchandise shared mere months in the past have already been deserted. Firms introduced new AI device names, new growth approaches, and new developments, whereas acknowledging that AI deployment is an imperfect, shifting goal, as a result of the foundational instruments relied upon at this time might very effectively change tomorrow.
In the meantime, authorized AI startups are multiplying quicker than anybody can observe, which is simply as effectively, since there’s little cause to attempt. Many will vanish in a single day, both burning by means of their funding or getting swallowed up within the acquisition abyss.
Off the rails
Finally, nonetheless, my unease was pushed by greater than the free-wheeling abandon of the AI period. There was additionally a way that the reins, each technological {and professional}, had been tossed apart altogether, a gleeful abandonment of restrictive expectations. It’s the Wild Wild West once more, prior constraints be damned. The ambiance carried a well-known bravado—a chest-thumping, disruption-at-all-costs vitality that celebrated extra as a lot as innovation.
From the questionable option to function a scantily clad lady contortionist in an absurdly outsized champagne glass throughout an organization’s after-hours celebration, to the informal conversational invocation of final yr’s Legalweek sexual assault controversies as little greater than a passing punchline, it felt like one thing had shifted. The trade’s bombast and showmanship have been turning into unimaginable to disregard, at instances overshadowing its substance.
The lay of the land
Even so, not all the things was runaway trains and desperado ways. Beneath the noise, the press briefings provided actual perception into the place distributors are putting their bets on this AI frontier. Within the face of extreme bluster, some press briefings provided a balanced perspective, with distributors desirous to show they weren’t merely leaping on the gold rush bandwagon however as a substitute have been providing worthwhile developments and updates to their prospects.
Two themes emerged from my discussions. First, regardless of who you spoke to, “agentic AI,” that means AI that autonomously takes purposeful actions, was a buzzword that cropped up typically, whether or not throughout press briefings or over drinks. One other key development was the race to grow to be the generative AI residence base for authorized professionals.
For instance, LexisNexis staked its declare on its new personalised AI-guided authorized analysis device supported by agentic workflows, Protégé. This device features a function permitting its prospects to entry client LLMs like GPT-5 and Claude contained in the Lexis+ AI platform. LexisNexis’ method was each distinctive and sensible. As a substitute of pretending legal professionals will hand over OpenAI, they’ve constructed round it, betting that safety and comfort will maintain customers squarely of their ecosystem.
Equally, Thomson Reuters introduced its newest and last model of Westlaw, Westlaw Benefit. It additionally introduced the newest launch of its generative AI authorized analysis platform, CoCounsel Authorized, which options deep analysis and agentic-guided workflows. Throughout a press briefing at ILTACON, Steve Hasker, Thomson Reuters president and CEO, defined why the corporate was investing so closely in AI integration, emphasizing the numerous impression generative and agentic AI could have on the apply of legislation: “We’re firstly of the most important disruption to the authorized career in its historical past.”
The house base platform development was additionally evident in e-discovery platform bulletins, with distributors persevering with to increase performance inside their platforms past what was initially meant. This method is essentially pushed by the datasets that generative and agentic AI instruments can leverage.
To that finish, Everlaw introduced its Deep Dive device, which permits customers to question complete doc databases and acquire focused responses. The corporate additionally introduced that it had obtained FedRAMP authorization, thus enabling governmental use of its software program.
DISCO’s bulletins additionally highlighted an AI-enabled enlargement of its platform’s unique use instances past conventional duties equivalent to e-discovery and doc administration. Current options added to the platform included the launch of Auto Evaluation within the UK and AI-powered doc summarization and translation options.
NetDocuments additionally targeted on how AI is reshaping the function of doc administration platforms in legislation companies. A key level that got here out in the course of the product briefing was the mixing of AI-powered workflow automation into the software program has resulted in a shift the place DMS platforms can now function the house base for generative AI-powered document-related duties in legislation companies.
In the meantime, the generative AI authorized platform Legora is concentrated on offering a system that permits authorized professionals to perform an array of authorized duties, from authorized analysis and sophisticated authorized workflows to doc drafting and doc evaluation. Legora continues to give attention to increasing its more and more in style platform’s buyer base past Europe and has been gaining vital floor within the U.S., notably with bigger legislation companies.
Throughout different briefings, extra narrowly targeted AI performance was highlighted, that includes instruments that harnessed the facility of generative and agentic AI by addressing very particular authorized use instances. One instance is Chronotracer, a authorized AI platform that was launched publicly earlier this month and is designed to course of and analyze giant datasets in litigation instances. It handles a spread of proof varieties, from telephone data, emails and social media posts, enabling the person to create a complete chronology that may be simply filtered and analyzed.
Likewise, Descrybe.ai is one other device that depends on generative AI for a targeted objective, specifically, superior authorized analysis. Launched in 2023, it affords entry to user-friendly authorized analysis capabilities at an reasonably priced worth level. To additional its footprint, the crew is now exploring the potential of permitting different authorized AI instruments to leverage its intensive dataset, prospecting for brand new methods to increase its attain.
There’s no sheriff on the town
Whereas the nuts and bolts of the information popping out of ILTACON felt like enterprise as regular, strip away the sensible bulletins and demos, and the larger image is tougher to disregard: The gold rush is in full throttle, and the city feels lawless. There’s actual promise in these instruments, but additionally vital hazard lurking within the unchecked bravado. Popping out of ILTACON, I can’t assist however surprise—who’s the sheriff on this story, and what occurs if nobody rises to the event?
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based legal professional, writer and journalist. She is the principal authorized perception strategist at 8am, father or mother firm of LawPay, MyCase, CasePeer and DocketWise. She is the nationally acknowledged writer of Cloud Computing for Legal professionals and is a co-author of Social Media for Legal professionals: The Subsequent Frontier, each revealed by the American Bar Affiliation. She writes common columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Legislation, has authored a whole bunch of articles for different publications, and she or he recurrently speaks at conferences relating to the intersection of legislation and rising applied sciences. Comply with her on LinkedIn, or she will be reached at [email protected].
