The InfoTrack team is now emerging from the post-conference recovery period, and we wanted to send out a quick message to thank everyone for helping to make our fifth annual Legal Up Virtual Conference such a success. Whether you joined us live or are watching the replays on your own time, we thought you’d like to hear some of the highlights.
Legal Up 2022 recap
True to our roots, this year’s conference celebrated the legal profession and sought to educate and elevate all legal professionals.
The program featured many familiar themes including Legal Technology, Litigation Fundamentals, Law Firm Growth Strategies, and Personal Development. We also drew attention to important topics like Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Most importantly, Legal Up 2022 gave attendees essential tools and insights to level up their legal career.
This was the first time that Legal Up was hosted on a robust virtual conference platform called Hopin. Using the new platform allowed us to foster more opportunities for networking including 1:1 conversations, Birds of a Feather roundtable discussions, and moderated chat functionality where attendees shared their thoughts and perspectives on each session.
We were also excited and thrilled to offer more entertainment than ever before, including live music, yoga, a mixology class, and an always-on break room with a relaxing and soothing nature livestream.
We’ve received a ton of positive feedback on all of these new options and are excited to carry them forward to future events.
We also learned a lot and received some interesting feedback on things we might improve next time. We look forward to providing more in-depth guidance on how to get the most out of the event platform, especially how to participate in the Birds of a Feather sessions. Next year, we’ll also build in more time between sessions to allow for more networking, visiting the Integration Partner booths, and taking breaks.
By the numbers
- 1543 people, including 23 speakers
- 97% likely to recommend Legal Up to a colleague or friend
- Average attendee score of 9.3 out of 10
- Average time spent 7h 1m
- 5 countries represented: USA, UK, Canada, Denmark, Israel
Session highlights
The sessions and workshops at Legal Up were outstanding. We’d love to give you a rundown of every single one of them, but there’s just not enough space in a blog post.
Here are some of the highlights.
We were inspired during the thought-provoking keynote by Marisa Rivera
Marisa kicked us off with a heavy dose of inspiration, introspection, and an honestly optimistic look towards our futures.
“Sometimes we have our life all planned in a little box, but many times we need to make changes that are necessary for us to move forward.”
Her session, Finding the courage to create the life you want, was packed with lightbulb moments as she guided attendees through workshop-style exercises and asked thought-provoking questions. Each moment was more impactful than the last.
In the second half of the keynote, Marisa talked about the power of letting go of the past, forgiving, and setting your focus towards the future.
“What is the power of letting go? Especially when we want to bring new things, new energies into our lives, we need to think about how we can let go of things that no longer serve us.”
This was an incredible way to start Legal Up 2022.
We were riveted during the presentation on legal tech by Barron Henley
Barron K. Henley started off his presentation, 2022’s Best legal tips, tricks, gadgets, and websites, with a warning.
“This is going to be a shotgun presentation.”
Shotgun presentation it was. With over 200 slides, Barron whizzed through tip after tip, product after product, and his enthusiasm and wit kept us all enthralled.
Some of his tricks and gadgets were staples for busy attorneys, including a demonstration of file sorting that was absolutely illuminating.
Other items, though, were things to add to your shopping wish list.
Barron’s “shotgun” presentation was extremely well-received and attendees loved downloading all 200+ slides for future perusal.
We took a refreshingly honest dive on writing your own story with Briseida Bethancourt
Briseida Bethancourt took us on a journey in her presentation titled The audacity: You have permission to step outside the box.
Bri was honest, raw, and energizing. She talked about her journey from a newly graduated law student that just couldn’t seem to pass the bar to a 6-year law firm owner (and mom) who paves her own way.
“I dreamed of this…I remember one day, years ago, saying ‘I wish I could just sit on the couch in my pajamas making coins.’ Lo and behold, that is exactly what is happening right now.”
Through her personal story, Bri shared vital lessons that resonate with everyone who has ever struggled in the legal industry.
“I ended up turning their ‘no’ into my ‘yes’ because I refused to allow this company to dictate my future. And I refused to let anyone else’s negativity drive my decisions. And I refused to let my own fear stand in the way of my success.”
And for all of us who feel uncomfortably different, she gave us permission to be ourselves and create our own stories.
“It’s not a flaw to be different. It’s not a flaw to have different ideas and different thoughts and decide to move differently. That’s actually a leg up.”
We took a practical look at compassion with Claire E. Parsons
Claire E. Parsons is an attorney, a meditation teacher, and a fantastic addition to the Legal Up program. In her session on Compassion for lawyers: Essential practices for effective and satisfying work, she taught us how kindness and empathy are an integral part of legal ethics.
“When we talk about our duty of care as an attorney, it’s not just what we know. It’s the attention and care we can show to each case that we get.”
After taking us through our ethical requirements and responsibilities as legal professionals, Claire led a fantastic guided meditation to help us learn how to manage and control our stress responses.
The whole experience was relaxing and insightful. Claire’s perspective as both an attorney and a mindfulness expert gave Legal Up attendees a lot to think about.
“I think it’s still a question about whether it pays in our profession to be kind. But I will submit to you that I think it’s necessary for our survival as a species. It’s necessary to our happiness as human beings.”
We explored healthy law firm culture with Kristen Corpion
“If you take 100% accountability for [the fact that] you chose to join the legal industry and think back to why did you make that decision, there had to be something you were excited about. Flesh that out. If you’re in a place where that’s no longer exciting to you, that’s one conversation you’re going to have to have with yourself.”
Kristen Corpion’s session on Creating a positive law firm culture centered around determining your personal values, understanding your firm’s values, and getting those two to match in a healthy way.
“Understanding your values is just, overall, key to happiness.”
Packed with meaningful examples, poignant questions, and salient advice, Kristen gave attendees some much-needed perspective. As a law firm owner herself, she taught leaders how to create the culture they want. For those who aren’t in leadership positions yet, she provided some keen insight about finding the right culture match for your values.
“At the end of the year, what has to be true for you to feel that your time spent working was worth it?”
We dove deep into DEI&B with M. Victoria Taylor
M. Victoria Taylor gave us the chance to confront our biases and have an honest discussion in her session, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: A primer.
“Typically, when people think about diversity and equity right now, they’re more thinking about data points. They’re thinking about people as widgets. You know, how many of X do we have? How many of Y do we have? And we typically provide that information, especially if you’re in a legal setting, to clients, because we’re giving a lot of surveys and data requests. Clients want to know, ‘Who’s working on my matters?’”
We clarified definitions and had a realistic conversation about what DEI&B look like in the real workplace.
“Really, [this is] where we start to make a difference in the lives of people and we start moving away from looking at them as widgets or data points or metrics…It’s with creating a culture of inclusion and belonging, and that takes intent. It takes thoughtful action. It could take a long time.”
Attendees were active in the chat and had some great discussions during the presentation. Victoria did an incredible job of creating a safe place for people to learn and grow together.
From attendees
Here’s some of the comments we received from people who attended this year:
“It was a great way to get some CLE credit as well as hear from people in the field from far and near without leaving my desk, and on my lunch hour. Very well-organized event. Thank you for putting this on!!!”
“The topics and speakers were awesome!”
“This was one of the best conferences I’ve been to!! Very informative and entertaining! Thank you so much!!”
“Change is difficult, especially in law firms. I strive to keep the team up-to-date with the trends so I’m constantly collecting information I feel is beneficial. This event offered a tremendous amount of information with knowledgeable speakers and downloadable information that is AWESOME! The best part – there was a lot from the heart! Times are a changin and I’m lovin it!” From Laura – receptionist at Edrington, Schirmer & Murphy
“I want all my practicing attorneys to make time for Legal Up next year. Other states would benefit by running this type of program. The bar needs this.” From Mary, Review Manager for Ricoh USA, Inc.
Final thoughts
Legal Up 2022 was one for the books. We’re so grateful for everyone who came together to make it happen — and that includes all of you that came to listen, learn, and network.
The Legal Up team is already looking forward to 2023. Check out the Legal Up website to see what’s in store! We so hope to see you there.
