Legal IT show 2010

Posted on 11 February 2010 by David Sparkes from legalsupportnetwork.co.uk with 0 comments

Spent the day yesterday at the Legal IT show in Islington, and I have no doubt the organisers have breathed a sigh of relief that the snow has abated and everyone who had planned to attend doesn't have a reason not to!

So, what's the verdict? Well, that's all a bit subjective really and depends on who you speak to. I had a chat with a number of technology vendors to small/mid-tier law firms who wished they had packed in more demo booths on their stands as they were busy all day, now that's a good sign, and at the other end of the spectrum I had a chat with a mixture of consultants and suppliers to large law firms who wondered why they were there. So like all events, conferences, exhibitions, award ceremonies and the like - there'll be some happy ones and some not so happy ones.

Has the day of the 'conference' passed and is there a future? Well, in my view yes and no respectively. More and more is done online these days, with obvious upsides to online being the time and cost saving aspect. However, what you'll never replace online is the enjoyment of a day out the office, having a face to face conversation (without the use of skype!) and the added value of things like round table discussions.

Here's my day in pictures.