It’s hard to believe that ABA TECHSHOW will be celebrating its 40th birthday beginning on April 2, 2025. This marquee event for the ABA was born, in part, from the need of legal professionals to better understand emerging technologies that could help them enhance their practice management and to better serve their clients. In the mid-1980s, the legal industry itself saw that computers and software could help them in multiple facets of their practice operations––research, client management and overall efficiency, to name a few. So, while some folks were staying in on Friday night to watch episodes of Miami Vice, members of the Law Practice Division, which back then was called the Section of Economics of Law Practice, were putting together the framework of a dedicated conference to support lawyers on these advancements, to showcase the practical applications of these technologies and to encourage further innovation within the legal profession.
It makes total sense to me, as we relocate the show from Hyatt Regency Chicago to Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, that the show has grown the way it has. After all, emerging technologies are only emerging for so long before they are everyday tech or new emerging technologies are ready to come in to compete. Technology has a way of accelerating the development of new tech faster than it did in the past. Imagine going back to an ABA TECHSHOW in the late 1980s and showing those attendees at an EXPO booth your iPhone. Keep in mind, many would argue, at this point, an iPhone is not emerging tech, it’s everyday tech that we all are using. And, yes, anyone that would say new models of the iPhone are packed with innovation would have a great many of us that would agree.
So, imagine what an early ABA TECHSHOW must have looked like, or it might be easier to describe what it did not look like. The internet was invented in 1969. However, it was not widely adopted by business, law firms and homes, until the mid-1990s. Imagine that for TECHSHOW’s first eight to 10 years, we were spared the screeching of dial-up modems, followed by “you’ve got mail.”
Well folks, see what I did there? I just divided you into two groups:
You have memories of things like Miami Vice, AOL, Space Jam and Palm Pilots.
You really do not know most of those things and your first thought about Space Jam was that it stars LeBron James.
Here is the great news, whether you are Group 1 or Group 2, ABA TECHSHOW is the absolute right place for you.
ABA TECHSHOW is a terrific way to keep up with the trends in legal tech. It is also a great way to attend programming that focuses on core skills of legal tech, like something as standard as Adobe Acrobat. You can make sure you are keeping up with those advances in legal tech and not falling behind on emerging technologies or emerging skills of those you compete against in the field.
ABA TECHSHOW is going to be very relatable. If you are an early adopter of tech, come check out the latest as it relates to the legal industry. Want the latest legal tech CLEs? Get ready for a wealth of programs on artificial intelligence and more.
In all seriousness, ABA TECHSHOW is an amazing event. Most of our attendees do not fit neatly into Groups 1 and 2 above, and that is why the show is customizable to the experience you want to have, using our tracks to guide you or our tags to customize your own show experience. Please visit the TECHSHOW website; I think it’s one of the best ways to lead yourself or your firm in legal tech.
And whether you are Group 1, Group 2 or fit in anywhere else, I promise you this, if this is the ABA’s most popular article for November 2024, I’ll show up to the opening night of TECHSHOW, wearing my TECHSHOW T-shirt and wearing either a Sonny Crockett or Ricardo Tubbs suit.
