THE LEGAL INNOVATION
FORUM

TORONTO

may 15TH, 2024

Lennox Hall, First Canadian Place, TORONTO

8.00AM -5.45 PM

Dear Guest, download the Event App “PINE” & tune in with our event code: 1418220

Engage & get know more about our Panels, Speakers & Sponsors during our conference.

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 7 hours of Professionalism Content.


The Legal Innovation Forum is returning to Toronto with its premier, national event on May 15, 2024.

This year’s forum is centered on its unifying theme:
Forging new directions in a rapidly evolving legal ecosystem

The legal ecosystem is encountering a myriad of transformational shifts: the rapid rise of generative AI and other technologies, a generational shift in sector leadership, challenges to long-standing business models and increasing complexity and risks - not only in the sector but also the broader economy.

To identify the opportunities - and mitigate evolving risks - the sector is embracing innovative approaches unpinned by leadership, fresh approaches and collaboration amongst sectoral practitioners (law firms, legal departments and third party partners).

The purpose of this year’s forum is to shine a light on the dynamics at play in the legal ecosystem when it comes to the intersection of business, innovation and law, and to provide examples of how leadership and collaboration within the ecosystem are helping to deliver value and sustain and drive change. 

OVERVIEW

  • Review key sectoral drivers and trends at play for organizations in Canada and what they mean for the legal ecosystem that supports them.

  • Provide a platform for practitioners to take stock of the emerging innovation story, what it looks like on the ground and how it ties into the broader business context.

  • Look at best practices in law firms, legal departments and their third-party partners when it comes to leveraging people, processes and technology to deliver results.

  • Create a network of leading legal innovators to share knowledge and experiences to help drive change in their legal ecosystem and the organizations they support.

PURPOSE OF FORUm

Event Outline

  • Full-day event held in Toronto: May 15, 2024

  • 250 high level decision makers from legal departments, law firms + 3rd party partners from across Canada, the US and abroad

  • Discussions and presentations focused on key topics for law firms and legal departments related to the intersection of business + law

  • Location:
    Lennox Hall
    77 Adelaide St. West
    First Canadian Place, Suite 350
    Toronto

STRUCTURE

Who’s attending

  • Legal Departments: General Counsel, Associate/Assistant General Counsel, Legal Operations

  • Law Firms: Heads of Innovation/Knowledge Management, Senior Partners, COO, CIO, Chief Client Officers

  • Tickets:

  • In-house Counsel: Limited Free Passes

  • Law Firms: $499 (early bird)

  • Vendors: $549 (early bird)

Themes

Leading at the intersection of business and law - how are legal leaders helping to drive Canada’s economic innovation story?

On the ground with Generative AI - how is Generative AI transforming the legal landscape + the wider business ecosystem

Strategy + Operations - how legal departments are focusing on strategy to catalyze operational change and deliver value for their enterprises

The new business of law - new models, entrants and agents of change

LegalTech InFocus - A series of elevator pitches by leading technology providers on applicable use cases of their platforms for practitioners

The human equation - attracting, retaining and developing talent and navigating generational shifts

Delivering Value - leveraging contracts to drive your organization’s bottom line

Mastering digital risk - navigating a complex digital risk landscape

Meet our speakers

THEMES + AGENDA

agenda


REGISTRATION & NETWORKING BREAKFAST
8:00-8:40

8.45 - 9.30 | LEADING AT THE INTERSECTION OF BUSINESS AND LAW - HOW ARE LEGAL LEADERS HELPING TO DRIVE CANADA’S ECONOMIC INNOVATION STORY?

In a complex operating environment, leadership plays a critical role in helping guide organizations’ requirements to balance risk management as well as growth. Areas such as corporate governance and ESG, privacy, compliance and having flexible organizational strategies are all at the top of the corporate agenda.

On this panel, our speakers - general counsel and chief legal officers from leading organizations - will look at how their roles are evolving in terms of the challenges they are facing and opportunities stemming from them, how they are aligning their teams and how they are acting as agents of change.

Topics covered will include:

· How is Canada’s economic innovation story evolving and what role do legal leaders play in driving its future?

· Key drivers and trends facing leaders (legal and others) in a complex operating environment.

· How are legal departments and the organizations they work alongside evolving their strategies, what key legal challenges are they addressing and how are they engaging with the wider ecosystem to both manage risk and drive innovation and growth?

CHAIR


9.35 - 10.20 | On the ground with Generative AI - how is Generative AI transforming the legal landscape + the wider business ecosystem

While generative artificial intelligence continues upending business models around the world and across sectors, it can also be viewed as a valuable tool to support both the business and practice of law. 
Firms and legal departments are scrambling to prepare for both the disruption - and the potential opportunities - that will emerge as GenAI rapidly evolves.


Learn what the legal ecosystem needs to do to prepare, and how to take advantage of GenAI.

  • How should firms and legal departments be preparing for the rise and evolution of GenAI? (data readiness, pricing models, HR processes, mentorship, etc)

  • How can firms help their clients prepare for the new landscape to ensure a smooth transition?

  • Generative AI as a catalyst for collaboration in the legal ecosystem.

SACHA FRASER

General Counsel, IBM

CHAIR


10.20 - 10.35 | LEGAL INNOVATION IN FOCUS: ELEVATOR PITCH SESSION 1

Investing in innovative legal technology and services has become increasingly essential for forward-thinking law firms and legal departments, allowing them to redefine the ways in which their services are delivered and how they deliver value to their clients.

As workloads grow heavier, new risks emerge and budgets grow tighter, capitalizing on technology solutions (underpinned by advanced approaches to people, process + technology) drive business outcomes is more important than ever. 

Throughout the day each of the forum's key partners will have 7 minute elevator pitches outlining a key area where they are delivering value for the legal ecosystem. The purpose is to highlight ways in which sector service providers can help their clients deliver results.


10.35 - 10.55 | BREAK


10.55 - 11.40 | Strategy + Operations - how legal departments are focusing on strategy to catalyze operational change and deliver value for their enterprises

Delivering high-quality legal services at a lower cost is something all legal departments strive to achieve. In-house teams increasingly find themselves swamped with operational activities which leave little time for focus on strategic work, so they seek legal operations professionals to foster change. 

Legal ops professionals are changing the way in-house teams function by introducing innovative solutions to allow them to serve the business more efficiently. This is having a broader effect on the legal sector as a whole - enabling a more structured approach to how external providers (law firms, ALSPs, technology providers) deliver services and value.

In this session, legal department leaders will share practical tips for incorporating legal ops into your team, and using them effectively to drive value to the business.

  • Best practices for the seamless integration of legal operations to turn your in-house legal department into a value-creator

  • Financial impact: Making use of legal ops to introduce e-billing systems, forecasting and alternative fee arrangements to reduce costs

  • Operational benefits: Learn how legal ops teams can focus on matters such as data analytics and metrics, contract management and staffing to keep the department running smoothly

  • How legal ops can work with the general counsel to create yearly goals and KPIs for the department

  • How legal operations is acting as a catalyst and creating a playbook for innovation across the legal sector

CHAIR


11.40 - 12.25 | Mastering digital risk - navigating a complex digital risk landscape

Canadian businesses are facing a new era of digital risk as emerging technologies increase fears of cyber crime, intellectual property theft, ransomware, phishing attacks and reputational threats through social media, to name but a few.

Law firms and legal departments must engage with IT and HR professionals to formulate an effective digital strategy to protect the business as organizations increasingly look to digitize their operations.

Discover how to best prepare for emerging risks - and how to take advantage of the digital environment to seize opportunities for innovation and growth.

  • Building an effective cybersecurity plan across the entire enterprise to minimize risk against increasingly sophisticated attacks, and to ensure a swift response in the event of an attack

  • Putting robust security measures in place to protect the organization from data breaches

  • Seizing opportunities for innovation and business growth by leveraging new technologies in the digital era, while safeguarding the business from risks

  • Navigating the ethical and regulatory landscape associated with emerging digital technologies

CHAIR


12.25 - 12.30 |LEGAL INNOVATION IN FOCUS: ELEVATOR PITCH SESSION 2


12.30 - 1.20 |LUNCH


1.20 - 2.05 | The human equation - attracting, retaining and developing talent and navigating generational shifts

As businesses and law firms face a wealth of transformational shifts in 2024, retaining and attracting the next generation of talent presents many challenges as well as opportunities. Embracing the values and perspectives of each generation is critical to firm and corporate culture as well as for the bottom line.

This session explores the generational shifts and hiring obstacles that are shaping the role of legal leaders, offers insights to best practices to address these shifts and will look at how legal professionals are embracing the concept of the career lattice instead of the career ladder.

  • Overcoming roadblocks to attracting and retaining talent: understanding the unique work styles and preferences of each generation

  • The DEI factor: What drivers do legal leaders need to consider as they strive to build a team with diverse experiences and perspectives?

  • Aligning with the generational shift in leadership by challenging long standing business models

  • The career lattice trumps the career ladder - how are legal professionals embarking on new and innovative career paths?

CHAIR


2.05 - 2.20 | LEGAL INNOVATION IN FOCUS: ELEVATOR PITCH SESSION 3


2.25 - 3.05 |Delivering Value - leveraging contracts to drive your organization’s bottom line

An effective contract management system will not only minimize risk and improve compliance and visibility, but it will maximize value for the business or firm by reducing time and costs in the rapidly evolving legal landscape. 

The increasing role of AI and machine learning in contract management and analytics is helping legal departments to deliver insights from contract data which can drive business decisions and provide significant value. 

This session will explore emerging contract management trends of 2024 and offer insights for leveraging contracts to drive revenue for the business.

  • Best practices for making your contract management system more efficient to streamline processes and deliver value

  • Taking advantage of the next wave of emerging AI-enabled contract management software

  • Risk management: Using automation to reduce the risk of human error and ensure consistency in documentation

  • Analytics: Identifying opportunities by extracting contract data to inform revenue-building business decisions

CHAIR


3.05 - 3.25 | AFTERNOON NETWORKING BREAK


3.25 - 3.40 | LEGAL INNOVATION IN FOCUS: ELEVATOR PITCH SESSION 4


3.45 - 4.35 | The new business of law - new models, entrants and agents of change

As competition grows fiercer with the threat of new market entrants, the legal industry continues to shift and reinvent itself in line with societal changes and client demands. 

The evolving business landscape has created new priorities for the legal sector, generating a rise in alternative business models that allow for flexibility and remote or hybrid work. 

Legal experts will discuss the evolution of an industry that strives to adapt and thrive in line with a rapidly changing business world - and the risk associated with such changes.

  • The shifting legal landscape: Preparing for the rapid rise of new technology, AI, globalization, and an increased focus on mental health, all of which will fundamentally change the practice of law

  • Being a change agent: How to catalyze change in your organization through innovative solutions to benefit the business

  • Preparing for new market entrants: Staying ahead of the curve to avoid being derailed by new models joining the market

  • Risk management in the new era: Mitigating risk that inevitably arises from new business models, without stifling innovation

CHAIR


4.40 - 5.45

closing remarks + reception

OUR SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSOR

NATIONAL STRATEGIC PARTNER

GOLD sponsorS

breakfast & breaks sponsor

LUNCH sponsor

RECEPTION PARTNER

exhibitor sponsorS

EDUCATION PARTNER

LOGISTICS PARTNER