News - Laws, Lawyers & Law Firms

The First 5 Things I Learned At The 2012 American Bar AssociationTechshow

The First 5 Things I Learned At The 2012 ABA Techshow

Change was the theme of this year’s Techshow.  Changing technology and how the new changes can make people better lawyers and better serve their clients was prominent throughout the conference.

There was a lot of information and a ton of things to learn at Techshow which I plan to summarize in a later blog.  But for now and in keeping with the top 5 format of some of  my previous blogs, I thought I would summarize the first five things I learned at the 2012 ABA Techshow.  So here we go:

 

1. Power Point Presentations Are a lot of Fun

When presenting or speaking at a conference it is strongly recommended that you use a detailed power point presentation with bullets, graphics and lots of images.  This helps keep your audience engaged and improves the flow of your presentation.

 

2. The speakers and presenters at Techshow put in a ton of work preparing for their presentations

Speakers and faculty at conferences put months of work into their papers and presentations.  Papers are carefully crafted, researched  and developed to provide the reader with detailed, current and relevant information.  Presentations are reviewed and honed to ensure that there is not too much or too little material for time allotted for the presentation.

 

3. Lawyers interested in technology are a great bunch and love to have a lot of fun

Lawyers interested in technology are usually at the cutting edge of their areas of practice and are cognizant of many of the rapid changes occurring in the practice of law and in society general.  What is more, these  same lawyers also go out of their way to make connections, network, meet other conference participants and in the process have a lot of fun.

I been very fortunate to meet so many old and new colleagues and friends at this year’s ABA Techshow

 

4. Ben Stein is a great guy

Bueller, Bueller? Anyone, anyone?  That’s right the Ferris Bueller guy was our keynote speaker for this year’s Techshow.  So who is this guy?  Why is he speaking to a bunch of lawyers?

He is an intelligent, bright, affable and entertaining speaker.  Mr Stein presented the best Keynote address I have ever heard.  He is also an actor, law professor and former speech writer for Richard Nixon.

Mr Stein provided us with valuable insight into the practice of law, the role of lawyers and some of the more pressing  social and economic problems currently happening in the United States.  I am a wiser person after having privilege of hearing him share his thoughts and concerns with us.

 

5. You don’t get much sleep in Chicago

Chicago is a great City with a lot of history, wonderful architecture, culture and most importantly great people.

Between Techshow presentations, social events, Taste of Techshow dinners and walking around the wonderful City of Chicago don’t plan on getting much sleep.

Thank you to my fellow faculty for all their helpful hints and support.  I would also like the thank the Chair Reid Trautz  and the planning Board for the very kind invitation to me to help out.  It was both an honour and a privilege.

 

 

Stay in Touch

Keep learning about the latest issues in Ontario family law! Subscribe to our newsletter, have our latest articles delivered to your inbox, or listen to our Podcast Family Law Now.

Be sure to find out more about the "new normal", by visiting our Covid-19 and Divorce Information Centre.

About the author

Russell Alexander

Russell Alexander is the Founder & Senior Partner of Russell Alexander Collaborative Family Lawyers.