Event Schedule

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Keynote Presentation -  

Real-World Legal AI Use Cases, Practical Insights, and Rise of the Agents!

Presenter: Damien Riehl

From the front lines of building AI-backed legal workflows tools and agents: this presentation examines the current state and emerging trajectory of LLMs in legal practice through concrete use cases and practical insights. The discussion moves from the present to our agentic future — exploring the emerging landscape of autonomous AI agents, identifying automatable litigation tasks, exploring implementation considerations (e.g., guardrails, ground truth). Seeking evidence-based insights into AI adoption? This talk will give you potential implementation strategies.

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After this session you will understand:

• Common/practical use cases for AI, including case study examples that you can replicate within your organization

• Potential definitions of AI agents, and each type's strengths and weakness for litigation tasks

• What legal professionals should know before leveraging agents

• Detecting opportunities in your litigation practice for AI and agentic augmentation​​​​​

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1.0 CLE credit for registered attendees

Billable Hours vs. AI Efficiency: Confronting Law Firms' Internal Resistance to Technology 

Presenter/Moderator: Kunoor Chopra

Panelists: Carol Bouw, Andy Crowder​​​, Kate Middleton​

This panel squarely confronts the uncomfortable truth: Traditional, hourly-based law firm business models inherently discourage adopting efficiency-enhancing technology. Senior in-house counsel and litigation partners from top law firms will openly discuss the economic incentives, cultural inertia, and internal politics slowing down AI adoption—and what it will take to overcome them.

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Key Takeaways

Economic Tensions

• How the billable-hour model discourages investment in efficiency-driven technologies.

• Transparent dialogue about how embracing technology might disrupt profitability, workflow, and even career incentives within firms.

Tech Laggards or Profit Protectors?

• An honest look at lawyer culture as naturally resistant to change and skeptical of technology.

• Who inside firms has the actual authority to approve AI investments? Are "no" votes too powerful, and "yes" votes too rare?

Client-Driven Change

• Concrete examples from law firms where client mandates have broken internal barriers to adopting AI.

• Perspectives from in-house counsel about their role as agents of change, using their purchasing power to force law firm innovation.

Using Tech Failures as Excuses

• Debunking firms' narratives that use isolated tech failures as justification to reject tech generally.

• Lessons learned from the eDiscovery revolution and how firms ultimately were forced into embracing innovation—or losing clients.

Pathways Forward

• What incentives (economic, cultural, regulatory) might encourage firms to proactively adopt AI, beyond client mandates?

• Examples of law firms successfully integrating AI without undermining profitability or billing structure.

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1.0 CLE credit for registered attendees

Technology Demos

​​LegalTech and AI use case demos available in the main hall and reception area.

Hosted Buffet Lunch: Surly BBQ

Please notify Cloud Court of any dietary restrictions. ​

Emerging AI Strategies for Expansion and Enforcement of Your Intellectual Property​

Presenter/Moderator: Erik Drange

Panelists: Ben Armitage, Vinay Sharma, Ann McCrackin

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This presentation and discussion will explore how artificial intelligence is transforming intellectual property practice. This session covers cutting-edge applications of AI in patent drafting, prior art generation, and analysis of examiner behavior to streamline prosecution. It also examines how AI tools are reshaping enforcement through automated infringement detection and predictive analytics. Attendees will gain insights into using AI for challenging patents, including invalidity and prior art analysis and claim construction. Real-world case studies highlight both successful implementations and common pitfalls, offering practical guidance for integrating AI into IP workflows. Whether you're refining your prosecution strategy or enhancing enforcement capabilities, this CLE provides actionable knowledge for leveraging AI effectively in your company’s patent operations.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how AI enhances patent drafting and prior art search efficiency.

• Discover AI-driven tools for detecting infringement and forecasting enforcement outcomes.

• Explore methods for challenging patents using AI-powered validity assessments.

• Review real-world case studies showcasing successful AI integration in IP.

• Understand best practices and common pitfalls when adopting AI in patent workflows.

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Pending CLE accreditation

Behind Closed Doors: How Law Firms Really Decide on Adopting (or Rejecting) Legal Technology

Presenter/Moderator: Michael Okerlund

Panelist: Christy Bentz, Bryan Mechell, Dan Olson

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This panel will examine the rapidly evolving landscape of legal technology adoption, focusing on the complex—and often opaque—dynamics that govern how law firms evaluate, approve, and implement emerging tools. As technology advances faster than ever, the subset of firms and companies that actively embrace innovation gain a distinct competitive edge. Yet even the most promising solutions must navigate a gauntlet of internal hurdles—both within companies and within the firms that represent them.  This discussion, led by legal professionals that lean into, assess and champion tech, will explore questions such as:

How do law firms identify and track the emergence of new technologies?

• Do innovations arrive organically, through vendors, or via attorney recommendations?

• Do corporate clients or outside legal ops professionals suggest specific tech?

• If you have a method, what is it, who is involved, any why?

Who assesses legal technology—and how?

• Once a need is identified, or an innovation comes to the firm's attention, what criteria is used to evaluate a tool’s usefulness, security, and ROI?

• Who is responsible for this vetting process?  Attorneys? Paralegals? IP professionals?

• Is there a formal process?  Do you need one?

For technologies that pass muster, how are they deployed and adopted?

• Obviously, effective tech doesn't do any good if it's not used.

• What strategies do firms use to roll out new technology across offices and practice groups?

• Especially in large firms with fragmented, siloed attorney populations?

• How do forward-looking firms evangelize internally and signal to their clients that they are serious about tech—not just forming symbolic committees but running robust, efficient processes that deliver value?

1.0 CLE credit for registered attendees

Technology Demos

LegalTech and AI use case demos available in the main hall and reception area.​

Happy Hour

Acquire a beverage before attending the next and final session

State of the Art: Real-World Innovations Shaping the Future of Legal Practice

Presenter/Moderator: Ann McCrackin

Panelists: Tom Palladino, Pratik Patel, Lyndsey Wurst

This panel offers legal professionals a roadmap to understanding and adopting the latest legal technologies. The panel will start by categorizing today’s legal tech ecosystem—spanning areas from analytics and eDiscovery to contract management and alternative service providers. Building on this framework, panelists will highlight the AI-driven innovations of the past 6-12 months that are moving from theory into practice. Attendees will gain insights into how these tools are currently being used in litigation and corporate settings, who is adopting them, and how to translate emerging technologies into everyday practice.

Learning Objectives / Key Takeaways

Survey the Legal Tech Landscape

• Understand the major categories of innovation, including document management and automation, contract management, compliance & risk, practice management, research & knowledge, analytics, and more.

Distinguish Hype from Reality

• Identify which AI-enabled tools are already being successfully deployed in practice, and by whom.

Apply Lessons in Real Time

• Hear case studies and real-world examples from panelists, including where adoption has succeeded, what barriers remain, and how in-house teams can encourage outside counsel to adopt technologies that improve efficiency, reduce costs and drive better outcomes.

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Pending CLE accreditation

Reception at Surly Brewing Co.

Enjoy appetizers and beverages!​​​

Upon completion of the CLE series, Cloud Court will share content links and CLE codes to all registered attendees. To enable access for non-attendees, we will add a request form here post-event.