Legalweek ran from Jan. 29th through Feb. 1st and, thankfully, New York did not greet our out-of-town guests with a nor-easter, garbage strike or other Big Apple unwelcome. Mid-Manhattan was delightful and back in full-swing, post-Covid and from the upbeat tenor of the event, everyone was having a great time.
Now as for the inside of the Hilton, I found two strange disconnects. First, AI. Though it seemed that every panel and every exhibitor had an AI story to share, we observe that the courts are, shall we say, less embracing. In a recent case, New York-based federal Judge P. Kevin Castel ordered lawyers who cited false cases created by AI to explain why they shouldn’t face sanctions for citing “non-existent cases.” And another federal judge in the Northern District of Texas issued a standing order that anyone appearing in court must attest that “no portion of any filing will be drafted by generative AI.” Can legal vendors and AI tools walk the fine line between bringing efficiencies and avoiding AI’s ‘hallucinations?’
Perhaps the most important vendor at the show was Microsoft. Many of our clients are transitioning to M365 for compliance and legal support. In addition, many clients ingest non-MSFT content – Zoom, Slack, Bloomberg, Webex, texts, etc. – into their M365 tenant. This allows all messaging and documents to be retained and searched in MSFT’s Purview.
Though Google didn’t exhibit at Legalweek, they should consider this forum going forward. We also see many state and local governments, many educational institutions and many emerging tech companies using Google’s email and Workspace. Google also allows for 3rd party content to be ingested and searched within Google Vault.
Though Microsoft and Google may not have as sophisticated review and matter management tools as eDiscovery vendors, there will be a transition as these two giants leverage their way into the eDiscovery marketplace.
~ Charles Weeden, Managing Partner
