Baby was it cold outside in New York, but we still had a wonderful time this year at Legaltech. From the educational sessions to the exhibit floor to visits with clients and prospects, we left excited about what’s ahead for both our company and our industry as a whole.

Here’s our recap of three things we took away from this year’s conference.

The Changing Role of Alternative Legal Service Providers

 During Legaltech, Thomson Reuters released a report, “Alternative Legal Service Providers 2019: Fast Growth, Expanding Use and Increasing Opportunity,” highlighting market shifts in the legal technology industry. The report revealed that corporate legal departments’ and law firms’ reliance on alternative legal service providers is growing rapidly: their share of the legal services market has risen nearly 13 percent in the last two years and is forecast to continue growing at a similar rate. The report findings dovetail with many of the Legaltech sessions and discussions about the emerging roles that service providers are playing in the legal market. Inside and outside counsel alike are working in new ways with external partners, all to bring more advanced technology, greater efficiency, and higher value to their work.

The Call for Greater Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity was also a hot-button issue in multiple panels at the conference. A letter signed by more than 170 general counsel and corporate legal officers, released just before the conference began, addressed the mostly male and white partner classes continuing to be elected at major law firms. The corporate counsel warned that they planned to prioritize their legal spend on firms committed to diversity and inclusion initiatives. During “View from the GCs: Driving Diversity in Law Firms,” one panel of in-house counsel concluded that everyone in our industry can do better when it comes to diversity and inclusion. We wholeheartedly agree.

The Need for Technology + People + Process

We also observed numerous sessions and had countless discussions on technology itself, including emerging forms of eDiscovery evidence, artificial intelligence, and analytics. Throughout all the technology-focused educational sessions, one clear strand of wisdom emerged—and it wasn’t just the buzzword “innovation.” Instead, it’s this: you can’t deploy technology—even if it’s the latest and greatest tech in the industry—in a vacuum. To succeed with technology, you must add two other essential ingredients: people and process. First, you have to engage people in a way that encourages them to invest time in learning new technology. Second, you have to set up sound protocols so you can measure and learn from your results, make changes to your workflows as needed, and form a continuous cycle of improvement. All three ingredients—technology, people, and process—are necessary components of a change management initiative that leads to results.

If you missed us at Legaltech, it’s not too late. Let’s talk about how we can help you meet your eDiscovery goals.