Presentation Topics
Starting at $2500 for nonprofits and $5000 for corporations, these are some of the topics I discuss. Reach out for more detail.
The Impact of AI on Legal & Corporate Business
60 Mins
Artificial Intelligence has devoured our attention recently. Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November of 2022, every industry is grappling with its impact. Beyond ChatGPT, people are working to understand AI and how it may affect how we work, learn, interact together, and live. In this presentation, we do a deeper dive on the following:
- An Explainer: What is AI and why it is it becoming so important?
- Briefly outline various components of AI – in plain language
- Delve into Generative AI - LLMs (Large Language Models and Multimodal AI)
- Discuss the primary applications being used:
- OpenAI and ChatGPT
- Google Bard
- Zoom Summary
- Microsoft Copilot
- What are the near and long-term impacts?
- How can we better understand this space for our internal and external customers
Breaking Down AI - The Underlying Language and Technology of Artificial Intelligence
60 Mins
AI is the buzziest of buzz words these days. It pops up in almost every legal technology discussion as well as how lawyers’ practice and how law firms operate. The question is, do we really understand how AI works? This discussion will break down everything about AI for all parties, from uncovering the current state of AI in Legal to understanding how AI works behind the scenes in the industry. We will have an open forum around the following topics:
- Current State of Technology
- Artificial Intelligence
- Technology
- Practice
- Difference between NLP & AI?
- Sentence Diagrams?
- Different linguistic levels & how we analyze and model them
- Words
- Phrases
- Sentences
- Discourse/conversation
Exponential Technology & Artificial Intelligence
60 Mins
Data explosion is all around us. In order for humans to be expert in something over the next several years they will need tools to augment what they know to make better decisions. In this discussion you will get a better understanding of what is happening around us with technology and what impact it will have on the Legal Landscape. We will dive into the following subject areas:
- Exponential Technology
- The Tide of Worldwide Technological Change
- Law Firm Impact from Exponential Technology
- Disruption
- Who are the players - what impact they may have on law firms?
The Metaverse and the Dawning of Asset Tokenization and Digital Contracts
60 Mins
Are you ready for this? Probably not, but please bear with me, because the legal implications will be enormous.
Imagine, if you will, a world resembling our physical one, but completely virtual, immersive, colorful, all-encompassing one with land, rivers, houses, farms, people, animals, full cities, stores, businesses, concerts, and everything else contained in our physical world. Sauntering down a bustling city street, minus the smells, is as easy as walking on a moon that orbits an earthlike place. Platforms with full replication of our physical world are being built through a wearable device to create this Metaverse. You may ask, why? That seems ridiculous! Fourteen years ago, before the iPhone launched, we didn’t imagine the myriad of things we could accomplish by simply touching a piece of glass faced tech today. It would have been a leap of faith to see where we sit now. This is that next leap.
In the Metaverse, people will interact, transact, have ownership of assets, have relationships, build things and companies, create IP, have copyright issues, advertising, crimes may happen, insurance will be developed, and a massive host of other IRL (In Real Life) things that all will require legal to be involved. Not to mention the scaling of DeFi (Decentralized Finance) which has begun. Clearly this is a burgeoning market. While I have been engaged in this space for several years, the publication of a white paper by ReedSmith on the Metaverse underlined its importance for the legal industry. This was shared with me earlier in the year prior to publication. It is a worthy read if you wish to continue down the rabbit hole.
- Understanding the Metaverse
- The underlining technology shift
- Legal implications
- Opportunity and Risk
DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs - FinTech & LegalTech Collide
60 Mins
How much would you pay for this “hoodie” jpeg, picture to the left? Nothing? Maybe $20?
It was free to anyone who wanted him a CryptoPunk (#7129) in 2017. Well, it sold six months ago for $100,000. Now it is valued at $1,000,000. One of the reasons the NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are becoming very expensive is because institutions are now investing in them – seen as the future of unique contractual digital art ownership. The financial world is on the precipice of significant change and these are just the early days of how legal will be involved.
DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is moving the needle on porting all things from our current financial paradigm to a code based model with greater transparency and governance.
In this discussion we talk about:
- DeFi
- NFTs
- DAOs
- The legal impact of new contracts built on code
Future Work - Preparing Now for the Landscape in the Decades Ahead
60 Mins
In this talk, I look into the crystal ball and see how technology will transform our lives over the next 50 years. Breaking down the major themes we all shall encounter.
- Geopolitical dynamics
- Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies
- Data, ethics and trust
- Our changing environment
Cryptocurrency - Everything You Need to Know in Legal
60 Mins
Financial technology, as manifest in the world of cryptocurrencies, is becoming a bigger part of everyone's lives, both personal and professional. Information professionals need to be able to understand and communicate effectively the following
- How these technologies work
- What are the impacts on banking and securities law and regulation
- The short, intermediate and long term implications for commerce in general.
In addition, it is vital that all legal professionals have a deeper understanding of the these technologies so that they can identify career opportunities. Information professionals need to be able to move beyond the theory of these technologies and understand the practical application of them so that they can better do research in relation to financial technologies and cryptocurrencies.
Emerging Technology
60 Mins
The world is moving at an exponential rate. In fact, by 2040 it is predicted that you will be able to buy a $1,000 computer which can process as fast as the brains of all 9 billion people at that time. Imagine the change that will occur to legal documents, search, and workflow with this power. All of this technological progress will absolutely have an impact on the Legal business. In this presentation you will see what effect the major emerging technologies will have on law firms. We will have an open forum around the following topics:
- Artificial Intelligence (Cognitive Computing)
- Blockchain Technology & Digital Identity
- Data Analytics
- Workflow Solutions
- VR/MR/AR
- VPA – Bots
Blockchain
60 Mins
It is predicted that Blockchain technology will impact nearly every industry in a dramatic way over the next several years. What initially began as the underlining technology behind Bitcoin has boomed into something that the top 50 banks in the world are embracing to improve efficiency, security and transparency in the market. There is little doubt that law firms will be early in the adoption of this technology to better automate process and provide better services to their clients. The Smart Contract is the first area that will be leveraged in this space. In this presentation you will see what effect Blockchain technology and the Distributed Ledger will have in Legal. We will have an open forum around the following topics:
- What the Heck is Blockchain?
- Why are we seeing this occur now?
- What is Happening Now for Law Firms in this Space?
- Where will Blockchain take off in the Legal Industry?
- What the Future May Look like with Blockchain?
Blockchain 2.0
60 Mins
Blockchain has been talked about the last several years as a hypothetical. It is now being used. In this discussion, we will cover what Blockchain is and how it is starting to creep into the Legal landscape. The initial focus is on the state of blockchain in Legal. We will also touch on some of the seminal concepts with Blockchain including encryption, smart contracts, permissioned blockchains and DeFi. Lastly the conversation will discuss specific industries that Blockchain is starting to disrupt. We will have an open forum around the following topics:
- Quick Recap of How Blockchain Works
- Breaking Down Encryption
- Blockchain 2.0
- Timeline and growth of the industry
- Regulation
- State of Blockchain in Legal
- Enterprise Blockchain
- Smart Contracts
- Different Industry Impacts
- Auto
- Supply Chain
- Port Security
- Real Time Tax
- Future of Blockchain
Digital Identity
60 Mins
In an increasingly more complicated world filled with Fake News, organizations are threatened nearly every day by hackers and with the pilfering of our personal and private information from organizations like Facebook, controlling our identity is of the utmost importance. And with the coming deluge of applications and IoT devices, identity is the foundation for how we will interact with each other and these intelligent devices. As the Legal Industry adjusts, what impact will this new form of identity have on eDiscovery, transactional and general litigation? The changes ahead to the legal world, as we redefine what it is to be - electronically, will be immense.
- The Pending Crisis of Identity
- Discuss the Forms of Identity
- Tokenization & Future of Identity
- Legal Implications
- Definitions around what identity will look like from a legal perspective and how that impacts both the business and practice of law.
Fundamentals of Cloud Computing
60 Mins
The 21st Century has yielded a fundamental change in computer technology: the cloud. This technology is near-ubiquitous in today’s world and increasingly an inexorable part of how lawyers do their jobs. Not exclusive to an IT department, the cloud as a concept is one that is fundamental to many aspects relevant to attorneys. In this presentation you will learn about what consists cloud computing, how the law treats cloud computing, and how lawyers use the cloud by discussing the following topics:
- The Cloud as a concept
- Public v. Private Clouds
- Single Tenant v Multi Tenant Hosting
- “as-a-service” models of cloud technology
- Financial and Security Concerns of the Cloud
- Data Privacy Challenges
- US laws governing cloud technology
The Legal Platform & APIs
60 Mins
With the proliferation of thousands of LegalTech start-ups around the world, all focusing on various components of solving issues with the business or practice of law, the movement is to a Legal Platform. The integration of hundreds of tools into a seamless interface and leveraging APIs is the future. This enables security, interoperability, and workflow management. The walls of legal providers are coming down, so you can work better, faster, and smarter. In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of subroutine definitions, communication protocols, and tools for building software. How will law firms, corporations and government agencies leverage these new platforms and integrations for their own success?
- The current state of LegalTech
- What is a Legal Platform?
- Digging deeper - what the heck is an API?
- Examples in the World
- Legal Examples
- The importance and direction of APIs and Legal Platforms
- What this means to you
Innovation
30 Mins
Law firms are innovating how clients are served simultaneous with the legal industry undergoing multiple transformations in the years since the 2008 Recession. This is due to macro-level changes in the legal industry, exponential advancement in technology, and reflections of these realities in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. This CLE surveys the entirety of this topic, identifying some of the multiple definitions and manifestations of “innovation” conceptually. This CLE discusses the following topics and their impact on the legal industry:
- Industry data chronicling post-Recession innovation strategies and resulting financial effects
- New legal services business models and legal service delivery methods
- The role of data analytics and legal technologies
- Innovation efforts regarding the ABA and state model rules of professional conduct.
- Takeaways for attorney workflows
Cybersecurity
60 Mins
We are all aware of, and probably have experienced first-hand, the effects of an unwanted data breach. Maybe you were forced to change an online password, acquire a new credit card number or you lost important files corrupted by malware. At best, these incidences have been hassles. At worst, entire identities and fortunes can be compromised.
Now, consider your law firm and its clients. What effects would a data breach have on the work-product, attorney/client privilege and financial stability of these organizations?
- Status of law firms, corporate, and in-house security
- Actions to mitigate security risks
- What is happening for Clients & Law Firms, Corporations and In-house?
- What are the biggest threats?
Dark Web
30 Mins
Do you wonder how the process works to buy and sell credit card numbers that were stolen from you? Would you like to know how and why businesses are constantly being hacked? If you are into computer security, watched Mr. Robot or any other pop culture show, or read the latest news in cybersecurity, you likely saw terms like “Deep Web” and “Dark Web”. The terms can be confusing and the space even more frightening that you may have heard. Many in the Legal industry now have to consider what is going on in the Dark Web and its impact on their clients and the firm. In this discussion, we will delve into what is happening on the Dark Web.
- What is the Dark Web?
- How does it work?
- What impact does it have on the Legal Industry?
- How can we better understand this space to help clients and protect Law Firms?
