𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁?

At #ILTACON2026, Tim Kenney sat down with Robert Martorana from Theo Ai and Pamela Fehring (JD, CIPP/US), an 𝗔𝗜 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿, to talk about litigation defence intelligence and why the corporate legal side has been somewhat overlooked in the AI rush.

When Theo AI spoke with in-house legal teams, one answer kept coming back: many were still managing litigation portfolios through spreadsheets, pulling information manually from billing systems, document management systems and other sources.

Theo AI takes a different approach, bringing that information together so legal teams can see not just one matter, but their 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 in one place. That opens the door to better benchmarking, outside counsel spend decisions, settlement strategy and identifying trends before they become bigger problems.

Robert also shared why Theo AI chose to focus specifically on the 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, where they saw far fewer AI solutions compared with the plaintiff side.

The bigger idea? Helping legal departments move from 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 by actually using the data they already have.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴?

At #ILTACON2026, David sat down with Heath Harris, MBA, VP, Applied AI, Enterprise Transformation at NetDocuments, to talk about what AI transformation actually looks like inside a law firm.

Heath works with firms around the world on designing and implementing AI strategies, then brings those lessons back into product development at NetDocuments.

One thing that stood out was his approach to AI investment. Rather than starting with the product, start with the activity.

- What do you need for workflow?

- Search?

- A chat assistant?

- And how do you deploy those capabilities responsibly without buying five tools that solve the same problem?

They also talked about NetDocuments’ work with Google Gemini and Legora, the role of MCP, and the growing challenge for firms around governance, security and avoiding a “shadow DMS” as more AI tools enter the business.

And perhaps the most useful message for firms feeling behind:

𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴.

You don’t need to have everything figured out today. Progress matters more than chasing every new thing that appears.

💡 A great conversation about cutting through the AI noise and focusing on what is actually practical.

#PeopleInLegal #ILTACON2026 #WeAreILTA #LegalTech #LegalAI

𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁.

At #ILTACON2026, Tim Kenney sat down with Alex Smith, Global Product Lead, Knowledge, Search & AI at iManage, to talk about what legal AI needs in order to become genuinely useful inside firms.

Alex’s point was simple: firms don’t just need more data. They need the 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲, 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗲.

They also got into what iManage calls its “𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰”, a structured layer designed to connect matter, client, people and document information so AI can find the right things with much more precision.

From there, the conversation moved into 𝗠𝗖𝗣, 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, and how firms may start moving from individual AI tasks into more connected workflows and processes.

One thing I liked was Alex’s caution around the “agent” conversation. We’re not at the point where someone presses a button and an entire matter runs itself, but we are getting much closer to chaining tasks together in a more intelligent way.

#PeopleInLegal #ILTACON2026 #WeAreILTA #LegalTech #LegalAI

At #ILTACON2026, Tim Kenney sat down with Mathew Kerbis, Co-Founder and CEO of Practi, to talk about one of legal’s longest-running headaches: the billable hour.

Practi is taking a different approach, focusing on 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁-𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, with the idea that firms should be rewarded for getting work done faster, not for taking longer.

Mathew put it simply:

“𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆.”

If AI helps lawyers work faster and handle more matters, the commercial model needs to keep up. Instead of measuring success by hours billed, firms can start thinking about efficiency, margin and how much more value they can deliver.

Practi is only eight months into market and already has 80+ firms on the platform, making ILTACON its first major exhibition opportunity.

A really interesting conversation about what happens when you start separating 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 in legal.

#PeopleInLegal #ILTACON2026 #WeAreILTA #LegalTech #FutureOfLaw

At ILTACON 2026, David Woolstencroft sits down with Joy Heath Rush, CEO of ILTA (International Legal Tech Association) to talk about what’s changing across legal tech and why this year’s conference feels different.

They discuss how the AI conversation has moved from “should we?” to “what’s next?”, why more COOs and managing partners are getting involved in technology decisions, and how AI is starting to reshape everything from client service and pricing to law firm operations.

The conversation also explores the economics of AI, changing law firm business models, vendor consolidation, build vs buy, and the new roles emerging as legal, technology and operations become increasingly connected.

Joy also shares her advice for first-time ILTACON attendees: don’t try to do everything. Choose the conversations, sessions and connections that will give you the most value.

Can one AI platform really do everything in legal?

At ILTACON 2026, Tim Kenney sat down with Joe Rayment, Founder & CEO of Cicero, to talk about specialist legal AI, where the market is heading, and what’s changed after a few intense years of building in the space.

Cicero is built for litigators, helping teams analyse matters and get to the facts that matter faster.

What stood out was Joe’s view that the market is starting to validate the need for more specialised tools. The big AI platforms are powerful, but they’re not going to solve every legal workflow equally well.

Looking ahead, Joe expects two things: more consolidation across legal tech, and much bigger moves into legal from the major AI players.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀.

At #ILTACON2026, David sat down with Sam Toulson, CEO of BigHand, to talk about pricing, resourcing, profitability and where AI fits into the business of law.

Sam’s point was simple: firms already have plenty of data. The challenge is turning it into something useful at the moment decisions are actually being made.

They talked about how firms are rethinking the way matters are priced and resourced, especially as clients become more informed and expectations around value keep rising.

Rather than waiting until the end of a matter to see whether it was profitable, Sam sees a much bigger opportunity in using historic matter data to make better decisions upfront.

And compared with last year, he’s seeing firms move beyond AI experimentation and into actual rollout, with much more focus on where it can make a measurable difference.

A really interesting conversation about the business of law, not just the technology around it.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀?

At #ILTACON2026, David Woolstencroft sat down with Charlie Harrel, Chief Operating Officer at Opus 2 International, to talk about matter intelligence, disputes and where AI actually adds value.

Charlie came into legal tech from practice, and one thing stuck with him: in complex disputes, so much knowledge sits with individual lawyers rather than being captured in a way the whole firm can use.

That’s the problem Opus 2 is trying to solve.

They talked about how firms can capture insights across a matter, make that knowledge available to teams across jurisdictions, and build an advantage that compounds over time rather than disappearing when someone leaves.

Charlie also made an important point on AI: the tools are powerful, but the quality of the output still depends heavily on the quality of the information underneath them.

A really interesting conversation about disputes, knowledge and what happens when firms start treating their matter intelligence as an asset.