As an in-house lawyer for many years, I have observed that my company, a multinational of American origin, did not stop changing: its structure, its organization, ways of working, tools for working, the culture, and the way of communicating internally and with our clients, consumers, competitors, organizations and institutions, partners, suppliers, etc.

Fortunately, the wave of change was also dragging the legal area and internal lawyers benefited from training in business skills and project management, the promotion of conciliation measures and remote work, communication tools and virtual interaction, the implementation and use of process management tools, fee management tools for outside counsels and for measuring results, etc.

On many occasions, my impression was that, as a corporate lawyer, I was more culturally and technologically advanced than many of the firm's lawyers.  

My concern today is not only to continue to be updated at the same time that I am a lawyer of the present, but also to take a run and be at the forefront to differentiate myself and be a competitive lawyer of the future.

Therefore, in this post, I want to invite you to the Congress of ELTA, the European Association of Legaltech which will take place on 20, 21 and 22 November in Madrid and in whose organization I collaborate but, before I wanted to tell you

the path followed to the ELTA Congress

1^st, I went to a legal hackathon: although I have never been anything techie, I was restless and began to explore the internet, follow meet-ups and events on the skills of the lawyer of the future and on emerging technologies that would be useful to lawyers in rendering their services and ... I met the challenge of #HackTheJustice in 2017 promoted by the Institute of Legal Innovation. My team won 2 awards for their app QuiéreteV!VA to help victims of gender violence, but best of all was the lived experience. It was my kick-off.

2^nd, I attended several congresses and events: among others, I attended the II Congress Legaltech: present, future and markets in 2018 in San Sebastian and I realized that there was a lot to do and that if interest in these issues was not generally popularized in the legal world, the current gulf between large firms and small and medium-sized firms, the latter would be left out of the market.

Thanks to a generous invitation from Wolters Kluwer I had the opportunity to attend its V Legal Management Forum 2018 in Madrid, an exceptional day-show, with first-rate speakers and crowded with interested people who encouraged me very much to continue along this path.

And finally, I would highlight the XII National Congress of Lawyers in 2019 in Valladolid in which I had the opportunity to moderate a Mobile Talks organized by Mobile World Capital Barcelona on "Legal Technology: Disruption and New Opportunities". Here I felt that I was already part of the legal community that is going to contribute to the future of the sector.

3^rd, I joined ELTA: to be part of the Spanish team of the European Association, to keep up to date, to promote the activity of the association and the evangelization on innovation and Legaltech from and for business lawyers. The presentation of the Spanish chapter of ELTA took place at ICAM (Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Madrid) and brought together professionals with very diverse backgrounds and profiles, which is undoubtedly a guarantee for the success of its work, still incipient. ELTA is open to anyone interested in joining. 

what am I proposing to you?

Find out more about ELTA's Congress here.

It will take place on 20, 21 and 22 November in Madrid.

In summary, the Congress will consist of:

- the annual general meeting of ELTA members followed by a reception at Eversheds Nicea on 20 November

- a day open to the public at the Universidad San Pablo CEU in Madrid on the "people, processes and platforms of the Legaltech world" and a reception at the ICAM Library on 21 November and,

- a half-day, also open, at the Universidad San Pablo CEU in Madrid on experiences and use cases of Legaltech implementation with a special wink to the Latin American Legaltech community on November 22.

start becoming the lawyer of the future

If you are interested in participating, here you can contact the coordinator of the event (the Instituto de Innovación Legal) or register:

- as a sponsor. There is flexibility to choose between different options and advantages for all tastes.

- as a speaker at the call for speakers open until 15 September. There are already more than 40 candidates!

- as an attendee, registering now and buying your ticket. An early bird discount of 20% is offered until September 30th.

You can always send me an email to info@lawingit.com

I am confident that the Congress will meet your expectations whether you are one of those who are approaching these topics for the first time or those who have already made a little pilgrimage and want to be sure that it will bring you added value.

Looking forward to meeting you there.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator