LEGAL GEEK NORTH AMERICA
A high-energy, one-of-a-kind conference for legal professionals, in-house counsel, legal tech companies, and innovators – each bringing unique insights on the future of legal technology and the practice of law.
Key event information:
Timings: Tuesday, June 17. Doors open 8.30am
Location: Recess, 838 West Kinzie St, Chicago, IL 60642 – travel guide
Find my ticket: search inbox for email from [email protected]
Event app: search inbox for emails from [email protected]
Dress code: There is no formal dress code. Please come as you feel comfortable
A high-energy, one-of-a-kind conference for legal professionals, in-house counsel, legal tech companies, and innovators - each bringing unique insights on the future of legal technology and the practice of law. Expect expert talks, laid-back networking, interactive sessions, and fun!
LEGAL GEEK
NORTH AMERICA 2026
Tuesday, June 2
A high-energy conference uniting legal leaders, in-house counsel, and tech innovators who are driving the future of legal in North America.
Legal Geek is proud to be part of ALM
In 2025, Legal Geek was acquired by ALM, owners of Legal Week, Law.com, The American Lawyer Industry Awards, Lexology and many other leading legal brands. Joining this trusted group allows us to grow and develop our Legal Geek audience and events in North America.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A conference that feels different and delivers real value.
50 expert speakers from law firms, in‑house teams, and legal ops
1000 legal professionals forming a welcoming community powering legal innovation
2 stages of content with roundtables, workshops, CLE, and TED-style talks
Effortless networking with clients, prospects, vendors, and peers
Hands-on legal tech with live demos and emerging tools
Fuel for the day – street food, great coffee, snacks, drinks, all included in your ticket
50 speakers
including law firm and in-house leaders
1000 attendees
driving legal innovation across North America
Networking
With clients, prospects, and industry friends – all in one place
38 sessions
including interactive roundtables and CLE accredited talks
Community
No suits, no ties, just good vibes and great ideas
2026 SPEAKERS
Hear from visionary founders, legal leaders, and tech innovators sharing real-world insights and fresh perspectives shaping the future of law and legal technology. Get tickets
Greg Fosheim
Partner
McDermott Will & Schulte
Gina Lawrence
Chief Legal Officer
Noble Schools
Irina Fesenko
Global General Counsel
TurnKey Tech Staffing
Essa Abdool-Karim
General Counsel
SkillsWave
Sarah McCormick
Director of Legal Service Delivery
Honigman LLP
Josh Rosenzweig
Sr. Director of AI and Innovation
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
David Wang
Chief Innovation Officer
Cooley
Christina Wojcik
Partner, Chief Innovation Officer
Pierson Ferdinand
Diana Martinez
Associate General Counsel
Cartiga
Patrick Lau
Head of Legal Business Intelligence
Google
Kevin Thompson
Partner
Levin Ginsburg
Carrie Young
Head of Legal for Global Airports Business Unit and Head of Legal, Americas Region
SITA
Stephen Baird
Associate General Counsel - Head of Legal, Europe
SITA
Joe Dormani
Partner
Thomson Reuters Ventures
Maya Markovich
Vice President
American Arbitration Association - International Centre for Dispute Resolution
Joey Gartner
Director & Counsel
ABA Center for Innovation
Leslie Grandy
Author, Founder, Lead Executive in Residence, Global Product Executive (Ex-Apple, Ex-Amazon, Ex-T-Mobile)
Amy M. Gardner
Principal
Apochromatik
Melina Efstathiou
Legal Data Intelligence Leader
LDI
Paul Boyer
Executive Coach for Attorneys and
General Counsel
GC Coach
WHAT OUR ATTENDEES SAY
2026 SESSIONS YOU CAN JOIN
Join TED-style talks, interactive roundtables, panels, Q&As, and lawtech showcases – all led by fifty top legal experts. Get tickets
Talk: The equity signal: LGBTQ+ health as a warning for broken systems - Reading the early warnings of structural failure in your workforce
LGBTQ+ health disparities aren’t just a DEI issue, they signal deeper structural flaws in workplace systems. Gaps in access to care, mental health support, and family recognition reveal inequities that affect all employees, harming recruitment, retention, and legal resilience. This session urges leaders to move beyond policy optics and address the underlying access gaps that put both equity and the bottom line at risk.
Talk: Borderless compliance: How small legal teams turn risk into design
This session shows how lean in-house teams can build scalable, borderless compliance through smart workflows, automation, and data-led risk assessment. It focuses on turning legal complexity into operational design—aligning law, tax, and technology to control risk, enable growth, and embed compliance as a core business value.
Talk: Why technology doesn’t fail - People do (and how to fix It)
This session examines how organizational culture, not technology, determines success or failure in implementation. Learn how to create a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning that turns technology from a frustration into a force multiplier.
Workshop: Ask what if? Building resilient legal strategies for an AI-driven world
Generative AI is reshaping how legal teams anticipate risk, not just how they work. This workshop introduces the What-If Method—a structured way to imagine future scenarios—reframing AI from a productivity tool into a catalyst for creative foresight, helping teams surface blind spots and discover new solutions to complex challenges.
Workshop: Lawyers who lead: Driving change with integrity, courage & purpose
This session challenges participants to see themselves as leaders and equips them to drive positive change. Through practical examples and exercises, it explores the Four Pillars of Authentic Leadership—Relationships, Integrity, Courage, and Growth—helping attendees lead with confidence, purpose, and impact.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Legal AI: Where are we (really), and what comes next?
Danielle Benecke, Baker McKenzie
Tell and show: Five real-world ways lawyers can leverage AI
Alma Asay, Crowell & Moring
AI, legal advocacy, and the power of words
Mark C. Palmer, Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism
The future of AI in legal – an investor’s perspective
Tamara Steffens, Thomson Reuters
The autonomy/control balance: Designing agentic AI in legal
Nicole Bradick, Factor
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Architecting secure AI deployments: Best practices for law firms
Dan Quintas, Airia
Case study: AI driven transformation in contract review
Monica Goyal, Caravel Law
Clarity out of chaos: An AI use case
Emily Lippincott, Filevine
Panel: The future of in-house legal: Partnerships, innovation and efficiency in the AI era
(Chair) Eric DeChant, American Society of Legal Engineers
Elizabeth Brown, CSC Generation
Zhaoying (Dorothy) Du, Motorola
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Product showcases (five-minute overviews to help you assess legal tech tools):
Jim Witte, Relativity
Kritin Sundaram, Augmentec
Johnny DiMenna, DealCloser
Michael Bjerg Hansen, Document Drafter
Ryan Jansen, Thomson Reuters
Kristen Gandhi, SmartEsq
Jim Loveall, Nebula
Real talk: AI implementation in law departments
Wendy Rubas, Innovaccer
From skeptic to strategist: Harnessing AI as a litigation advantage
Dylan Ruga, Steno Agency, Inc
3.00 PM - 4:00 PM
Assistants, apps, and agents – Oh my! From legal tech confusion to clarity
Michael Owen Hill, NetDocuments
Piloting without panic: Legal tech doesn’t have to feel
like building the plane mid-flight
Esther Bowers, Honigman
The hidden value of legal transaction data: Why the future of law
firms depends on it
Daniel Porus, Legatics
Conducting the legal symphony: Bringing legal and reg tech into harmony Diana LaMorie, Two Sigma
From overwhelmed to optimized: Spotting AI opportunities in legal workflows
Nancy Griffing, Consulting 3545
The beautiful mess of legal ops: Leadership lessons in embracing change
Tiffany Epps Brown, Consilio
Closing remarks
Malcom Glenn, MG Equity Consulting
CLE STAGE
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Pitfalls, risks, and benefits lawyers face when using generative AI (ethics CLE credit)
Max Eliott, The Law Offices of Max Elliott
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
The future of legal technology and cultural transformation
(general CLE credit)
Brian Potts, Husch Blackwell and Mathew Kerbis, Subscription Attorney LLC
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
AI integration in legal practice
(general CLE credit)
Mathew Kerbis, Subscription Attorney LLC
ROUNDTABLES
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Roundtable 1: Resisting the rollback: How firms can defend equity
in a new political era
Malcom Glenn, MG Equity Consulting
Roundtable 2: Practical strategies to improve our performance
through personal and professional wellbeing
Marco Imperiale, Better Ipsum
2026 THEMES
People, culture and organizational change
Understanding why lawyers disengage with new tools, leveraging knowledge management and legal ops as change catalysts, retaining talent through transformation, bridging generational divides in tech adoption, and building peer communities that drive sustainable adoption
Tech landscape, tool selection and implementation
Navigating the vendor landscape, evaluating native AI versus integrated solutions, understanding hidden costs of compliance and cybersecurity, assessing long-term viability of emerging versus established players, and translating ROI promises into reality
Compliance, vendor diligence and risk management
Understanding regulatory expectations for AI governance, conducting rigorous vendor diligence on viability and compliance standards, learning from adjacent industries’ technology transformations, navigating liability and professional responsibility in an AI world, and establishing data governance frameworks that protect client information
Practical AI implementation and strategic positioning
Connecting use cases to measurable business impact, positioning legal as a strategic business partner, building multi-year tech roadmaps, exploring AI applications across practice areas, transforming billing models in an AI-enabled world, and building values-driven, tech-enabled firms that prioritise justice and equity
Small team economics and DIY legal ops
Operating effectively with lean teams, building systems without dedicated legal ops resources, finding creative tech solutions on constrained budgets, scaling from spreadsheets to workflow tools, and making the business case for technology when resources are limited
EARN CLE: Embrace AI and technology for a future-ready legal practice
Three hours of CLE credit, including one hour of professional responsibility/ethics credit, will be available for attorneys admitted in Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and California who attend Legal Geek North America.
Who ATTENDS
IN-HOUSE TEAMS
28%
LAW-FIRMS
35%
TECHNOLOGY providers
25%
COMMUNITY
12%
CONFERENCE VIBE
Get ready for a conference that feels nothing like a conference. Think festival energy meets legal innovation:
Awesome venue
A venue like no other, Recess brings vibrant, open-air space and creative energy to Legal Geek North America.
Casual dress
Our events are very relaxed, and there is no formal dress code. Please come as you feel comfortable.
Street food
Your ticket includes breakfast, snacks, street food, and drinks – because great food fuels great conversations!
Quality coffee
At last, quality coffee at a legal conference. We love coffee – enjoy unlimited complimentary coffee throughout the day!
WHY ATTEND
Legal Technology is changing the way lawyers work. It’s moving fast, and with so many providers out there it can be hard to know which tool is right for your law firm. Legal Geek North America brings together 1000 legal professionals, including in-house counsel, legal tech companies, and innovators to showcase the latest lawtech, trends, and insights – so you can make informed decisions.
Legal Technology is changing the way lawyers work. It’s moving fast, and with so many providers out there it can be hard to know which tool is right for your law firm. Legal Geek North America brings together 1000 legal professionals, including in-house counsel, legal tech companies, and innovators to showcase the latest lawtech, trends, and insights – so you can make informed decisions.
Real case studies: "I had a blast, I learned a lot, was able to catch up on some Legal tech that did not exist." Rob Morales, Managing Attorney, Robert S. Morales Law Firm PLLC
Actionable insights: "I had a great time interacting with the vendors and learning about the products and the speakers were informative and engaging. It was a great experience!" Emma Florian, Litigation Paralegal, Coplan & Crane, Ltd.
Beyond theory, into practice: "The quality of the speakers, the value of the content, the food, the venue, the staff and the app with the agenda made this a delightful conference to attend." Kayla Wojciechowski, Senior Applications Specialist, Sidley Austin LLP
Networking opportunities: "The ability to connect with such a wide range of legal professionals and innovators makes Legal Geek an exceptional platform for networking." Scott A. Milner, Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
session FORMATS
TED-STYLE TALKS
Short and sharp talks that deliver big ideas fast
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Hear candid insights from tech and legal leaders
EXPERT-LED ROUNDTABLES
This is where the real talk happens – designed for true peer learning
INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS
Hands-on sessions where you learn by doing – focused on practical skills
SILENT DISCO-STYLE CLE
Slip on headset and get accredited in a unique format
Q&As
Get direct answers from the people shaping what’s next
LIVE DEMOS
See the newest legal tech in action. No pitches, just practical walk-throughs!
FIRESIDE CHATS
Relaxed, one-on-one interviews that uncover personal stories and lessons learned
DOWNLOAD CONVINCE YOUR BOSS TOOLKIT
Download our free event guide to help convince your boss why you should attend the coolest event in legal tech
2026 TICKETS
Legal Geek North America 2026 is taking place on June 2 in Chicago. Any questions? Visit our support centre or get in touch via [email protected] (yes, it’s .co)
In-house Tickets
Senior in-house legal professionals attend for free. Subject to an approval process.- What's included:
- Conference pass
- Networking event app
- Bookable 1:1 meetings
- Full access to all sessions
- All-day hospitality (lunch, drinks, snacks)
- Legal Geek afterparty
Law Firm Leader Tickets
For Partners, C-suite and ‘Head of’ roles at law firms. Subject to availability and approval process.- What's included:
- Conference pass
- Networking event app
- Bookable 1:1 meetings
- Full access to all sessions
- All-day hospitality (lunch, drinks, snacks)
- Legal Geek afterprty
Law Firm Tickets
Discounted rate for law firms. Subject to availability and approval process.- What's included:
- Conference pass
- Networking event app
- Bookable 1:1 meetings
- Full access to all sessions
- All-day hospitality (lunch, drinks, snacks)
- Legal Geek afterparty
Early Bird Tickets
This ticket type is for tech providers, consultants, investors, media/press, and anyone else.- What's included:
- Conference pass
- Networking event app
- Bookable 1:1 meetings
- Full access to all sessions
- All-day hospitality (lunch, drinks, snacks)
- Legal Geek afterparty
Ticket FAQs
You must be directly employed by a law firm. All tickets must be registered using a valid law firm email address and are subject to an approval process. See our eligibility criteria.
You must be directly employed by a company where your primary role is to support that company’s in-house legal function. All tickets must be registered using an official work email associated with the company and are subject to availability. See our eligibility criteria.
You must currently hold a Partner, Managing Partner, or ‘Head of’ title (e.g. Head of Innovation, Head of Legal Ops, etc.). All tickets must be registered using an official work email associated with the company and are subject to availability.
Yes! You can purchase multiple tickets now and assign them to your team later.
If you need support, try our live chat on bottom right, or email [email protected] (yes, it’s .co)
2026 SPONSORShip now available!
We work with a select group of partners to deliver standout value, positioning you as a thought leader, generating quality leads, and joining the 93% of sponsors who return year after year.
2026 SPONSORS
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Bespoke
2025 event partners
LOCATION
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Location: Recess, 838 West Kinzie St, Chicago, IL 60642
Venue map
Venue entrance
