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8.20 - 8.50 am: Registration and Breakfast

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8.50-9.00 am: Welcome to the Forum

Andrew Bowyer, Founder, The Canadian Legal Innovation Forum

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9.00 - 9.50am: LegalTech in 2023 - What's changing the game and having the greatest impact on Canada's legal ecosystem?

Technology has always been a key pillar of legal innovation, however recent advances - particularly in generative AI - has placed it at the forefront of the innovation conversation in the sector. Yet the promise of legal technologies' power to disrupt the sector - and its practitioners’ roles within it - has long been heralded, with mixed results.

On this panel - our participants - leaders from technology companies, law firms and legal departments - will review how evolutions in technology are impacting the legal sector. And what it means for its present and its future.

Points for discussion:

• What technologies are having the greatest impact on the legal sector and why? Here we’ll look at evolutions in platforms focused on generative AI, workflow and collaboration tools and their impact for practitioners.

• How are legal practitioners integrating technology to improve efficiency, client service delivery and drive innovation.

• Market structure - how are emerging (and existing) technologies promising to shake up the legal sector in the medium to long term? And what does it mean for its structure?

Speakers:

Gloria Kang, Senior Transactions Manager, Cleary X

Digby Leigh, Managing Partner, Digby Leigh & Co.

Scott Oliver, Practice Management Director, LEAP Canada

Michael McGinn, Innovation Manager, Fasken

Chair: Joseph Abboud Dager, Legal Technology Lawyer, Fasken

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9.55 - 10.45am: How are mid-sized law firms adapting in a rapidly shifting legal marketplace?

Mid-size law firms are facing a number of challenges including a highly competitive landscape, market pressures on the legal value proposition, pricing pressures and structural shifts driven by regulation.

On this panel, we’ll look at how mid-size firms in BC are responding to challenges and creating opportunities from them including:

• Why do law firms need innovation strategies? Here we’ll outline the business case for innovation including how it can create new revenue streams, enhance client relationships and help maintain an edge in a competitive marketplace.

• What are the key drivers and trends changing the competitive landscape for mid-size law firms in BC? And how are they responding in terms of defining and executing on forward looking, innovative operating strategies?

• Opportunities by practice area. What practice areas are innovative BC law firms moving into and why? What opportunities and challenges are they facing in doing so?

Speakers:

Richard Bell, Founding Partner, Bell Alliance

Morgyn Chandler, Managing Partner, Hammerco Lawyers LLP

Parveen Karsan, Partner, McQuarrie

Chair: Christine Nassif, Partner Network Director, LEAP Legal Software

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10.45 - 11.05am: Networking Break + Wellness Intermission

Wellness Intermission lead by Fiji McAlpine

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11.05 - 11.55am: How legal operations is catalyzing change in the legal ecosystem

The legal operations function has gained importance in the legal sector in recent years and has been a key driver of innovation in the legal ecosystem. The function enables legal departments to serve their clients more effectively by applying business and technical practices to the delivery of legal services.

On this panel, we’ll review how legal operations is catalyzing change in the legal ecosystem:

• How is the legal operations evolving in legal departments and how are law firms evolving their innovation functions in response?
  

• How is legal operations changing the way that the business of law gets done and the legal ecosystem as a whole?
  

• Mastering change management in light of the rise of legal operations

Speakers:

Cory Olson, Director of Planning & Operations for Legal Services, Telus

Kate Simpson, Chief Knowledge Officer, Bennett Jones

Nolan Hurlburt, Director Knowledge & Legal Operations, Dentons Canada

Tahira Manji, Head of Legal, Article

Steven Pulver, Chief Customer Officer, MinuteBox

Chair: Gary Kalaci, CEO, Alexa Translations

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11.55 - 12.10pm: Presentation - How drive innovation in your legal practice

Paul Larsh, Business Development Manager, LEAP Legal Software

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12.10 - 1.00pm: Lunch + Networking Break

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1.00 - 1.50pm: Leading at the intersection of business and law - how are leaders helping to drive BC’s innovation story?

In a complex operating environment, leadership plays a critical role in helping guide organizations’ requirement to balance risk management as well as growth.Areas such as corporate governance and ESG, privacy, compliance and flexible organizational strategy are all at the top of the corporate agenda.

On this panel, our speakers - leaders from leading BC organizations - will look at how their roles are evolving in terms of the challenges they are facing and opportunities stemming from them, how they are aligning their teams and how they are acting as agents of change.

Topics covered will include:

• How is BC’s economic innovation story evolving and what role do leaders play in driving its future?

• Key drivers and trends facing leaders (legal and others) in a complex operating environment.

• How are legal departments and the organizations they work alongside evolving their strategies, what key legal challenges are they addressing and how are they engaging with the wider ecosystem to both manage risk and drive innovation and growth?

Speakers:

Jeremy Trickett, Chief Legal Officer, BCI

Sandeep Mann, GC & Chief Privacy Officer, Fraser Health Authority

Katie Jamieson, SVP - Legal + Impact, Herschel Supply

Jill Earthy, Chief Executive Officer, InBC

Chair: Jonathan McCullough, Partner, Bennett Jones

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1.55 - 2.45pm: Mastering digital risk - how to define, develop and implement a strategy to navigate emerging digital risks.

Managing digital risk is at the top of many corporate agendas. The explosion of use of collaborative technologies and the attendant data trails left by them, managing complex entity structures, evolving privacy rules and breaches are all examples of the critical importance of having a robust digital risk mitigation strategy in place.

For legal departments and their advisors - increased digital risk equals increased legal risk - especially as they relate to accelerating regulatory scrutiny and compliance. On this panel, our speakers will look at how they are assessing and addressing present and emerging digital risks.

• What are the key emerging digital risks for organizations? Generative AI, data breaches, privacy concerns and third party agreements

• How to develop and define an organization wide strategy to address digital risk and the role that lawyers play in supporting them.

• Delivering a digital risk mitigation strategy across the organization. Best practices in leveraging people, process and technology to manage risks? How to work cross departmentally and with 3rd parties to support these strategies.

Speakers:

Rahim Esmail, Senior Counsel, TELUS

Ryan Berger, Partner, Lawson Lundell

Milan Zivkovic, Chief Information Officer, Westland Insurance 

Robyn Miles, Associate General Counsel, Bosa Properties

Chair: Tamara Porter, Senior Director, Ricoh

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2.45 - 3.00pm: Networking Break + Wellness Intermission

Wellness Intermission lead by Fiji McAlpine

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3.00 - 3.50pm: The people puzzle - attracting, retaining and developing talent in a new paradigm.

The legal market is witnessing an unprecedented shift when it comes to talent. Lawyers are changing firms, moving in-house, to alternative legal service providers and in some cases moving out of the profession entirely. This is having a significant impact on the shape of the sector and promises to continue to do so for years to come.

On this panel, we’ll review the following:

• What are the key drivers and trends shaping the battle for talent in the legal sector?

• What are law firms and legal departments doing to attract, develop and retain talent in a dynamic marketplace?

• Portfolio careers. What types of new career paths are available to lawyers versus traditional ones?

• The role of generative AI and its impact on legal careers

Speakers:

Megan McAllister, Principal, MM Consulting 

Rachel Mockler, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Flatiron Construction

Claire Immega, Legal Talent Professional, BLG

Niamh Pollak, VP Legal, Clio 

Chair: Stephanie Hacksel, Partner, Hunter West Legal Recruitment

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3.55 - 4.45pm: How are allied professionals driving innovation in law firms and legal departments?

Increasingly, legal professionals (both paraprofessionals and other allied professionals) are playing a key role in driving transformation across the sector. They are super users of technology, have deep experience in process and project management and often have excelled in disciplines outside of legal. In an evolving legal market, having the right legal professionals in place to drive change is critical.

Our discussion will focus on how allied professionals are driving transformation in the sector.

On this panel, we’ll review the following:

• How are allied professionals defining and influencing the transformation trajectory for the legal sector? 

• The role that allied professionals are playing in implementing transformation strategies and how are they addressing resistance to change?

• What cloud based technologies married with advanced processes and expertise are helping to drive transformation in the legal sector? What practice areas are the most exciting?

Speakers:

Victor Dudas, Innovation Lawyer, Clark Wilson

David Nash, Chief Product Officer, Dye + Durham

Victoria Snook, Director, Law Clerks & Paralegals, McMillan 

Natalie Egger, Legal Operations Facilitator, Forte Law

Chair: Karen Tuschak, Founder & CEO, Spider Silk Innovative Solutions

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4.45-5.45pm: Forum Close + Networking Drinks

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