From October 20–23, 2019, I attended Relativity’s annual Relativity Fest as one of twenty Relativity Fest Scholars. While focused on electronic discovery (“eDiscovery”), the conference also included broader discussions about law for technology and technology for law.
Before the conference, Relativity’s Academic Program paired each Scholar with a mentor who worked in eDiscovery. I was fortunate to be mentored by Cristin Traylor, Discovery Counsel at McGuire Woods. During our mentoring meetings, we discussed my career goals and her career journey. We prepared for a great Relativity Fest experience. I’m grateful for the time that Cristin spent mentoring me. Congratulations to her for winning the Attorney Tech Evangelist Award during the Relativity Innovation Awards ceremony. Speaking of awards, the Institute for the Future of Law Practice (“IFLP”) received the Academic Innovator of the Year Award. I enjoyed participating in IFLP’s bootcamp and internship program this past summer. Their award was well-deserved!
Over the course of the four days of Relativity Fest, I met people from all over the world. I attended sessions about legal technology, current legal issues related to technology, and eDiscovery. In the vendors’ hall, I met with cool software companies that develop tools to integrate into Relativity’s platform. Relativity Fest’s focus on diversity, as seen in the composition of the judicial panel and Margot Shetterly’s “Hidden Figures” presentation, inspired me (see my live-tweets below). I also enjoyed using, for the first time, Relativity’s software in the Relativity Experience room.
Most of all, I loved the feeling of collaboration at Relativity Fest. Lawyers and law students were in the minority as I found myself surrounded by talented programmers, litigation support professionals, paralegals, and more. All were friendly as I talked with them and learned about their careers. From those discussions, I saw that lawyers can benefit significantly from the talents of our friends who work in eDiscovery. By collaborating, we can improve the delivery of legal-services.
Thank you to Relativity and the Relativity Academic Program for the opportunity to attend Relativity Fest. Thank you specifically to Janice Hollman, Mila Taylor, David Horrigan, and Mike Gamson for the opportunity to be a Relativity Fest Scholar. I’d looked forward to attending the conference since starting law school in Chicago, and I look forward to continuing to learn more about eDiscovery and Relativity!
Below are my live-tweets from Relativity Fest 2019.