Over the past 26 years, LegalTech New York has become a sort of holy pilgrimage for legal technologists, who come from across the country, and in some cases the world, to find out about hot new gadgets, software and services for the new year.

This year the annual trade show, which took place from Jan. 29-31, played host to three floors of exhibitors, seven series of seminars and three keynote addresses. Hundreds of in-house counsel, law firm attorneys and technologists converged in Midtown Manhattan, many hoping to find answers to the questions the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have given rise to such as, “How can I quickly respond to a discovery request without missing crucial, responsive documents?” and “How can I cull my data to cut down on review costs later in the process?” and, of course, “Can someone help me understand what my IT people are saying to me?”

Of course exhibitors were eager to supply answers to these questions, mostly in the form of a sales pitch. But behind the marketing speak, the free pens and bowls of Hershey Kisses, there was a revolution going on. In light of the new rules, vendors are scrambling to change their focus. Whereas a year ago, many were still pitching primarily to law firms, the overwhelming majority is now catering to the in-house market.

That's why it's no wonder the two biggest buzz words overheard at the show were “systematize” and “in-sourcing.” Sure, the two terms reflect the usual cryptic qualities of tech jargon, but they also go to show that the legal technology market is aware that e-discovery is becoming an in-house process.

When vendors talk about how their products can help systematize e-discovery, they're really saying they can help a company simplify e-discovery into one adjustable set of steps. When they say in-sourcing, they're talking about eliminating the reliance on law firms and designating in-house personnel, whether legal or IT, to head up e-discovery initiatives.

All this boils down to the biggest trend of 2007–bringing the e-discovery process in house. As the year goes on, expect new innovations catering to legal departments and more coverage of how to streamline vendor selection, work with business and IT personnel and minimize e-discovery costs in light of the new rules.

Over the past 26 years, LegalTech New York has become a sort of holy pilgrimage for legal technologists, who come from across the country, and in some cases the world, to find out about hot new gadgets, software and services for the new year.

This year the annual trade show, which took place from Jan. 29-31, played host to three floors of exhibitors, seven series of seminars and three keynote addresses. Hundreds of in-house counsel, law firm attorneys and technologists converged in Midtown Manhattan, many hoping to find answers to the questions the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have given rise to such as, “How can I quickly respond to a discovery request without missing crucial, responsive documents?” and “How can I cull my data to cut down on review costs later in the process?” and, of course, “Can someone help me understand what my IT people are saying to me?”

Of course exhibitors were eager to supply answers to these questions, mostly in the form of a sales pitch. But behind the marketing speak, the free pens and bowls of Hershey Kisses, there was a revolution going on. In light of the new rules, vendors are scrambling to change their focus. Whereas a year ago, many were still pitching primarily to law firms, the overwhelming majority is now catering to the in-house market.

That's why it's no wonder the two biggest buzz words overheard at the show were “systematize” and “in-sourcing.” Sure, the two terms reflect the usual cryptic qualities of tech jargon, but they also go to show that the legal technology market is aware that e-discovery is becoming an in-house process.

When vendors talk about how their products can help systematize e-discovery, they're really saying they can help a company simplify e-discovery into one adjustable set of steps. When they say in-sourcing, they're talking about eliminating the reliance on law firms and designating in-house personnel, whether legal or IT, to head up e-discovery initiatives.

All this boils down to the biggest trend of 2007–bringing the e-discovery process in house. As the year goes on, expect new innovations catering to legal departments and more coverage of how to streamline vendor selection, work with business and IT personnel and minimize e-discovery costs in light of the new rules.