10 Lessons From SXSW That Apply To Legal
In my initial article about SXSW 2025, I talked about why it’s important for lawyers. While there was a limited legally related track, that’s certainly NOT why I spent over a week in Austin. I go because I believe conferences like SXSW and CES offer insights into where our profession is headed—or should be.
As you can tell from my posts about SXSW, that was the case. So, in no particular order, here are the lessons learned.
1. We all need social contact and human interaction to be happy and productive. That would suggest that return to office mandates should be good. That may be accurate, but not if the return does not provide time and space for those contacts and interactions to happen. Having legal professionals return to the office just to be there won’t get it. Here’s my post.
2. Our privacy is under siege from all directions. What little privacy we have is being lost. Legal professionals need to understand the threats for the sake of their clients and themselves. Here’s my post.
3 If you are going to give a presentation about Gen AI to a bunch of lawyers, don’t just talk-show. Demonstrate what the tools can do. Show how Gen AI can help them and improve their day-to-day lives. Skip the computer speak and overcomplicated diagrams. Don’t make Gen AI sound too complicated to ever be useful. Here’s my post.
4. The future for legal isn’t just about adopting new and shiny technology tools. It’s about strategically applying technology to solve real day-to-day problems. Here’s my post.
5. When you look at the future and legal technology one thing is clear: don’t fixate on the obstacles. (Obstacles are like the proverbial stone in your shoe). When looking at adopting a technology or innovative approach, look more at what changes will occur as a result of the technology. And ask a lot of what-if questions about the changes that may occur. Here’s my post.
6. The attitudes and values of those in rural America provide an insight into what it will take to solve the dearth of lawyers in small towns. I used to think tech alone could solve the lawyer shortage in rural America. It turns out it’s not that simple. Turns out we probably can’t that do due to rural folks’ strong community value system. If you’re not physically there, you ain’t part of the community. Here’s my post.
7. If you use tech to help you persuade, you need to first concentrate on the story, not the tech. You need to help your audience feel like they have experienced something. You have to establish an emotional connection. And you have to make it personal. Here’s my post.
8. We live in interesting times. Like all of us, SXSW is dealing with change. The Austin Convention Center, home to most SXSW events, is being torn down after this year’s conference and won’t be available for the next three years. Meanwhile, many of the themes this year, like climate change and DEI, are under attack. But SXSW didn’t throw up its hands. It accepted that change is inevitable and understood that adaptation is key. It’s true for SXSW. It’s true for legal. Here’s my post.
9. We can learn from each other. Everywhere I went, people across different disciplines were talking, making connections, and sharing ideas. Finding out how something one discipline did or knew could be used in another. SXSW opens up the doors to new perspectives and ideas.
10. Last but not least, the energy. Bring together some 300,000 bright, enthusiastic, and inspiring people and that energy rubs off. Just when my “P doom” score was steadily rising, SXSW gave me renewed optimism and hope.
So, what did I take away from a week in Austin? Optimism. A belief that despite everything, we still have a chance as a species to do great things. We do as legal professions. We do as people.
Thanks, SXSW, for the inspiration. Thanks for having me.
Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger and writer. He publishes TechLaw Crossroads, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.
