Hundreds of legal professionals gathered for the 2024 Connecticut Legal Conference on June 10 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The conference featured a wide selection of educational content for attendees, including a special focus on artificial intelligence and the future of the legal profession with several seminars covering issues related to the topic.
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During breaks between CLE sessions, attendees were able to socialize with one another and walk to the conference's exhibitor showcase.
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The day began with a networking breakfast as well as alumni breakfasts for Quinnipiac University School of Law and UConn School of Law. During this period, attendees socialized with one another and perused the conference’s exhibitor showcase, which included over 30 booths representing legal industry vendors and organizations as well as a booth with a professional photographer that provided complimentary headshot photos for conference goers.
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The conference's exhibitor showcase featured various vendors offering legal research, technology solutions, law practice management services, and more.
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Throughout the duration of the conference, attendees had the opportunity to view screenings of the CBA’s new documentary film,
The Law Unmasked. Using clips taken from numerous Zoom interviews with CBA members in 2020, the documentary records and shares the experiences of Connecticut’s judges, lawyers, law professors, and students during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and details how the state legal system responded to the various challenges and difficulties presented by the situation.
This year’s conference featured 39 CLE seminars, which provided substantive coverage of a diverse range of current topics as well as reviews of case law and legislation in several practice areas. In the conference’s AI and the Future of the Legal Profession track of seminars, Featured National CLE Presenter Dr. Cain Elliott and technology lawyer Damien Riehl provided attendees with the critical information and skills needed to understand and properly utilize the generative AI tools that have recently accrued interest throughout the legal community.
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Attendees were able to attend from a selection of 39 different CLE seminars provided at the conference.
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In the seminar LawGPT? Generative AI, ChatGPT, LLMs, and the Legal Data-driven Revolution, Attorney Riehl explained that AI in different forms has been a critical element of various computer applications which have been used for over a decade in numerous industries. He noted that “Artificial intelligence is really only artificial intelligence until you know how to use it. Then it just becomes software” In the seminar Algorithm to Advocate: Unleashing the Potential of AI in Law, Dr. Elliott compared resistance against the use of AI to widespread fears teachers once had about how the incorporation of calculators into classrooms would affect their students’ abilities to learn. He cautioned that there are pitfalls and dangers related to the use of AI technologies, but that they provide the same benefits and potential for misuse as any other tools we utilize.
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Featured National CLE Presenter Dr. Cain Elliott presented the seminars Algorithm to Advocate: Unleashing the Power of AI in Law and Legal Interfaces of the Future.
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Technology lawyer Damien Riehl presented the seminars LawGPT? Generative AI, Chat GPT, LLMs, and the Legal Data-driven Revolution and Generative AI: Advanced Uses and Practical Applications.
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The CBA Annual Meeting and Luncheon provided attendees with the chance to take a break from educational content and hear from several Connecticut dignitaries. Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz; U.S. District of Connecticut Chief Judge Michael P. Shea; Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson; Appellate Court Chief Judge William H. Bright, Jr.; Probate Court Administrator Judge Beverly K. Streit-Kefalas; and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong provided remarks during the meeting. CBA President Elect James T. (Tim) Shearin congratulated Chief Justice Robinson for his upcoming retirement in September and thanked him for his support of the CBA, stating “It’s been the bar association’s pleasure to have worked with the chief justice for so many years. His door was and is always open to the things that concern the association.”
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(Top Row From Left to Right) Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, U.S. District of Connecticut Chief Judge Michael P. Shea, and Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson.
(Bottom Row From Left to Right) Appellate Court Chief Judge William H. Bright, Jr.; Probate Court Administrator Judge Beverly K. Streit-Kefalas; and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong
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Following the remarks from the dignitaries, outgoing CBA President Maggie Castinado thanked CBA Immediate Past President Daniel J. Horgan, Secretary Jeffrey A. Zyjeski, and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Christopher A. Klepps, who will complete their terms as CBA officers this bar year. President Castinado also installed the incoming 2024-2025 CBA officers including the 101st CBA president, James T. (Tim) Shearin; President-Elect Emily A. Gianquinto; Vice President J. Paul Vance, Jr.; Secretary David M. Moore; Treasurer Sharad A. Samy; and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Sara J. O’Brien.
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The 2024-2025 CBA Officers Taking Office on July 1
(From Left to Right) Vice President J. Paul Vance, Jr.; President-Elect Emily A. Gianquinto; Immediate Past President Maggie Castinado; President James T. (Tim) Shearin; Secretary David M. Moore; and Treasurer Sharad A. Samy (Not Pictured: Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Sara J. O'Brien)
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The final portion of the annual meeting and luncheon consisted of incoming President James T. (Tim) Shearin presenting his vision for the CBA during the 2024-2025 bar year. While noting that the association faces challenges in increasing its membership and reaching younger generations, he chose to emphasize the important role it plays in defending the rule of law. “As individuals, and as an association, we cannot let the charged political climate in which we live dismantle the third branch of government. To remain silent renders us complicit in that effort,” stated Shearin, encouraging the attorneys in attendance to remind their friends and colleagues of the vital role the courts have in American democracy. He concluded by stating, “These are my goals for this Association: to speak when the rule of law is divorced from the role of justice and to speak when the honor and integrity of our judicial system is undermined. I hope you will join with me in this effort.”
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2023-2024 CBA President Maggie Castinado passes the gavel to incoming 2024-2025 CBA President James T. (Tim) Shearin.
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The day ended with afternoon CLE sessions and the President’s Reception, where attendees enjoyed refreshments and appetizers while socializing before heading home.
Thank you to the attendees, presenters, sponsors, and exhibitors who helped make this year’s Connecticut Legal Conference a resounding success.