The annual AALL (Association of Law Librarians) Conference kicked off today in Chicago. I’m a regular attendee since I find the attendees knowledgeable and savvy about tech products. Similar to the ABA TechShow whose attendees are mainly lawyers that use the products, AALL attracts law librarians who are also actual users. Users generally have a much lower tolerance for bullshit. Vendors tell me that the attendees at the AALL conference frequently ask some of the toughest questions.

AALL24

This is the 117th AALL conference (and no, I haven’t attended all of them). What’s remarkable about that is the vast changes in the profession of law librarians and the law since the first show in 1907. One can only imagine what a law librarian in a law firm was doing at the time of the first show. We have gone from pen and quill and books to paperless, the cloud, and now AI-generated materials and even research.

The demands on librarians by lawyers to harness and deal with all that change have been immense. Yet law librarians are still with us and their skill sets have morphed time and time again. Every year, librarians flock to the show in large numbers. They ask sometimes pointed questions to help them deal with the new changes that GenAI is bringing.

Today, the library is often more virtual than paper, and the person in charge of it is more of a knowledge management worker. A library is less a place than a service. Rather than managing and cataloging books, law librarians are charged with assisting lawyers with technology and using critical virtual tools.

Law librarians manage the accumulated expertise needed to solve legal problems. They are responsible for the substantive technology that drives quality and efficiency. Law librarians need to be on top of technology and invocation and be nimble. It’s a tall order.

Despite or maybe because of all the changes in the profession, the profession remains dynamic and in demand. June Liebert, AALL President, kicked off the content portion of the show this morning. According to Liebert there is a record of over 1800 attendees and some 70 exhibitors this year. Lots of librarians from academic institutions. Lots from big firms. The latter is interesting when you contrast the AALL attendees from big law to LegalWeek big law attendees. The latter group skews more toward IT types who don’t necessarily use the products. AALL thus has a completely different vibe, where attendees dig into and deal with the nitty-gritty of the claimed use cases.

Like most legal tech conferences these days, the AALL Exhibit floor is dominated this year, perhaps more than ever by the big Gen AI players. LexisNexis, Thompson Reuters, Bloomberg, Wolters Kluwer, and VLex all have a significant presence here. Their presence may reflect a recognition of the law librarian’s role in selecting and using the Gen AIn tools. Indeed, Liebert’s comments reflect this role.

Law librarians are now more than just the gatekeepers to information and knowledge

Liebert recognized that Gen AI and other AI tools have required law librarians to rethink their roles. Liebert said law librarians are now more than just the gatekeepers to information and knowledge. They are now often considered to be the experts in the GenAI for their firms. Many law firms expect their librarians to lead the firm through the frequently conflicting and hyped claims of vendors. And then figure out how to guide the lawyers in using the tools. Which means understanding how to craft prompts and prevent problems. If all this is true, it means librarians will have a pretty significant role.

The Doctorow Keynote

The opening keynote choice by AALL was interesting and in keeping with their view of their changing roles. The speaker was the author, Cory Doctorow. Doctorow’s premise was that tech vendors have engaged in what he calls shittIfication. By that, he refers to the evolution of tech platforms from tools that are really good for the users to tools that are only good for businesses, to tools that aren’t that good for consumers or businesses, all in search of greater financial returns.

Using Facebook as a prime example, Doctorow blamed this evolution on several factors. The ability of platforms to make small changes quickly that adversely impact users, the elimination of competition that served as a check on tech firms’ profit tendencies, the implementation of laws and regulations that favor tech giants at the expense of competitors have all fueled this change.

Doctorow also noted that a labor glut has eliminated the ability of tech workers to act as a governor on their employers’ profit demands. He pointed out that tech firms have moved from offering purchased products to license offerings. The terms of these licenses can be changed at the tech firms’ whim. This ability always is to the detriment of the licensee.

The consolidation of the legal tech industry is resulting in a decline of service

While Doctorow didn’t address the legal tech industry specifically, we may be seeing the same scenario play out. As I have written before, the consolidation of the legal tech industry is resulting in a decline of service. To use Doctorow’s term, we are perhaps witnessing an shittification of legal tech. The fact that three or four legal tech vendors now dominate most exhibit floors reflects this phenomenon.

This year’s show, like many legal tech conferences these days, is focused on Gen AI and how it could upend the industry. How new or different that content will be remains to be seen over the next couple of days.

But suffice to say, day one of AALL 2024 demonstrated both the resilience of the law librarian over 117 years and the threat of consolidation in the legal tech space. Both are noteworthy.