Next week, I’m participating as a presenter in a unique legal conference.
The conference is being put on by AffiniPay’s legal brands (AffiniPay is the parent company of LawPay, MyCase,Docketwise and CASEpeer). It’s been billed as a live webinar. Unlike traditional conferences, this one blends in-person and virtual elements: the presenters will gather live in Austin, but attendees will tune in remotely.
AffiniPay describes the Event as a place where “top experts discuss the biggest shifts shaping the legal landscape. Looking at the agenda and the presenters, I don’t think this is hype. The Virtual Legal Seminar 2025 takes place on March 11 from 1-4 PM Eastern. The setup itself is intriguing: it’s a live webinar, but it avoids the usual drawbacks of long, drawn-out online events. You can register here.
The fact that it’s a live webinar is unique in and of itself but there are some other intriguing features as well. While there is a CLE presentation by Claude Ducloux entitled The Intelligent Practitioner – Client Communication, Cybersecurity, Finances & Intelligent Billing that lasts an hour, the rest of the Seminar consists of something AffiniPay is calling Fire Sessions. The goal of these sessions, according to AffiniPay “is to provide legal professionals with free, invaluable education content in addition to 1 hour of CLE credit.
The Fire Sessions
Fire Sessions are short, 20-minute, rapid-fire discussions between two panelists, guided by a moderator. With limited time and multiple panelists tackling key questions, these sessions require clear, impactful insights—no fluff, no wasted minutes. Since there will be several questions and two panelists for each session, we each have to be concise and articulate. According to Keely Leonard, AffiniPay’s Senior Director of Communications, “The fire session format was created for our virtual legal seminars as a way to provide 20 minutes of high-impact, topic-focused content…”
That’s a little rare among legal Seminars which sometimes consist of lengthy hour-long sessions, mundane power points and lots of wasted talk. And there is typically an introduction of each speaker at the beginning which takes 10 minutes or so that no one listens to. So an approach where speakers have to be concise and deliver hard hitting points in a limited period is a refreshing change.
And the sessions themselves are particularly relevant to legal right now and often spark debate. I know most of the presenters and they are all top thought leaders (present company excluded lol) So I think they will be up to the challenge of making succinct points on complex issues.
Here are the Fire Sessions and the 2 panelists for each:
- Fire Session #1: AI In the Legal Industry. Carolyn Elefant & Josh Noffke presenters
- Fire Session #2: The Post-Pandemic Transformation of Legal Work. Steve Embry & Joe Patrice presenters
- Fire Session #3: Running a Financially Sound Firm. Kelley Brubaker & Jared Correa presenters
- Fire Session #4: How Lawyers Get Paid. Kimberly Bennett & Brooke Lively presenters
These discussions won’t just be thought-provoking—they’re designed to cut through the noise on pressing issues in legal right now.
Why Attend?
Legal is evolving at a rapid pace, and keeping up sometimes requires more than just listening to traditional lectures. Certainly, there’s a place for traditional legal seminars with in-depth sessions that can be useful for deep dives into complex topics.
The Virtual Legal Seminar 2025 though is designed for a different experience: a quick and insightful look at major legal issues, giving attendees immediate takeaways without fluff. It promises a dynamic and engaging approach while respecting the audience’s time and offering real value.
And oh yea. It’s free😊