The legal industry is evolving quickly. New technology, shifting client expectations, and ever-increasing caseloads are putting more and more demands on legal professionals. Under that kind of pressure, professional development often takes a backseat to just getting the work done. But continuing education is essential to attorneys, paralegals and legal ops professionals who want to stay relevant and get ahead in their careers—or even meet the continuing legal education (CLE) requirements to maintain their licenses.
It’s important for all legal professionals, whether they’re required to take CLE classes or not, to prioritize their own professional education and growth. Legal conferences like InfoTrack’s annual Legal Up event are a great way to do just that by learning about a wide range of topics in a short time — all while making vital connections with peers and industry thought leaders.
“Having attended numerous legal conferences year after year, I hear the same thing at every conference: ‘I’m so happy to meet other professionals out of the office,’” says Veronica Williams, Field Marketing Manager at InfoTrack. “This industry can be hard to network in, and legal conferences really give us the opportunity to do so.”
Not all legal conferences are the same. Some specialize in the business side of legal practice, covering marketing, business development, or law firm management and operations. Others help you go deeper in a particular practice area or connect with other professionals near you. Still others explore innovation in the industry across all areas of operations. Each type of conference offers its own unique benefits:
- Legal tech and innovation
These conferences focus on technological innovations designed specifically to support legal work. Instead of learning about the potential of AI or productivity software generally, for example, you hear directly from experienced legal professionals who know what applications can help legal professionals with their day-to-day work — and what tools and uses aren’t a good fit. You should leave one of these conferences with new ideas about how to use new technology in your firm. ABA TECHSHOW is perhaps the most well-known conference to focus on legal tech, but the agenda for Legalweek typically covers a lot of technological advances, too.
- Specialty practice areas
Every practice area has its own unique concerns and legal developments to track. Specialty practice-focused events like the AILA Annual Conference on Immigration Law and the ABA Labor and the National Employment Lawyers Association’s Annual Convention can help you stay up to date with new developments particular to your practice area while making connections with other specialists.
- Marketing and business development
Every firm has to think about business development at some point, but a lot of general marketing advice can be impractical or irrelevant to the particulars of marketing a legal practice. Events like the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Annual Conference give legal pros and firm marketers expert advice tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities of marketing a law firm and acquiring new clients.
- Management and operations
These events, like the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA)’s Annual Conference, are usually focused on law firm administration, HR, and billing management. While the program will typically be targeted to administrative job roles, attorneys and paralegals who wear many hats, especially those who work in small firms, may find the information valuable too. These conferences offer an opportunity to learn from other administrators what tools or management practices have helped improve efficiency and productivity in their firms.
- Bar association events
Bar events offer great opportunities to make connections with colleagues in your area. These events can be especially good places to learn about new ethical and regulatory updates specific to your local jurisdiction. They can also be a great opportunity to earn continuing legal education (CLE) credits.
While each of these focused events offers something of value to legal professionals, InfoTrack envisioned a conference that brought together legal professionals across states, roles and specialties to learn about technological innovations, gather industry insights, get career advice, and network with colleagues — all in one place, at one time.
InfoTrack launched Legal Up to fill that need for an accessible and well-rounded event for legal professionals.
What is Legal Up?
Legal Up is InfoTrack’s virtual annual conference that brings together legal professionals from across the U.S. to hear about industry insights, advancements in legal technology, advice for navigating legal careers, and to get introductions to the tools legal pros need to stay ahead, all while helping you build practical skills you can put into action today.
What are the benefits of attending Legal Up?
Legal Up is unique in that it covers a variety of topics you might otherwise have to attend multiple conferences to learn about, but that’s not the only thing that makes it special.
- You can attend from anywhere
The virtual format makes the event accessible to a diverse group of busy legal pros — even if you can’t make the live event, sessions will be available for replay up to 72 hours after the conference.
- It’s free for everyone
While many industry conferences can come with high ticket prices, Legal Up is a free event for professionals in all job roles and specialties.
- You can earn CLE credit
Legal Up also offers the opportunity to earn free CLE credits for professionals who need those credits to meet their license requirements. This year’s event will offer 8 eligible sessions for a total of 8 free CLE credit hours.
- You’ll get to focus on your career
Most of all, Legal Up is intended to help you level up in your legal career by offering the opportunity to focus on your personal career trajectory and the areas you want to grow in.
“Legal Up is an amazing opportunity for legal professionals from all around the country to come together for no cost at all,” Williams says. “It’s an inclusive event in so many ways and really stands out in the legal community.”
Even the busiest legal pros benefit from taking the time to learn, network and expand their skillset, making themselves an even more valuable asset to their team.
“Although I am slammed at work, I am glad I took the time to learn more the last two days,” one attendee told us after last year’s event. “I plan to share the information with my boss and others in the office.”
Take the time to put your career first and learn the skills you need to advance, not just in your current role, but in new areas you want to move into, or more senior roles you aspire to.
Register for Legal Up 2026 now.
Author: Rebecca Woodward
Content and Communications Manager for InfoTrack
