Legal tech conferences are loading up on celebrity speakers
From left to right: Rob Lowe, Mel B, Bryan Cranston, Nelly and Nina Totenberg have spoken or performed at legal tech conferences in recent years. (Photos by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images; Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images; Kayla Oaddams/FilmMagic; Araya Doheny/Getty Images; Larry French/Getty Images)
Rob Lowe is an American actor, TV presenter, filmmaker and podcast host. One thing he isn’t: an attorney—although he’s played some on screen.
Lowe was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at American Lawyer Media’s Legalweek conference in March and speak to a room swarming with lawyers about how to be resilient.
He may not be able to talk about representing clients or billing hours, but he understands coming back from adversity. He was involved in a sex tape scandal. He lost hearing in one ear from mumps. He has battled alcohol addiction. And he’s been involved in a slew of lawsuits regarding former employees. But he’s still working in the industry.
Lowe is one of a handful of celebrities—including actor Bryan Cranston and the Spice Girls’ Mel B—who have been invited to legal tech conferences globally to speak on topics ranging from grit to hard work.
“Our keynote speakers were selected for their ability to energize and inspire the audience, increase attendee satisfaction through education, and cater to the diverse needs and wants of this year’s attendees,” says Juliana Groscost, the Salt Lake City-based director of events for practice management software company FileVine. Celebrities at its LEX Summit 2024 included actor Jake Gyllenhaal and rapper Nelly.
Groscost says Nelly was invited because he appeals to every generation and builds camaraderie; Gyllenhaal was chosen because he recently starred in the limited Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent. Plus, Groscost says, “as an A-list celebrity, we were certain that he would deliver a fun, thought-provoking and entertaining end to our two-day event. One lucky winner in our audience even won the opportunity to meet him personally following his keynote.”
Mixed reviews
While celebrities may add a hip factor, a dash of excitement and a story to tell post-conference, some attendees aren’t so sure it’s the best use of a legal conference.
When Lynden Renwick, managing partner with Out-House Attorneys, attended a 2022 legal conference in Las Vegas and noticed that a celebrity was presenting, he immediately tuned out. He doesn’t even remember the celebrity’s name. “It was so irrelevant,” Renwick says, recalling his outrage.
“Most attorneys are pretty intelligent people,” he adds. “When I see events headlined by a celebrity, I [wonder if] they really think that lawyers are so stupid that they think, ‘Rob Lowe will be there. Now I should go?’”
Perhaps. Jennifer Turney, the vice president and global event director at ALM, says these conferences bring the legal tech community interesting speakers they might not see on a conference stage elsewhere. “Whether the stories are about innovation, resilience, reinvention or the power of hard work, they have resonated with Legalweek attendees on a personal and a professional level,” Turney says.
The shift toward nonlawyer celebrity speakers began in 2023, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Turney says Legalweek has grown in attendance year over year, and they expected that trend to continue in 2025. She didn’t respond to requests for specific numbers. It’s also not clear if the conferencegoers were choosing to attend because of the celebrities or for other reasons.
Seth Price, the founder and CEO of BluShark Digital, a legal marketing agency, agrees. He says he’d love to see big-name celebrities at legal conferences because they may inject new perspectives and mindsets from outside the industry.
But he also says he still would look into the other speakers and discussions prior to attending to make sure the conference agenda centers on more substantial topics with the most return of investment to help him run and scale his firm.
Rachi Messing, the co-founder of the document reviewer marketplace Altorney, says he attends legal conferences two or three times annually, and he’s been going to Legalweek for nearly 25 years—essentially two decades before celebrities began to get their presumably pricey invites. (None of the Legalweek conference representatives contacted was willing to share what they have shelled out for celebrity speakers, though according to All American Entertainment, Lowe charges $100,000-$200,000 per appearance.)
But while the celebrities are fun and somewhat inspirational, Messing says, he’s not a big fan of bringing in people who don’t understand legal issues. For example, he says, instead of Lowe appearing to speak about grit, perhaps Legalweek could have invited Monica Lewinsky to address the allegations of sexual harassment at Legalweek 2024 and relate it to what she went through. ALM said in statement last year that it had “been made aware of reports of occurrences of highly inappropriate behavior, including harassment and assault, occurring at unaffiliated venues in New York City during the week of its Legalweek event” and that it “has zero place in any setting.”
Ken LaMance, general counsel at LegalMatch, agrees. He says he would be convinced to attend a legal conference if there were cutting-edge legal developments, opportunities for networking with industry experts and sessions that address both real-world challenges and practices that can benefit his business and his clients.
“If the celebrity is there to provide meaningful contributions related to legal issues rather than just to generate publicity, I think it can be a positive addition,” he says.
Justin Schnitzer, managing partner at the Law Office of Justin Schnitzer, put it quite clearly: “Having a celebrity at a legal conference is like having the law firm partners or the director of the DOJ write a foreword to a romance novel,” he says. “It may be excellent, but his background and skill set have nothing to do with the review he is writing.”
This story was originally published in the April-May 2025 issue of the ABA Journal under the headline: “A-List: Legal tech conferences are loading up on celebrity speakers.”
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