The last few weeks have been a whirlwind: hot off the tails of PILMMA Super Summit, Lanier Trial Academy, and MaxLawCon, our team hopped back on the plane and jetted off to Seattle for the 2022 AAJ Annual Convention.
For this event, our President & COO Scott Shrum, Director of Business Development Rob Coleman, and Senior Director of Marketing Cindy Kerber Spellman represented Hennessey Digital at the annual summer meeting of the American Association for Justice.
What is The American Association for Justice?
The American Association for Justice “delivers exceptional education, unparalleled advocacy, and a dedicated community of trial lawyers fighting for justice.” Our team witnessed this firsthand at the 2022 AAJ Annual Convention, or Justice 2022.
AAJ Annual Convention (or “AAJ” as the event is commonly known) is the summertime meeting of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) membership. As we learned at AAJ last year during our summer 2021 legal industry events circuit, the American Association for Justice lobbies for legislation that helps victims of accidents or negligence. In essence, the organization helps attorneys help more people.
Our Experience at the AAJ Annual Convention
To kick things off at the 2022 AAJ Annual Convention, the Hennessey Digital team enjoyed meeting with lawyers from all across the country at the welcome reception at the Seattle Space Needle. And it was an extra special treat to snap a photo with the Munley Law team in front of the iconic landmark.
The previous evening, Brian Garelli hosted a fantastic dinner where our team enjoyed getting to know Dean Chase of Trusted Legal Partners, Anne Andrews of Andrews & Thornton, and Yari Lawson of Lawson Law.
The next three days were filled with spending time in the exhibit hall and engaging with so many high-profile, high-performing attorneys and industry partners. We had the chance to see some familiar faces, including Luke Russell of Lawful Good Podcast, and Rob Coleman got to hold one of the cutest attendees we’ve met at any legal conference!
Everyone we met was so kind and engaging, happily sharing their stories of how they got into law. We were able to get a sense of how passionate they are about serving their communities.
The entire leadership team of the AAJ Annual Convention was present and engaging in the exhibit halls. We loved getting to meet incoming President Tad Thomas, as well as, other leading members, Sean Domnick, John Bey, and Marion Munley. It was a really special treat to meet Congressman Matt Cartwright who wrote the legislation leading to the Camp Lejeune lawsuits.
When we attended AAJ in 2021, it was still early days of being back at live events after COVID had started. And while it’s been over a year since that conference, everyone still echoes how great it is to be together in person.
As our time in Seattle wound down, our team was able to sneak away for some sightseeing and taste some delicious Northwest fare. But of course what makes any culinary experience special is not the food, but the company, and our time at the AAJ annual convention was no exception.
AAJ is one of our favorites because spending time with this group of lawyers always broadens our knowledge and keeps us updated on legal industry events, trends, and shifts. When we can speak the language of our clients, we can understand them better and it helps us serve them better!
Summer 2022 AAJ Annual Convention Takeaways
What differentiates the AAJ Annual Convention from other legal industry conferences is how invested the attendees are. Not only do the lawyers take their educational programming extremely seriously, but participation was also high in specific legal practice discussion groups.
It was a world of knowledge-sharing from AAJ leaders and its membership. With sessions like Tools for Today’s Trial Lawyer, Nursing Home Litigation Group, and Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, AAJ is a meeting of top legal minds looking to learn and grow.
The Hennessey Digital team came away from the AAJ annual convention with these key themes (and a tip:)
- Courts are back in person in many places. A handful of attorneys told us how good it feels to be back in court. However, this causes a previously unforeseen issue…
- Juries wearing masks causes complications. While being back in person is terrific, it comes with certain challenges, such as not being able to read jurors’ faces as easily with their masks on.
- Register for conferences early. The talk going around the AAJ Annual Convention was the influx of registrations 2 weeks before. Be sure to help your convention staff out and register as early as possible.
Upcoming legal industry events
Now that legal industry conferences are on a short break, our team is busy integrating the knowledge and takeaways from the AAJ Summer Convention. We’ll be at CAALA in early September, and we’re already planning for the AAJ Winter Convention in early 2023.
Capture any great moments with us at the AAJ Annual Convention? Tag us on Instagram @hennesseydigital and share your photos!