Meritas® – 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) Recap

Last week marked the Meritas^®– 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM). Hosted by member firm Johnston, Allison & Hord in Charlotte, North Carolina, this year’s AGM was particularly exciting for Boughton, as the firm’s president, Luca Citton, officially began his term as Meritas^® Board Chair.

The meeting also featured a packed schedule of presentations and working groups, including keynote speaker John Hart, as well as a welcome reception at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Boughton’s Citton attended the AGM—along with James M. Coady, K.C., and Justin J. Park—and provided a brief recap of the meeting.

Integrating Tech

Information Technology (IT) topics are often included in Meritas^® meetings, and this year’s AGM was no different. Titled ‘Leveraging Automation and AI to Create Value’, this year’s panel discussion specifically viewed IT through a value-based lens, rather than as individual trends.

“It seems like technology trends are always a topic at legal events,” explains Citton. “Is AI going to take over? How do we store and secure data? Remote working trends. But this year’s approach to IT was novel, creating some interesting dialog and ideas.”

Focused on leveraging technology to improve automation and efficiency, the tone of the session was less about ‘the sky is falling’ and more about ‘value-add’—for clients and firms.

“The automation topics—both AI-based and via existing software—were exciting,” continues Citton. “The panels really connected these tools to the overall business of law, as opposed to as solutions to specific problems. That perspective was quite impactful for those of us in firm management.”

The AGM also featured a panel for the network’s Emerging Leaders group. Focusing on generative AI in the legal practice, Boughton’s Justin J. Park found the session helpful in balancing the sometimes alarmist headlines about AI and lawyers.

“It was helpful to have IT and legal experts come together to outline some of the potential benefits of AI for lawyers, as well as the potential pitfalls,” says Park. “This provided a more balanced look at what AI could mean for the future of the industry as well as useful tips on how to ‘communicate’ with AI to get the most out of the tools.”

Embracing Diversity

Being a leader in diversity within the legal profession is important to Meritas^® members. Many firms have existing diversity initiatives, while others are formalizing their policies, or simply beginning to consider what diversity means to them and their firm. Regardless of where firms are at in their journey, Meritas^® can offer support.

“With respect to diversity, again firm members have incredible resources available through the network,” says Citton. “They don’t have to figure it all out on their own. They can leverage resources and workshops offered by the network, or just brainstorm ideas with peers. The hope is that by embracing this type of firm development, we can expand our profession to more people and ultimately better serve clients.”

This year’s AGM featured a meeting of the network’s Women’s Leadership Congress, special awards for women’s leadership within Meritas^®, as well as a client panel discussing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the legal profession.

Shared Learning

A key benefit of the Meritas^® network is the opportunity to share learnings across firms. In Charlotte this year, Citton chaired one such session for managing partners, titled ‘Why Didn’t Someone Tell Me This Earlier?’.

“I think the management session was quite eye-opening this year,” says Citton. “Not only were people sharing ideas around firm management, but it was also validating for firm managers to see that many of the issues they’re facing are similar across the industry. That prompted lots of discussion and brainstorming, and people had some concrete takeaways to bring back to their firms.”

To learn more about Meritas^®, click here.