After 21 years, the Great Legal Marketing Summit is coming to a close. The final one runs October 22-24, 2026, at the Westin Washington Dulles Airport near Washington, DC. Here is what the Summit is, why this is the last one, what it costs, and what three days in that room will cover.
What Is the Great Legal Marketing Summit?
The Great Legal Marketing Summit is a three-day conference for solo and small law firm owners, with open registration. Attorney Ben Glass of BenGlassLaw founded it, and he now runs Great Legal Marketing with his son Brian Glass, the organization’s president. The idea behind it is one line Ben has repeated for two decades: you can build a firm that makes real money and still get home in time for dinner.
The event is for owners actively running a firm, not BigLaw associates or people new to a practice area. Over 21 years, more than 1,000 lawyers have come through the room. Unlike a standard legal CLE, the Summit focuses on doing the work. GLM puts it plainly: you came with a to-do list, and you leave with a done list. Ben Glass, who founded BenGlassLaw in 1995 and has written several books on legal marketing, is one of the better-known voices on small-firm growth in the profession.
Why This Is the Last GLM Summit Ever
After 21 years, Ben Glass has said the October 22 to 24, 2026 Summit will be the last Great Legal Marketing Summit ever held. Not postponed, not rebranded, not moved to a new city, not brought back under a different name. In his words, he is closing this chapter on purpose while he is still near the top of it, rather than waiting for the day it closes on him.
He is careful about what is ending and what is not. Great Legal Marketing continues. The Tribe membership, the Mastermind, the print newsletter, and the boot camp days GLM runs in its own office all carry on. What ends is the big, three-day, everyone-in-one-room Summit. There will be no more of those.
That is where the urgency comes from. In past years, you could mean to go and catch the next one. This is the final time this room will assemble in this format. Ben lays out his full reasoning in a letter linked from the official page, worth reading in his own words.
When & Where Is the Last GLM Summit Happening?
The last GLM Summit takes place October 22 to 24, 2026 at the Westin Washington Dulles Airport in Herndon, Virginia, about 25 miles west of Washington, DC. The table below lists the confirmed details. You can register on the official GLM Summit page.
| Detail | Information |
| Dates | October 22 to 24, 2026 (three-day event) |
| Venue | Westin Washington Dulles Airport |
| Address | 2520 Wasser Terrace, Herndon, VA 20171 |
| Nearest airport | Washington Dulles International (IAD), about 1 mile away |
| Format | Live, in-person |
| Attendee cap | Limited (exact count not published) |
| Registration | glmsummit.com (prices step up as the event approaches) |
How much is a standard GLM Summit 2026 ticket?
The GLM Summit 2026 standard ticket is $1,697 per attendee. Additional seats for a team member, partner, or spouse are $1,097 each. The GLM $500,000 Value Guarantee backs both. GLM raises prices as the event gets closer (the official page says they step up about monthly), so the figure may be higher by the time you read this.
A ticket covers all three days of programming, the workshops, networking, access to Ben and Brian Glass, and the GLM alumni community. It does not cover your hotel, travel, or meals outside the event meals. Payment runs through GLM’s official registration portal. If your plans change, GLM asks for at least 30 days’ notice before the event to work out a refund.
The 3-Day Agenda: What You’ll Learn
The GLM Summit 2026 runs as three focused days: strategy and proof on Day 1, roundtable workshops on Day 2, and consolidation on Day 3. The structure is built so you leave with a finished 12-month plan rather than a notebook of ideas.
Day 1: Strategy, proof, and community
Day 1 covers what is working right now in small law firms across the country. Ben Glass, Brian Glass, and some of the most successful small firm owners present the details behind the strategies producing results in the current market.
Day 2: Small-group roundtable workshops
Day 2 is a full day of focused working sessions, with a keynote message and small-group expert workshops in the evening. You leave Day 2 with a clear, specific action plan for your firm.
Day 3: Where everything clicks into place
On Day 3, Ben and Brian close out the Summit, pull together the key takeaways, and make sure every attendee leaves with a plan they can execute the moment they get home.
A few themes run across all three days. One is building what GLM calls algorithm-proof firms, using analog and referral systems big-firm competitors can’t replicate at scale. Another is restructuring a firm to be high-profit and low-maintenance, so it serves your life instead of consuming it. The method is implementation-first: less theory, more execution before you leave. Brian Glass also frames the Summit around preparing for what he calls the Great Divide he sees forming in the 2027 legal landscape, as rising client acquisition costs reshape who wins and who falls behind.
Who’s Speaking at GLM Summit 2026
The GLM Summit 2026 is led by founder Ben Glass and president Brian Glass. Ben founded Great Legal Marketing and BenGlassLaw, his Virginia personal injury and disability firm, and has run the Summit for 21 years. Brian is GLM’s president and a practicing partner and personal injury attorney at BenGlassLaw, and co-wrote Renegade Lawyer Marketing with his father.
The headline keynote is Paul Draper, a mentalist and cognitive anthropologist who studies how people make decisions and respond to influence. His session, “The Psychology of Persuasion,” covers what the most persuasive communicators do differently and how firm owners can use it to attract and sign better clients. The rest of the lineup is below.
| Speaker | Firm | Session topic |
| Conrad Saam | Mockingbird | What law firms should stop doing in digital marketing, and where cases actually come from |
| Gyi Tsakalakis | AttorneySync | SEO, analytics, and marketing you can actually audit |
| Michele Pippin | Engineered Authority | The hidden variable that changes what your expertise is worth |
| Jason Hennessey | Hennessey Digital | SEO and digital marketing: what is working for law firms right now |
| Paul Bamert | Case Status | Client experience and the referrals it wins or loses |
| Colleen Young | Get Staffed Up | Building a high-performance remote team without the hiring headaches |
| Jay Berkowitz | Ten Golden Rules | GLaM Awards: marketing metrics from 300 law firms, and the AI tools and tactics small firms can use now |
Speakers and agenda are subject to change, so check the official page for the current lineup as October nears.
Hennessey Digital at the Last GLM Summit
Jason Hennessey, founder and CEO of Hennessey Digital, is speaking at the final Great Legal Marketing Summit on October 22 to 24, 2026. His session covers SEO and digital marketing, and what is working for law firms right now. It continues a long-standing connection between Hennessey Digital and the GLM community.
Hennessey Digital is a digital marketing agency that works with law firms, built over a decade of running legal campaigns since 2015. In that time, it has become a 6x Inc. 5000 honoree and a Financial Times fastest-growing company in America. Its founder, Jason Hennessey, has been studying the Google algorithm since 2001 and focuses on law firm SEO, the practice of optimizing a firm’s website and online presence. This helps firms rank higher in search results and AI search tools when potential clients look for legal help.
Jason Hennessey wrote the book on law firm SEO, and he leads a team that has helped more than 1,000 firms grow, so a specialist runs your account, not a trainee. The agency’s research spans more than 1,300 firms and 15,000 legal sites, including a lead-form response study showing where firms lose the cases they already paid for. That work has generated more than $1 billion in leads and verdicts for law firms. The strategy is grounded in that primary research, not hunches.
That overlaps with what GLM teaches. GLM’s whole pitch is growing a firm without outspending the big players, and search visibility decides whether a small firm gets found when someone local needs a lawyer. Having someone who works on law firm search every day, in a room built on candid problem-solving, puts attendees next to one of the problems they bring.
Who Should Attend the Last GLM Summit?
The last GLM Summit is designed for solo and small law firm owners who are ready to do the work in the room, not for passive conference-goers, BigLaw executives, or lawyers unwilling to share real numbers with peers. The split below shows who gets the most out of it.
| Attend if you’re | This isn’t for you if you’re |
| A solo or small law firm owner in any practice area | A BigLaw executive or not a firm owner |
| Actively running a firm, not pre-launch | Still planning a firm you haven’t opened yet |
| Set on building a firm that fuels your life instead of consuming it | Content with the billable-hour grind as it is |
| After peer-tested strategies rather than theory | Looking for theoretical frameworks over execution |
| Ready to share real numbers and be coached in a room of peers | Unwilling to share real numbers with other owners |
| Serious about implementing an action plan the week you get home | Attending passively, with no plan to act |
The $500,000 Value Guarantee Explained
GLM backs every Summit ticket with a $500,000 Value Guarantee. If you don’t walk away with at least $500,000 in obvious value for your law firm, you get a full ticket refund, plus $500 in documented travel expenses, plus a $500 check to your spouse, significant other, or family member to compensate them for the time you were away.
The refund covers the full ticket, whether you paid the $1,697 standard rate or the $1,097 guest rate, and it is available until the conclusion of the 2026 Summit. It is one of the more aggressive guarantees in the legal conference space.
How to Get to the Westin Washington Dulles
The Westin Washington Dulles Airport is easy to reach. Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) sits about a mile away. The table below lays out the main routes.
| From | Airport | Travel time to venue |
| Any U.S. city | Washington Dulles (IAD) | 5 to 10 min shuttle from the terminal |
| East Coast, shorter trips | Reagan National (DCA) | About 45 min by car or Uber |
| Baltimore/Mid-Atlantic | BWI | About 1.5 hours by car |
| Driving from DC | Not applicable | About 30 to 45 min west on the Dulles Toll Road |
The Westin runs a free shuttle to and from IAD, so most attendees who fly in don’t need a car (confirm current shuttle service with the hotel). The Metro Silver Line reaches the Reston and Herndon area, with a short Uber or taxi for the final stretch. A rental car is optional, since most attendees stay at the venue hotel. If you do drive, the Westin charges $5 per hour, $15 per day, or $105 per week for self-parking, and $25 per day for valet. The garage can’t take oversized vehicles, so contact the hotel for options if that applies to you.
Where to Stay in Dulles
The simplest option is the Westin Washington Dulles Airport, the venue itself. GLM opens a room block there a few months before the event. You’re also free to stay at any nearby hotel or an Airbnb if you prefer.
Things to Do Near Washington, Dulles
You’re a short drive from Reston Town Center for food and shopping, and close to the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. Washington, DC, and its monuments are under an hour east if you add a day to the trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the questions law firm owners ask most often before registering for GLM Summit 2026, the final year of the Summit after 21 years.
When and where is the Great Legal Marketing Summit 2026?
It runs October 22 to 24, 2026, at the Westin Washington Dulles Airport, 2520 Wasser Terrace, Herndon, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.
Who should attend the Great Legal Marketing Summit 2026?
Solo and small law firm owners who are actively running a firm and ready to work in the room. It is a poor fit for BigLaw executives, pre-launch lawyers, or anyone unwilling to share real numbers with peers.
What is included with a Great Legal Marketing Summit 2026 ticket?
All three days of programming, the workshops, networking, access to Ben and Brian Glass, and the GLM alumni community. Hotel, travel, and meals outside the event meals are not included.
Is the Great Legal Marketing Summit 2026 the final GLM Summit?
Yes. Ben Glass has said the 2026 Summit is the last one, with no plan to postpone, rebrand, relocate, or revive it. Great Legal Marketing itself continues, including the Tribe, the Mastermind, the print newsletter, and the in-office boot camp days. Only the large three-day Summit is ending.
Who runs the Great Legal Marketing Summit?
Ben Glass, founder of Great Legal Marketing and BenGlassLaw, runs it with his son Brian Glass, GLM’s president and a practicing partner at BenGlassLaw.
What’s the $500,000 Value Guarantee?
If you don’t get at least $500,000 in obvious value for your firm, you are entitled to a full ticket refund, plus $500 in documented travel expenses, plus a $500 check to your spouse, significant other, or family member. It is available until the conclusion of the 2026 Summit.
Is Jason Hennessey speaking at the GLM Summit?
Yes. Jason Hennessey, founder and CEO of Hennessey Digital, is a confirmed speaker, with a session on SEO and digital marketing and what is working for law firms right now. Speakers and agenda are subject to change, so check the official page for the latest.
Can I attend remotely if I can’t make it to Washington?
The Summit is built as a live, in-person event. So if you can’t travel, check the current ticket options and terms directly on the official registration page before you decide.
How to Register for GLM Summit 2026
Registration for the final GLM Summit is open at $1,697 per standard attendee, with guest seats at $1,097, through GLM’s official registration portal. Prices increase monthly as October approaches, so the earlier you register, the better your rate.
Book your hotel separately through the GLM room block at the Westin or any nearby hotel. Guest seats for a team member, partner, or spouse are $1,097 (confirm current pricing at checkout). If your plans change, GLM asks for at least 30 days’ notice before the event to arrange a refund. This year, there is no next year to fall back on, so register as early as you can.