LEX Summit 2026 opens Monday, October 26, at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina and runs through Thursday, October 29. Four days of legal AI sessions, Filevine training, and main-stage keynotes build toward a Matthew McConaughey keynote, a Top Gun-themed party on a historic aircraft carrier, and a closing LEX Fest at Petco Park with the Goo Goo Dolls. It is Filevine’s flagship user conference wrapped inside concert-level production, which is what sets it apart from the usual legal tech circuit. The Hennessey Digital team will be in San Diego all week. If you have not registered, there is still time.
The Filevine Flagship, Decoded
LEX Summit is Filevine’s annual conference, the legal case management company serving thousands of law firms nationwide. It does two jobs at once. For Filevine users, it is the official user conference, with Basecamp training and Ask an Expert sessions built around the product. For everyone else, it is a Legal AI and Tech conference with keynotes, breakout tracks, and community programming open to the whole legal field, whether you run Filevine or not. The organizers’ tagline, “Catch the Current Thinking in Legal Innovation,” fits the crowd it draws: partners, in-house counsel, paralegals, legal ops professionals, and legal tech leaders. Multi-year attendees tend to vouch for it. Craig Goldenfarb of GoldLaw, who says he attends around 20 conferences a year, ranks it as his favorite.
October 26–29 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina
LEX Summit 2026 runs Monday, October 26 through Thursday, October 29 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, a bayfront hotel in downtown San Diego with marina views and the Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park, and the waterfront within walking distance. That proximity matters: the main stage, the exhibit hall, the Tuesday night party, and Wednesday’s LEX Fest are all either inside the hotel or a short walk away, so most attendees never need a car after they arrive.
| Detail | Info |
| Dates | Monday, October 26 to Thursday, October 29, 2026 |
| Venue | Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina |
| Area | 333 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101 |
| Walkable to | Petco Park, Gaslamp Quarter, USS Midway Museum, Seaport Village |
| Nearest airport | San Diego International Airport (SAN), about a 10- to 15-minute drive |
| Format | 4 days: Basecamp training + keynotes + off-site parties |
| Rooms | Book through the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina reservation page linked from the LEX Summit site |
Investment, Tiers, and What Your Pass Actually Buys
LEX Summit 2026 pricing is public on the official LEX Summit pricing portal. Three passes are offered. The General Session pass is $1,395 at full price and covers all four days of programming, keynotes, breakout sessions, exhibit hall access, event meals during conference hours, and a ticket to LEX Fest. The Basecamp + General Session pass is $1,695 and adds the three days of hands-on Filevine workshops. A standalone LEX Fest pass is $299 and covers the closing party only. The earlier Premier and Early Bird tiers have expired, so this is final-week pricing. Your pass does not cover your Marriott Marquis room (booked separately), travel to San Diego, or meals outside conference hours. With the event opening Monday, register today if you are going.
The Headliners: McConaughey, Christian, Tacopina
Three names carry the main stage this year: Matthew McConaughey, the Academy Award-winning actor and producer, delivering the marquee keynote; Kwame Christian, the lawyer, author, and Negotiate Anything host, keynoting on negotiation; and Joe Tacopina, one of the country’s most recognizable trial attorneys, in a fireside chat. Here is what each brings.
Matthew McConaughey takes the keynote slot on Wednesday afternoon. An Academy Award winner, his film roles have put him on every side of the law, from A Time to Kill to The Lincoln Lawyer, and he is coming to talk about the law, the movies, and the space between. It is one of the biggest non-legal bookings on the 2026 legal conference calendar.
Kwame Christian keynotes Tuesday afternoon. He is a lawyer, author of Finding Confidence in Conflict, and host of Negotiate Anything, a negotiation podcast with more than 15 million downloads across 180-plus countries. His session centers on negotiation, which applies to every attorney in the room, whatever the practice area.
Joe Tacopina sits for a fireside chat on Wednesday morning with Filevine CEO Ryan Anderson. Tacopina is a New York trial attorney with more than three decades in the courtroom and a roster of high-profile clients, and the conversation covers trial strategy, cross-examination, and life in front of a jury.
Beyond the three headliners, dozens of breakout speakers cover legal AI, Filevine implementation, case management, and firm operations. The full lineup is on the speakers page.
The Goo Goo Dolls Are Playing LEX Fest at Petco Park
The Goo Goo Dolls, the band behind “Iris,” “Slide,” and 16 number-one radio hits, headline LEX Fest at Petco Park on Wednesday, October 28. The show is attendee-only, and admission is included with every registration, so your seat is waiting if you sign up. The venue is Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, a short walk from the Marriott Marquis. Beyond the music, the night features interactive activations, local food, coastal cocktails, and the main-stage set. The night also includes a sweepstakes: every attendee is automatically entered to win a band-autographed Fender Telecaster, with a photo opportunity and the winner’s name called live on stage. No extra steps required. Legal conferences rarely book bands at this level, and the production deliberately sets LEX Summit apart from a standard CLE event.
The 4-Day Flow: Basecamp, Keynotes, Flight Deck, LEX Fest
LEX Summit spans four days, each with its own rhythm: Basecamp training runs Monday through Wednesday alongside the main stage, the big parties land Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and Thursday closes with one-on-one expert time. Here is how the week plays out.
Monday, October 26 is opening day. Basecamp training runs all day across five rooms, covering document management, Filevine AI and LOIS, reporting, and more. The evening is lower-key by design: an opening cocktail reception from 6 to 8 pm in the hotel, a chance to settle in before the pace picks up.
Tuesday, October 27 is the first full programming day. General sessions open with a welcome from Filevine CEO Ryan Anderson, the product team, and the Filevine Futurists, then breakout tracks across litigation, government, operations, and AI in practice. Kwame Christian keynotes late afternoon, and live podcast recordings run throughout the day. Tuesday night is the Flight Deck Welcome Party, the Top Gun-themed evening on the flight deck of a historic aircraft carrier, sponsored by Swyft.
Wednesday, October 28 is the main-stage peak. It opens with a legal AI ethics panel and the Joe Tacopina fireside chat, runs breakouts through midday, and closes the afternoon with the Matthew McConaughey keynote. Wednesday night is LEX Fest at Petco Park with the Goo Goo Dolls.
Thursday, October 29 winds down with breakfast and a final Ask an Expert session, one-on-one time with Filevine specialists before everyone heads home.
Basecamp: The Three-Day Filevine Training Immersion
Basecamp is LEX Summit’s hands-on Filevine training track, running three days from Monday through Wednesday, rebuilt into a deeper, fully practical immersion for users who want real command of the platform. For a Filevine firm, it is often the most useful reason to make the trip.
The format leans on practical application, guided instruction, and real-time problem-solving rather than lecture, and it is aimed at Filevine users across roles: attorneys, paralegals, legal ops, and admins. The expansion came in response to attendees asking for more depth. On Thursday, the Ask an Expert sessions give you one-on-one time with Filevine specialists to work through specific firm challenges. People tend to leave with changes they can put in place the same week. If you use Filevine, three days of hands-on training with Filevine’s product specialists in one room can justify the trip.
The Opening Night Party on a Real Aircraft Carrier
On Tuesday night, LEX Summit takes over a historic aircraft carrier on San Diego Bay for a Top Gun-themed party that feels more like a show than a reception.
The party runs from 7 to 10 pm. Given the venue’s proximity to the Marriott Marquis, the likely candidate is the USS Midway Museum, the retired carrier berthed a short walk down the waterfront, though the organizers describe it simply as a historic aircraft carrier. The theme is Top Gun, so lean into it, including bomber jackets and aviators. The evening runs a private ship tour, live entertainment, curated dinner stations, and drinks as the sun sets over the bay, sponsored by Swyft. Pack a jacket and arrive on time. This is not the usual opening reception. It is a production, so pack a jacket and arrive on time.
Live Podcast Recordings You Can Sit In On
LEX Summit records several podcasts live during the week, and you can sit in the room. Three shows are confirmed: The Geek in Review, a legal tech podcast; The Umansky Podcast, hosted by William “The Lawman” Umansky; and The Future of Law is Today, with more shows possible before the event. The podcast room is sponsored by Tech-Cow.
You can ask questions during the recording and catch unscripted moments that never make it into the edit. Seats are limited, so check the event app when you arrive. If you already follow any of these shows, sitting in on a live taping changes how you hear them afterward.
Hennessey Digital’s Presence at LEX Summit 2026
Hennessey Digital will be on the ground in San Diego for the full run of LEX Summit, Monday through Thursday. Founded and led by Jason Hennessey, the agency helps plaintiff and criminal defense firms tackle the growth questions that come up between sessions at an event like this. Jason has spent two decades reverse-engineering how search works for law firms, and strategies he’s developed with the firms he’s worked with have contributed to more than $2 billion in cases and verdicts. For attendees already set on Filevine for case management, the team is there to talk through the demand side: law firm SEO services, law firm PPC campaign optimization, and AI Search visibility (GEO) across platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.
The Legal Professional LEX Summit Was Built For
LEX Summit is built for the people running and modernizing law firms: partners, in-house counsel, paralegals, and legal operations professionals at firms adopting legal AI and case management platforms. The crowd skews toward plaintiff personal injury and criminal defense, which reflects Filevine’s customer base, but the sessions apply well beyond those areas.
You will get the most out of it as a partner evaluating or using Filevine; a paralegal, case manager, or legal ops lead in the platform daily; in-house counsel weighing legal AI adoption; a legal tech leader at a firm or vendor; an attorney who wants McConaughey, Christian, and Tacopina on one agenda; or a firm leader reading where legal AI is headed into 2027. The conference draws more than 2,000 North Americans, and CLE credit is available through the general and breakout sessions.
Getting to San Diego and the Marriott Marquis
Getting to the Marriott Marquis from San Diego International Airport takes about 10 minutes. It is one of the shortest airport-to-venue transfers among the major U.S. legal conferences. And once you are downtown, you can leave the driving to someone else for the whole conference.
- Airport: San Diego International Airport (SAN) is the only commercial airport serving the metro, about a 10- to 15-minute drive from the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina.
- Rideshare or taxi: the simplest call from the terminal; both run the short downtown hop directly to the hotel.
- Hotel shuttle: the Marriott Marquis does not run an airport shuttle, so plan on rideshare or a taxi.
- Rental car: not needed. The hotel is within walking distance of Petco Park for LEX Fest, the waterfront carrier for the Flight Deck party, the Gaslamp Quarter, and Seaport Village.
Plan for a quick 10-minute rideshare after you land and leave the car behind.
Lodging on the San Diego Marina
The Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina is the host hotel for LEX Summit and the place to book first. The official LEX Summit room block closed on October 19, but the organizers have said some availability remains, so book the group rate directly through the reservation page linked from the LEX Summit site, and do it now. If the Marriott Marquis is sold out, the Bayfront and Gaslamp Quarter have walkable alternatives nearby:
- Omni San Diego Hotel at the Ballpark: 675 L Street, next to Petco Park, from $318 a night.
- Pendry San Diego: 550 J Street in the Gaslamp Quarter, from $290 a night.
- InterContinental San Diego: 901 Bayfront Court on the water, from $390 a night.
Late October is a good time to book rooms in San Diego. Rates shown are the lowest nightly starting prices for October 26–29 and exclude taxes and per-night fees.
San Diego Beyond the Conference Floor
San Diego rewards an extra day. Within walking distance, you have the USS Midway Museum, Seaport Village, the Gaslamp Quarter, and Petco Park itself. A short rideshare takes you to Balboa Park, a 1,200-acre complex with more than a dozen museums and the San Diego Zoo, plus Coronado Island across the bridge and La Jolla Cove up the coast. On the food side, the city runs from Puesto’s Mexican seafood on the marina to Juniper & Ivy in Little Italy and Hodad’s burgers in Ocean Beach. With a passport, Tijuana and its Baja food scene are a day trip away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still register this week?
Yes. Registration is open through the official LEX Summit site until the event, though the earlier promotional tiers have closed. Sign up before you travel to confirm your badge and seat at LEX Fest.
What is the ticket pricing for the LEX Summit 2026?
At full price, the General Session pass is $1,395, the Basecamp + General Session pass is $1,695, and a standalone LEX Fest pass is $299. The current rates and any remaining options are on the pricing portal.
What are the timings of LEX Summit 2026?
The conference runs Monday, October 26 through Thursday, October 29. Programming days generally start with breakfast around 7 to 8 am and run through late-afternoon keynotes, with the Flight Deck party Tuesday night and LEX Fest Wednesday night, both 7 to 10 pm.
Will I actually get into the Matthew McConaughey keynote?
The McConaughey keynote is Wednesday afternoon on the main stage, open to general session attendees. Seating is first-come, so arrive early.
How do I enter the autographed Goo Goo Dolls guitar sweepstakes?
You are entered automatically. Every LEX Summit attendee is entered for the autographed Fender Telecaster, with no extra steps required. Official rules are linked from the LEX Summit site.
Will Hennessey Digital be at LEX Summit 2026?
Yes. The Hennessey Digital team is on-site Monday through Thursday and available to meet with firm leaders during the week.
Can my paralegal or legal ops team attend?
Yes, and it is a good idea. The organizers recommend sending several people from a firm, since the Basecamp tracks and breakouts are split by role and experience level, so teams cover more ground by attending different sessions and comparing notes.
Catch Hennessey Digital on the Marina This Week
If you are heading to LEX Summit 2026 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, the Hennessey Digital team is on-site October 26 through 29 and ready to meet with firm leaders who want to compound their SEO, PPC, and AI Search visibility alongside their Filevine setup. Book a 20-minute strategy meeting with Hennessey Digital at the Marriott Marquis, or, if you are not attending, book a virtual strategy call instead. You can also grab a Free AI Visibility Report or see the firm’s upcoming legal marketing events for the next place to connect.