The actor and well-known personality Rob Lowe took the keynote stage at LegalWeek 2025 yesterday (March 26) for a roughly 45-minute interview with ALM’s Gina Passarella, editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer. Lowe is not just an actor—he’s also a producer, director, and author. The keynote was entitled The Art of Reinvention: Turning Setbacks into Stepping Stones.
Lowe was engaging, funny, and full of colorful stories and anecdotes. Turns out, he’s a pretty good storyteller by the way. That said, there was little in his talk that directly touched on law or legal tech—aside from the fact that his 86-year-old father is a practicing lawyer in Dayton, Ohio.
Ever since I have been attending legal conferences, there has been a debate over keynotes. Some loudly insist that a keynote at a legal tech conference should focus on legal technology. Some say keynotes should be more about drawing people in, offering content that enlightens and entertains, even if it’s not strictly tied to the conference’s core theme. The latter group also argues that it’s valuable to have someone outside our bubble legal tech bubble to offer a broader, more diverse view of the world.
Lowe’s talk came up in conversation after conversation throughout the day.
Of late, the “get a big draw keynote” approach seems to be winning out. At recent events, celebrities like Bryan Cranston and Jake Gyllenhaal have taken the keynote stage instead of folks from the legal tech world. And to be fair, it seems to work. For Lowe’s talk, every seat in the enormous ballroom was filled, with plenty of people standing. If anyone left early, I didn’t notice. More importantly, Lowe’s talk came up in conversation after conversation throughout the day.
There’s also a branding and marketing angle to the celebrity keynote strategy. Lowe’s talk was sponsored by a well-known vendor. Every chair had a branded cover, and