Expert Analysis

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four recent rulings from January and identifies practice tips from cases involving allegations of violations of consumer fraud regulations, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employment law and breach of contract statutes.

• 5 Different AI Systems Raise Distinct Privilege Issues

  

  A New York federal court’s recent U.S. v. Heppner decision, holding that a defendant’s use of Claude was not privileged, only addressed one narrow artificial intelligence system, but lawyers must recognize that the spectrum of AI tools raises different confidentiality and privilege questions, says Heidi Nadel at HP.

• Making Effective Use Of DOD's 'Patent Holiday' Program

  

  The U.S. Department of Defense's new defense patent holiday program, designed to let companies experiment with otherwise latent technology without paying typical up-front fees, can help contractors enter new technical domains and markets, but requires careful attention to export controls and patent infringement risks, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

• Health Co.'s 'Success Story' Misstep Holds HIPAA Lessons

  

  Cadia Healthcare Facilities' fall settlement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for improperly disclosing patients' protected health information in online success stories is an instructive example of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act risks that can arise from digital marketing efforts, say attorneys at Wood Rogers.

• Opinion

  AI-Assisted Arbitration Needs Safeguards To Ensure Fairness

  

  As tribunals and arbitral institutions increasingly use artificial intelligence tools in their decision-making processes, ​​​​​​​clear disclosure standards and procedural safeguards are necessary to ensure that efficiency gains do not erode the fairness principles on which arbitration depends, says Alexander Lima at Wesco International.

• Series

  Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

• AI Trade Secret Conviction Highlights Espionage Risks

  

  A California federal court's conviction last month of an ex-Google engineer who stole artificial intelligence trade secrets for the benefit of China is the latest in a series of foreign economic espionage cases and illustrates the urgent need for U.S. companies to implement robust security measures, says attorney Peter Toren.

• NY RAISE Act Raises The Bar For Frontier AI Developers

  

  For organizations developing or substantially modifying highly capable artificial intelligence models, the New York Responsible AI Safety and Education Act represents a meaningful escalation beyond California's S.B. 53, even though it applies to a narrower group of developers, so companies should expect additional obligations, particularly around accelerated incident reporting, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

• AI-Generated Doc Ruling Guides Attys On Privilege Risks

  

  A New York federal court's ruling, in U.S. v. Heppner, that documents created by a defendant using an artificial intelligence tool were not privileged, can serve as a guide to attorneys for retaining attorney-client or work-product privilege over client documents created with AI, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

  

  For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

• How US Liability Law Is Becoming The Primary Regulator Of AI

  

  Comprehensive federal AI regulation remains fragmented and uncertain — but U.S. courts, applying long-standing doctrines of liability and responsibility, are actively shaping how AI systems are designed, deployed and governed, and companies are aligning their AI practices because courts may hold them accountable if they do not, says Alexander Lima at Wesco International.

• Perspectives

  DC Circ. Gag Order Rulings Reveal A Digital Privacy Paradox

  

  A pair of rulings from the D.C. Circuit reveal a growing dilemma in digital privacy jurisprudence for investigative targets, technology companies and transparency advocates — even when courts set the bar higher for broad nondisclosure requests, the public may never be allowed to learn why orders get approved, say attorneys at RJO.

• Record FCA Recoveries Signal Intensified Healthcare Focus

  

  In its recently released False Claims Act statistics, the U.S. government's emphasis on record healthcare recoveries and government-initiated healthcare matters last year indicates robust enforcement ahead, though the administration's focus on current policy objectives also extends beyond the healthcare sector, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

• Methods For Challenging State Civil Investigative Demands

  

  Ongoing challenges to enforcement actions underscore the uphill battle businesses face in arguing that a state investigation is prohibited by federal law, but when properly deployed, these arguments present a viable strategy to resist civil investigative demands issued by state attorneys general, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• How Blockchain Could Streamline Real Estate Transactions

  

  As U.S. real estate markets face pressure to adopt digital frameworks, blockchain technology offers a credible solution for consolidating execution, payment and recording into a single record, with a unified ledger potentially replacing fragmented processes with digitally authenticated events, say attorneys at King & Spalding.