Expert Analysis

• Enter The Wu-Tang Ruling That May Change Trade Secret Law

  

  A New York federal court's recent holding that a Wu-Tang Clan album qualifies as a trade secret provides the first federal framework for analyzing trade secret claims involving assets valued primarily for exclusivity, potentially reshaping Defend Trade Secrets Act jurisprudence for the digital economy, says Jason Bradford at Jenner & Block.

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  Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

  

  After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

• Breaking Down The Intersection Of Right-Of-Publicity Law, AI

  

  Jillian Taylor at Blank Rome examines how existing right-of-publicity law governs artificial intelligence-generated voice-overs, deepfakes and deadbots; highlights a recent New York federal court ruling involving AI-generated voice clones; and offers practical guardrails for using AI without violating the right of publicity.

• Mich. Ruling Narrows Former Athletes' Path To NIL Recovery

  

  A federal judge's recent dismissal of a name, image and likeness class action by former Michigan college football players marks the third such ruling this year, demonstrating how statutes of limitation and prior NIL settlements are effectively foreclosing these claims for pre-2016 student-athletes, say attorneys at Venable.

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  Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

• Drug Ad Crackdown Demonstrates Admin's Aggressive Stance

  

  Recent actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services targeting pharmaceutical companies' allegedly deceptive advertising practices signal an active — potentially even punitive — intent to regulate direct-to-consumer advertising out of existence, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Protecting Sensitive Court Filings After Recent Cyber Breach

  

  In the wake of a recent cyberattack on federal courts' Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, civil litigants should consider seeking enhanced protections for sensitive materials filed under seal to mitigate the risk of unauthorized exposure, say attorneys at Redgrave.

• Midjourney Cases Could Define Fair Use In Age Of AI Images

  

  Recently filed litigation over Midjourney's use of artificial intelligence-generated images based on Disney, Universal and Warner Bros.' copyrighted characters display straightforward infringement issues favoring the plaintiffs, but also present an opportunity to clarify the fair use doctrine as it relates to generative AI, says Avery Carter at Arnall Golden.

• Means-Plus-Function Terms In Software Claims May Be Risky

  

  Though the Federal Circuit recently reversed a decision rejecting a set of means-plus-function software claims as lacking sufficient structure, practitioners who proceed under this holding may run into indefiniteness problems if they do not consider other Federal Circuit holdings related to the definiteness requirement, says Jeffrey Danley at Seed IP Law Group.

• New Calif. Chatbot Bill May Make AI Assistants Into Liabilities

  

  While a pending California bill aims to regulate emotionally engaging chatbots that target children, its definition of "companion chatbot" may cover more ground — potentially capturing virtual assistants used for customer service or tech support, and creating serious legal exposure for businesses, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Navigating Employee Social Media Use Amid Political Violence

  

  With concerns about employee social media use reaching a fever pitch in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, employers should analyze the legal framework, update company policies and maintain a clear mission to be prepared to manage complaints around employees' polarizing posts amid rising political division and violence, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

• Training AI On Books: A Tale Of 2 Fair Use Rulings

  

  Though two recent decisions from the Northern District of California concluded that training artificial intelligence with copyrighted books counts as fair use, certain meaningful differences in reasoning could affect pending and future cases, says Brett Carmody at Atheria Law.

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  Judging Figure Skating Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Judging figure skating competitions helps me hone the focus, decisiveness and ability to process complex real-time information I need in court, but more importantly, it makes me reengage with a community and my identity outside of law, which, paradoxically, always brings me back to work feeling restored, says Megan Raymond at Groombridge Wu.

• $100K H-1B Fee May Disrupt Rural Healthcare Needs

  

  The Trump administration's newly imposed $100,000 supplemental fee on new H-1B petitions may disproportionately affect healthcare employers' ability to recruit international medical graduates, and the fee's national interest exceptions will not adequately solve ensuing problems for healthcare employers or medically underserved areas, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

• Female Athletes' NIL Deal Challenge Could Be Game Changer

  

  A challenge by eight female athletes to the NCAA’s $2.8 billion name, image and likeness settlement shows that women in sports are still fighting for their share — not just of money, but of respect, resources and representation, says Madilynne Lee at Anderson Kill.