Like a blog, with focus on news in all of the categories listed here. Straight news, analysis, commentary.
California’s groundbreaking climate disclosure laws just overcame a major legal challenge—what does this mean for businesses and the future of corporate transparency? Writer Justin Ward will fill you in.
The authors, Gerald L. Maatman Jr., Alex W. Karasik, and George J. Schaller analyze two novel AI lawsuits and highlight recent governmental guidance related to AI use in the employment context and the implications of possible discriminatory conduct stemming from the use of AI tools. "AI is here to stay," they write. "Whether companies choose AI technology for any 'employment decision,' companies must keep themselves up to date on any issued guidance and must actively monitor AI tools to prevent any possible discriminatory outputs."
The authors, Marshall Gilinsky and Madison Marlow discuss the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within the insurance industry and outline the potential consequences of diminished human oversight in AI-driven insurance claims handling, highlighting the need for watchdogs and regulators to demand that AI tools under development afford “explainability” and protect policyholder rights.
The author, Blair Robinson of Robinson+Cole discusses the need for a practical AI governance framework that businesses must embrace to harness AI’s transformative promise responsibly, encompassing a diligent, strategic, and technically nuanced governance approach. As she notes, "taking a methodical and use-case-driven approach may allow a business to embrace the transformative power of AI in critical areas while managing “wild west”-style use by employees without governance approval".
The authors, Graham Reynolds, Robin Sagstetter, and Damon W.D. Wright discuss recent court cases which have brought to the forefront the top legal risks associated with the use of Generative AI.
The authors, Robert Chesler, Dennis Artese, and Jamie O'Neill of Anderson Kill examine recent court decisions and ongoing cases that have brought to the forefront the critical issue of the reach of pollution exclusions in insurance policies.
In this episode, we discuss picking juries in an age of misinformation, general distrust, tribalism, unleashed social media surfers, and unorthodox legal strategies unfolding on a daily basis with Tara Trask of Trask Consulting, jury and trial expert. "Jury service is an opportunity for everyday Americans to interact with an important institution, our courts, and play their part as citizens,"Trask says. "The court system could very well be our saving grace in trying to hang on to our democracy." Listen now.
In this episode, we discuss the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) with Lori Smith of Stradley Ronon, including the key facets of the Act's requirements, potential penalties, and chances for litigation. As Lori notes, "the U.S. is one of the few countries in the world where you can form entities, and nobody can tell who owns them". The CTA aims to prevent this from being the case. Listen and learn more!
Momentum in the national debate over whether a college athlete should profit from licensing deals for their “names, images, and likenesses,” or NILs, swung in favor of players on June 21, 2021, when the Supreme Court ruled for the athletes in NCAA v. Alston. Authors Joy Sidhwa and Tim LaComb of MoginRubin, LLP discuss the impacts of the decision and subsequent court decisions and state legislation which have further cemented and defined the changing amateurism rules in college sports. As the authors note, "the ultimate test of whether amateurism drives demand will come after new state laws allow compensation unrelated to education. If compensation doesn’t trigger a drop in demand, the NCAA will lose its procompetitive justification for the restriction and likely bring an end to amateurism rules".
Studies have shown that “underground climate change” is affecting ground soil conditions, causing structural strains on buildings and exacerbating cracks and defects in walls and foundations. The authors, Dennis Artese, Ethan Middlebrooks, and Thomas Dupont analyze permutations of policy language and state law that may affect coverage for damage caused by underground climate change, including how state law treats anti-concurrent causation clauses, whether “human-caused” exceptions to earth movement exclusions may apply to underground climate change, and whether “abrupt collapse” exceptions to exclusions for building collapse may apply when undetected structural damage triggered by underground climate change triggers collapse. As the authors note, "there are numerous arguments in favor of coverage under all-risk property insurance policies for losses related to underground climate change".
Insurance companies are implementing new measures to try to avoid paying for liabilities attached to consumer and employee biometric privacy law violations. The authors, Cort Malone and Abigail Damsky explore the issues companies and policyholders should be examining to ensure adequate protection in the present and future. As the authors note, “as more states pass biometric privacy laws, it is critical not only to follow court decisions but also to understand how insurance companies are attempting to avoid liability for such claims.”
Expert disclosures in litigation are vitally important for trial testimony and planning for trial. The author, Ethan Minkin examines issues surrounding expert depositions and trial disclosures, which he argues need to be appreciated to avoid unanticipated surprises at trial. As Ethan discusses, "the pretrial process requires an eye toward the future. Trial work is not limited to just knowing the applicable Rules of Evidence. The applicable Rules of Civil Procedure play an equally important, if not greater, role in helping to define what will happen at trial".
