Federal court rejects First Amendment defense in chatbot wrongful death case

June 26th, 2025|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

As generative AI tools grow more sophisticated—and more personal—the legal system is being forced to confront their potential harms. Guest contributor Justin Ward explores a chilling case against Character AI, where the mother of a teenage user is suing the company after her son took his own life. The boy had become fixated on an AI-generated version of a Game of Thrones character. In a significant ruling, a federal judge refused to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds, challenging assumptions about whether AI output qualifies as protected speech—and raising urgent questions about AI accountability, user vulnerability, and the boundaries of tech company liability.

AI tools may be the cause of the explosion in nuclear verdicts — and also the solution

April 6th, 2025|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, HB Tort Notes, Journal, New Featured Post for Home Page, News, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Guest contributor Justin Ward discusses how artificial intelligence is both fueling and fighting the rise of “nuclear verdicts.” Plaintiff attorneys are using AI to identify high-damages cases, favorable jurisdictions, and winning arguments—driving a spike in verdicts over $10 million. At the same time, defense lawyers and insurers are adopting tools like NaVeL to spot high-risk cases early and craft smarter strategies. As AI reshapes legal practice, the very technology accelerating massive awards may also be the best hope for containing them.

Legal Innovation: Choosing the Best AI Tools and Strategies for Success

September 17th, 2024|Categories: CLE OnDemand, Law Firm Operations, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

During this webinar, Robinson+Cole's knowledge management professionals Liz Salsedo and Jim Merrifield help you better understand artificial intelligence and generative AI.  Learn about the categories of work in which AI is being applied in the practice of law, e.g., legal research, document drafting, deposition preparation, and discovery review.   Understand the various risks associated with AI, e.g., biased and inaccurate outputs, unauthorized disclosures of private data, and intellectual property infringement.  Get an overview of governmental regulation and guidance. Finally, start your journey to develop best practices in establishing AI governance teams and processes with an eye toward complying with regulations and mitigating risk.  

Automation Comes to Our Litigation Nation with James Lee

June 20th, 2024|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, ELP, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

In this episode, we discuss litigation automation and another case in which innovators are using artificial intelligence to transform legal operations with guest James M. Lee, co-founder and CEO of LegalMation. Listen and learn more!

Technology-Assisted Review: Sara Lord Interviews Data Scientist Lenora Gray

April 14th, 2024|Categories: ELP, Law Firm Operations, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

In this episode, Sara Lord of Legal Metrics speaks with Lenora Gray of Redgrave Data about eDiscovery in the practice of litigation and how it has been transformed by technology-assisted review tools – or TAR, and how these tools work. Every litigator needs to understand how eDiscovery tools work. They should be able to answer questions around the approach being used, why that approach was chosen, the reliability of the assisted review, what human oversight was implemented, and more. Listen and learn. PLUS: Watch the video for outtakes and bonus content!

Transforming Legal Workflows with AI: Sara Lord Interviews Tara Emory and Wilzette Louis

March 17th, 2024|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, ELP, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

In this episode, Sara Lord of Legal Metrics speaks with Tara Emory and Wilzette Louis of Redgrave Data about the game-changing potential of robotic process automation and AI, and how these are not just futuristic concepts but practical solutions to today's legal challenges. As Tara notes, "Wherever your team is spending most of its time on manual tasks, that’s where you can further automate with technology and get the most benefit". Wilzette adds, "AI-driven automation technology can take different aspects of an entire workflow and bring them into a set of processes that a software robot can perform for you. Soon, adopting such technology will be a must for firms to compete". Listen and learn more!

The Intersection of Generative AI and the Legal Profession with Niki Black

March 17th, 2024|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, ELP, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

In this episode, we discuss the current state and future of generative artificial intelligence and the practice of law with Nicole Black, attorney, legal tech journalist, and author. As she notes, "The legal field is one of the most likely to be impacted by generative AI because the technology can significantly replace certain workflows or assist with those workflows in impactful ways". Listen and learn more!

Litigators, YES Litigators: One Attorney’s Journey Within and Without the Legal Industry

February 19th, 2024|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, ELP, Law Firm Operations|Tags: , , , , |

In this episode, we discuss all the things one former litigator, Somya Kaushik, Senior Corporate Counsel at Mineral and Adjunct Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School has done, and the advantages she feels a litigator can bring to a small company – one that isn’t embroiled in litigation (and would like to keep it that way). As she notes, "a litigator is well-positioned to identify actual but often overlooked legal risks, effectively mitigating issues and reducing both business and legal risks". Listen and learn more!

The Light and Dark Sides of Auto-GPT

August 2nd, 2023|Categories: Corporate Compliance, ELP, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Businesses must understand how Auto-GPT technologies use data, the potential for biased results, and how to responsibly leverage these powerful technologies. Listen to my interview with Jason I. Epstein, Partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, as we explore this emerging field.

Law Firm Technology Directors? Yes.

June 6th, 2023|Categories: ELP, Law Firm Operations, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , , |

In this episode we talk about the advantages of having technology and software development capabilities inside your law firm. Can you imagine? And we’re not just talking about someone who is adept at unjamming the printer.  

Big Tech’s Race to Develop Superior Artificial Intelligence Technology

May 11th, 2023|Categories: Corporate Compliance, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Big Tech’s Race to Develop Superior Artificial Intelligence Technology Will A.I. Compromise Free Enterprise, Disclosure and Security? America’s Big Five tech companies – Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft – are racing to develop technology they claim will change the world -- again. The tech Goliaths have more than 33,000 researchers at their disposal to create artificial intelligence (A.I.) technology with an obvious and perpetual prize: revenue.  It's the talk of the world. NBC Nightly News recently predicted the impacts that A.I. will have on society in the coming years. A.I. tech was also the center of attention at the 2023 Davos Economic Summit.  Prominent tech leaders such as Elon Musk and the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, heralded that A.I. will improve virtually everyone’s lives, but with some risks involved.  Andrew Perlman, dean of Suffolk University Law School, says there is nothing "future" about it. In The Implications of ChatGPT for Legal Services and Society, he wrote, "The disruptions from AI's rapid development are no longer in the distant future. They have arrived ..." And for the legal industry, he said, "ChatGPT may portend an even more momentous shift than the advent of the internet." Just one legal application out there today is the use of A.I. technology (GPT-3) by Docket Alarm, a popular court docket [...]

Reimagining the Administration of Justice with Qudsiya Naqui of Pew Charitable Trust

February 27th, 2023|Categories: ELP, Emerging Litigation & Risk, HB Tort Notes, Law Firm Operations, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Before COVID-19 came to America in early 2020, “going to court” literally meant putting on your shoes and walking into a courthouse, typically a large building with courtrooms inside, and people in robes and business suits and, in some cases, more restrictive attire.  Stoked by necessity, courts sprinted toward solutions for keeping the wheels of justice spinning while also keeping everyone away from each other. Until then it didn’t seem possible that attorneys could or would appear before judges via digital screens, like George Jetson getting yelled at by Mr. Spacely over some hilarious mishap at the sprocket factory. Pew Charitable Trust concluded an in-depth study of the courts with the 2021 release of a report,  “How Courts Embraced Technology, Met the Pandemic Challenge, and Revolutionized Their Operations.” After examining emergency orders from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and court approaches to virtual hearings, e-filing, and digital notarization, the researchers wrote that it was a time for "reimagining how to administer justice.” Was the adoption of technology effective? Were there any hiccups? Was technology widely embraced? Were the effects of new efficiencies enjoyed evenly across the socio-economic spectrum? Do we think courts will continue to reimagine how they administer justice without the crushing pressure of widespread disease? Listen to my interview with Qudsiya Naqui who leads Pew’s research at the intersection of technology [...]

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