Expert Analysis

• Online Presence Complicates Defamation's Public Figure Test

  

  Recent defamation cases demonstrate that online presence can affect how courts distinguish between public and private figures, so litigants should consider several questions when evaluating potential claims and defenses where public figure status may affect the litigation, such as whether there is a connection between the plaintiff's public activities and the alleged defamation, say attorneys at Brown Rudnick.

• New Manhattan DA Task Force Puts Antitrust In Its Crosshairs

  

  The Manhattan District Attorney's Office's new corporate crime and antitrust task force is adding local criminal enforcement to a field long led by federal authorities, meaning companies need to account for potential parallel federal and state antitrust investigations when responding to misconduct, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Tort Liability When AI Goes Rogue: Product Liability

  

  The recent Hugging Face cyberattack led by artificial intelligence agents, as well as reports from AI companies themselves, suggest that sometimes there may be no reasonable way to predict or prevent harm by rogue agentic AI — but product liability law could provide a remedy in some cases, says Donald Hawthorne at Carter Ledyard.

• 3 Strategies To Reduce AI Sycophancy In Legal Work

  

  The tendency of generative artificial intelligence models to tell users what they want to hear can reinforce attorneys’ confirmation bias when testing the strength of arguments, and it can’t simply be prompted away — but a few practices can help mitigate it, says Michael Ott at Ice Miller.

• AI Risks May Recalibrate 'Reasonable Security' Standards

  

  A definitive answer to what constitutes reasonable vulnerability management in the age of artificial intelligence is still emerging, but the answer is likely less a reset of the standard than a recalibration of how organizations meet it, say Scott Loughlin at Hogan Lovells and Mike Priest at Globe Life.

• Key Risk Assessment Gaps To Note From NY Cyber Guidance

  

  Covered entities should take a fresh look at the compliance gaps flagged in recent New York State Department of Financial Services guidance on "deficient cybersecurity programs," particularly around scope, asset inventories and documentation, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• Tort Liability When AI Goes Rogue: Strict Liability

  

  If artificial intelligence agents misbehave in unpredictable ways, and no reasonable precaution can prevent resulting harms, then a negligence regime may not provide sufficient remedy, and strict liability might be adapted to cover agents' misconduct — but the common notion of strict liability fits this situation imperfectly, says Donald Hawthorne at Carter Ledyard.

• Open Issues After 2nd Circ.'s Airport Phone Search Ruling

  

  While the Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Alisigwe decision confirms border agents' broad authority to conduct routine manual cellphone searches at ports of entry, significant questions remain about more wide-ranging forensic searches at the border, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

• FTC's Changing Model Raises Questions About Its Mission

  

  Federal Trade Commission leaders have recently sketched a vision of an agency that continues an enforcement role distinct from the U.S. Department of Justice's, even as a shift toward greater presidential control makes enforcement more responsive to changes in administrations, say attorneys at Wiley.

• 2nd Circ. EFAA Ruling Shifts Employer Litigation Strategy

  

  In Diaz-Roa v. Hermes Law, the Second Circuit recently held that, under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, employers can't carve out nonharassment claims and send them to arbitration, which has implications for discovery, litigation costs and resolution strategy in EFAA-covered disputes, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

• Tort Liability When AI Goes Rogue: Negligence Theory

  

  If reasonable care in the use of artificial intelligence agents cannot eliminate the risk of third-party harm, then AI companies and users of AI agents must consider whether negligence theory provides an adequate framework for assessing harm caused by agents that go rogue, says Donald Hawthorne at Carter Ledyard.

• Digging Into Dems' Letter On Subpoena Secrecy Demands

  

  Lawmakers’ recent letter arguing that federal agencies’ use of boilerplate nondisclosure language in subpoenas pressures recipients into silence may lead to a significant overhaul of the current framework, but in the meantime, companies should review their rights and options, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• 3 Steps To Mitigate The Cyber Risks From Employee AI Use

  

  Recent data showing a doubling in breaches tied to employee use of unapproved AI tools demonstrates a convergence of cybersecurity risk, data privacy exposure and legal liability that workplace policies don't often address, but business leaders can get ahead of these risks, say attorneys at Ogletree.

• AG Watch: Minnesota Takes Action To Secure Child Safety

  

  Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has built one of the most aggressive and structurally coherent child protection enforcement programs in the country, targeting consumer-facing sectors that his office has concluded prey on minors, such as tobacco and nicotine, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Series

  Being In The Peace Corps Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  When I served in the Peace Corps, the people of the West African village where I was stationed helped me acclimate to my new surroundings and enabled me to develop problem-solving, teamwork and empathy skills that have bolstered my legal practice far beyond the ability to offer technical advice, says Brian Bewley at McGuireWoods.