Expert Analysis

• Crypto, Audit Cases Dominate SEC's Enforcement Focus In '23

  

  Attorneys at Covington examine the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2023 enforcement results, which marked the SEC's third consecutive year of increasing enforcement activity since Chair Gary Gensler took over in 2021 — this time driven by a focus on combating cryptocurrency-related scams and enforcing recordkeeping compliance.

• New York Cybersecurity Amendments Raise Regulatory Bar

  

  Financial service providers both in and outside New York should study recent changes to the state financial regulator's cybersecurity requirements, which add governance controls, technical safeguards and incident response protocols to improve what is already becoming the national benchmark for robust cybersecurity compliance programs, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

• Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Kochava Ruling May Hint At Next Privacy Class Action Wave

  

  The Southern District of California's recent ruling in Greenley v. Kochava and increasing complaints alleging that a consumer website is an illegal “pen register” due to the use of third-party marketing software tools foreshadow a new theory of liability for plaintiffs in privacy litigation, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

  

  In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

• FTC Warning Letters Note 5 Mistakes For Influencers To Avoid

  

  The Federal Trade Commission recently sent warning letters to two trade associations and 12 health influencers over their social media posts, offering insight into how the agency plans to enforce its updated endorsement guides and highlighting five concerns to keep in mind for marketing campaigns, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

• Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

  

  The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

• AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

  

  Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

• Cos. Must Adapt To Calif. Immigration Data Privacy Law

  

  California’s recently signed A.B. 947 expands the California Consumer Privacy Act and brings the state in line with other comprehensive privacy laws that address immigration status, meaning companies should make any necessary updates to their processes and disclosures, say Kate Lucente and Matt Dhaiti at DLA Piper.

• How Legal Teams Can Prep For Life Sciences' Tech Revolution

  

  The life sciences and health care industries are uniquely positioned to take advantage of new efficiencies created by cloud computing and generative artificial intelligence, but the sensitivity of their data also demands careful navigation of an expanding legislative and regulatory landscape, say Kristi Gedid, Zack Laplante and Lisa LaMotta at Ernst & Young.

• Key Takeaways From CFPB's Proposed Data-Sharing Rules

  

  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently announced proposed rule for regulating personal financial data rights sheds light on the bureau's stance regarding practices like screen-scraping and may presage further activity that could involve more concrete enforcement actions, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

• Transparency And Explainability Are Critical To AI Compliance

  

  Although there is not yet a comprehensive law governing artificial intelligence, regulators have tools to hold businesses accountable, and companies need to focus on ensuring that consumers and key stakeholders understand how their AI systems operate and make decisions, say Chanley Howell and Lauren Hudon at Foley & Lardner.

• Opinion

  What 5th Circ. Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Ruling Got Wrong

  

  The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in National Press Photographers Association v. McGraw threatens to dilute the First Amendment rights of photographers using uncrewed aircraft systems and undermine federal control of the airspace, and is indicative of how other courts may misinterpret the Federal Aviation Administration's new fact sheet down the line, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.

• Breaking Down The SEC's 2024 Examination Priorities

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently released examination priorities for the year ahead signal a steady course from prior years, but they also include some specific new concerns and important twists on perennial risk areas, say Kurt Gottschall and Kit Addleman at Haynes Boone.

• Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

  

  As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.