Artificial intelligence
fromTheregister
23 hours agoWho is liable when AI agents go wrong in business?
AI agents in business decision-making raise questions about accountability and risk distribution among vendors and users.
Effective discovery requires more than compliance - it requires strategy. Litigators can balance expansive discovery rights and privacy concerns without slowing cases down through practical, results-focused approaches that consider proportionality, electronically stored information management, and the specific discovery rules applicable to their jurisdiction.
The legal profession rewards endurance, precision and control. It also quietly normalizes stress, isolation and overextension. For patent practitioners and other IP lawyers, the pressures are uniquely acute: compressed prosecution deadlines, high-stakes litigation exposure, often unrealistic client-driven budget constraints, regulatory whiplash at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and increasingly complex technologies layered with global filing and prosecution strategy.
"In my judgment, the smart glasses were clearly connected to his mobile phone during his cross examination because no voice was heard out loud until his smart glasses were removed and disconnected from his glasses."
Many lawyers have eagerly adopted the buzzword "BLUF"-bottom line up front-as if invoking the acronym were synonymous with careful thinking. The catch is that almost no one stops to ask the important question: What exactly is meant by "bottom line"? The answer isn't obvious, and it shifts with context. In military writing, the "bottom line" is a concrete decision or action a commander must take-stated at the very start because the commander already knows the mission, the terrain and the stakes.
* Judge demands to know why Lindsey Halligan is still listed as "U.S. Attorney" when she is most definitely not a "U.S. Attorney." [ Law360] * Could law firms be on the brink of a financial downturn? [ Reuters] * McGlinchey Stafford will close down. Which might go a ways toward answering the prior question. [ American Lawyer] * "Mid-market legal powerhouse" launches. Which might go a ways toward further complicating that question. [ ABA Journal]
Judge Jenkin wrote that the Batton's plaintiffs interests would not be impaired if their motion to intervene was denied, as they would have the opportunity to object to the settlement at the agreement's final approval fairness hearing.
It's not only law firms and legal departments that are adopting GenAI systems without fully understanding what they can and cannot do - court systems may also be tempted to adopt these tools to short circuit workloads in the face of limited resources. And that poses some risks and concerns to the rule of law, a notion that hinges on accuracy, fairness, and public perception.
With the Supreme Court potentially poised to invalidate recent tariffs, organizations face a confusing scenario: the possibility of some $200B in refunds to be sought, the specter of tariff reinstatement through other means, and general ongoing unpredictability regarding costs and processes for global trade. Having clear visibility into contract terms - such as price adjustments and renegotiation provisions - is essential to navigating this volatility, while implementing favorable terms in supplier, customer, and partner agreements can help build resilience.
A majority of justices say this 16-judge court likely has jurisdiction over lawsuits regarding thousands of National Institutes of Health federal research grants that the Trump administration has tried to terminate, as well as other fights concerning canceled grants. If the Supreme Court sticks by its current thinking in final rulings, the Court of Federal Claims could be handling fights over countless grants that the Trump administration and future higher ed-targeting presidencies may try to cancel in the future.
They don't drive it. They don't manage it. They don't control it. They let it control them. And then one day, they look up and realize discovery closed last week, the client is asking why nobody has taken the key depo, the adjuster wants a status report "by the end of the day," and the partner is asking the question that makes your stomach drop: "Where are we on this file?"
A year or so ago, most legal departments were still testing. AI pilots. Workflow trials. Small process experiments. Everyone was learning cautiously. The stakes were relatively low, and the work was labeled "innovation," which made imperfection forgivable. Then something shifted. Those same pilots became part of day-to-day delivery, and the business started relying on them. Sometimes intentionally, because early results looked good.
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that prosecutors could access Claude chat transcripts generated by Brad Heppner, a finance startup founder accused of defrauding a company out of $150 million. The chats occurred after Heppner received a subpoena, hired lawyers, and learned that he was a target of prosecutors, his lawyer said in court. Heppner, who helped start the finance firm Beneficient, was arrested last year and charged with wire and securities fraud for conduct that allegedly led to the downfall of GWG Holdings.
From law firms to in-house legal teams, the rules of value are being rewritten. The question is: Who's ready to lead the change? In the first episode of 2026 for the UpLevel View podcast, Stephanie Corey and Ken Callander sit down with Rita Gunther McGrath, Columbia Business School professor and Wall Street Journal columnist, to talk about how AI is forcing professional services to price outcomes instead of hours.