New Laws for AI Developers: California’s Fork in the AI Regulatory Road

New Laws for AI Developers: California’s Fork in the AI Regulatory Road

October 16, 2025

New Laws for AI Developers: California’s Fork in the AI Regulatory Road

By: Steven Hess

AI Regulation and The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act Artificial intelligence (“AI”) products have become an increasingly significant aspect of U.S. innovation, growth, and development.  Generative AI is being used to predict the structure of proteins and other biomolecules in pharmaceutical research,[1] to simulate wargames for the U.S. military,[2] and to drive an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars of growth in sectors from retail to banking.[3] Motivated by the potentially revolutionary impacts of generative AI on every aspect of the economy, there has been particular interest in reforming laws to harness and regulate the future of AI.  In July, the White House issued “America’s Action Plan” for winning the global “race” to develop and exploit AI technologies.[4]  At…

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Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example

October 6, 2025

Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example

By: James Trusty

On a crisp October afternoon while the media focused on P Diddy’s high-profile New York sentencing, a less conspicuous—but more consequential—hearing took place in another federal courthouse, not far from the nation’s capital. Nichola Roske was sentenced for the attempted assassination of at least one Supreme Court associate justice. On June 8, 2022, Roske flew across the country—California to Virginia—and then traveled by cab to…

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This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts

August 25, 2025

This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts

By: George Calhoun

Bankruptcy continues as a favored vehicle for the resolution of mass-tort claims, particularly asbestos-based claims.  In two recent cases in Delaware, an often-overlooked issue has raised a red flag concerning the fairness of the trusts proposed in many of these cases.  The plan proponents in those cases proposed asbestos trusts that provided that foreign claimants were not eligible for payment.  It is a foundational principle…

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SEC Continues to Focus on ICOs

October 3, 2017

SEC Continues to Focus on ICOs

By: Steven Eichorn

A new enforcement initiative  by the Securities and Exchange Commission, part of its proclaimed efforts to address cyber-based threats and protect retail investors, indicates that the agency is including Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) under its broad blanket of protection. Recent actions by the agency in the case of REcoin give more clues to its position on ICOs: on Friday, the SEC charged two companies and…

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ICOs Facing an Uncertain Future in China and the U.S.

September 7, 2017

ICOs Facing an Uncertain Future in China and the U.S.

By: Steven Eichorn

This week, in a joint statement issued by the People’s Bank of China, the securities and banking regulators, and other government agencies, the Chinese government declared that initial coin offerings (ICOs) constitute “illegal open financing behavior” and immediately froze all ICO activity.  The joint statement explained that the tokens issued in ICOs do not have legal and monetary properties, do not have the legal status…

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How Poking the Bear Gets Your Assets Kicked

August 23, 2017

How Poking the Bear Gets Your Assets Kicked

By: James Trusty

For many decades, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals was viewed as a very conservative place, where prosecutors were usually quite comfortable with the status quo, a largely “law and order” kind of venue.  During the Obama presidency, the Court’s makeup changed dramatically, with a batch of younger, more liberal judges joining the “old guard” from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.  Consequently, this particular…

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Supreme Court to Decide Whether Prosecutors Can Use Pleas to Skirt Constitution

August 11, 2017

Supreme Court to Decide Whether Prosecutors Can Use Pleas to Skirt Constitution

By: Ifrah Law

While the endless portrayal of jury trials in media might indicate otherwise, trials are actually quite rare in the U.S. criminal justice system. With 97% of federal cases ending in pleas, the Atticus Finch conception of American justice has been largely confined to books. Ordinarily, when an accused enters into a plea agreement, he waives his right to appeal his conviction—otherwise, future appeals could require…

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Why Banning Criminals from the Web Doesn’t Work

July 21, 2017

Why Banning Criminals from the Web Doesn’t Work

By: Steven Eichorn

A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Packingham v. North Carolina, 137 S. Ct. 1730 (U.S. 2017) invalidating a state law outlawing registered sex offenders from accessing websites which could facilitate offender-minor direct communication.  While the majority opinion and concurrence seems grounded in, and specific to, sex offender restrictions, the underlying characterizations and beliefs about websites has far-reaching consequences for…

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Articles and Presentations by Our Firm Attorneys

New Laws for AI Developers: California’s Fork in the AI Regulatory Road

New Laws for AI Developers: California’s Fork in the AI Regulatory Road
By: Steven Hess

Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example

Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example
By: James Trusty

This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts

This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
By: George Calhoun

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