When You Suspect a Legal Problem, Call Your Lawyer – Not Claude or ChatGPT
Over the next several weeks, I am focusing on one of the most underappreciated legal risks of the AI era: discoverability. Each post will examine a different AI tool and how the records it generates can become a serious liability in litigation.
I will start with a case that should be required reading for anyone who has ever typed a sensitive question that might have legal implications into a generative AI system.
Building with AI: How to Think About IP Protection When Your Code Is AI-Generated
If your team is writing software without generative AI, your competitors may soon be outpacing you. If your team is using it without proper controls, you may be building a codebase you don’t actually own.
That second risk is less obvious, and it tends to surface late. A company builds a product using AI coding tools, ships it, and begins attracting acquisition interest. During diligence, buyer’s counsel asks about a portion of the codebase.
Does “This Meeting is Being Recorded” Actually Cover Your AI Notetaking App?
Every day, thousands of business meetings are recorded by AI notetaking apps. Most participants click “Join,” enter the meeting, and only then see the platform’s default recording notice. That casual click may not be enough to make the recording legal — and for businesses operating across multiple U.S. states, the exposure is real.
Protecting Agentic AI System: Essential Licensing Restrictions
As agentic AI systems become more powerful and more deeply integrated into hardware products, the legal framework governing their use becomes increasingly important. Developers who create these systems must protect their intellectual property and prevent misuse or unauthorized expansion of their technology.
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B2B Rebates Drive Smarter Channel Partner Sales
B2B rebate programs consistently outperform traditional discounts in loyalty, margin protection, and strategic insight. Discounts may close deals quickly, but they often erode value and provide little insight into partner engagement.
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Claim and Issue Preclusion Do Not Protect Tenants from Joint and Several Liability
The California Supreme Court recently clarified joint and several liability in multi-party contracts, finding jointly and severally liable parties may be sued in separate lawsuits. Read Ken Van Vleck’s article published by the American Bar Association, Section of Litigation here.
A Presumption In Favor of ‘California’ Employees
Technology workers from Bangalore, software instructors from Arizona and Colorado, truck drivers in San Diego, and cucumber harvesters in Gilroy, California… Cases involving workers as varied as these have helped form a body of wage-and-hour law that all California employers, and out-of-state employers sending employees to work in the state, must understand, say Elizabeth Roth and Barbara Tanzillo of GCA Law Partners LLP.
Homeowners’ Association Case May Signal Change in Unconscionability Analysis
In a case of first impression, the California Supreme Court ruled that, despite the apparent unconscionability of a developer negotiating an agreement “with itself,” the arbitration provision was nevertheless enforceable in Pinnacle Museum Tower Ass’n v. Pinnacle Market Development, 55 Cal. 4th 223, 282 P.3d 1217, 1221 (2012).
R.E.A.C.H. May 2012: Perpetual Lease Options
When does a lease grant a tenant the perpetual right to renew? The California Court of Appeal recently dealt with that issue in Ginsberg v. Gamson. It is a cautionary tale for those drafting leases, where the misplacement of a few words can lead to unintended results.