NY RAISE Act Affects Frontier AI Developers

> EARLY REGISTRATION EXTENDED until March 3. >> Law Firm Research & Innovation Conference >>> Session Spotlight: From Library to Intelligence Engine As generative AI accelerates legal research, the traditional "answer delivery" model is evolving into something far more strategic: turning knowledge into intelligence that informs firm decision-making. This session brings together research leaders redefining their function as an insight engine—where researchers operate as analysts, interpreters, and trusted partners in AI-enabled workflows. Register: https://lnkd.in/gti-hHnh

Law Firms are at an inflection point, deciding how best to organize to support a future state where data, proprietary information, and intelligence, coupled with AI, are central to the firm's success. This LegalTech Connect event can help legal and information professionals better position themselves to contribute to that success. If #legalresearch is central to your role, sign up now to learn from others who are leading within their firms.

🚨 Judge Samuel Thumma on Generative AI, Closing the Justice Gap, and Keeping Humans in the Loop. The legal profession stands at a profound inflection point. The arrival of #GenAI has moved beyond theoretical curiosity, challenging long-held standards of attorney competence and the very mechanics of ediscovery. ⚡ As a member of the Arizona Supreme Court’s AI Steering Committee and a leader within the ABA Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence, Judge Samuel Thumma is at the center of this transition. He views this moment not merely as a technical shift, but as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize a profession that is historically slow to change. Judge Thumma sat down with Everlaw to discuss the evolving landscape of modern legal practice. Our conversation explores the shifting responsibilities of practitioners in an automated world, how the legal community can leverage new tools to address the persistent challenges of the justice gap, and more. 👉 Read more > https://lnkd.in/gHGc__DH #Ediscovery #LegalTech #AccessToJustice

Glad to have attended the session on AI and digital literacy in the legal profession at BPP Law School yesterday. Number one take away and what’s becoming quite clear is that AI in law isn’t about hype anymore, it’s about expectation. Knowing how to work with these tools, question them, and take ownership of the output is quickly becoming part of the job. The gap is less about access to tools and more about how well you understand and apply them. Great to hear the perspectives of the amazing panelists: Aneta Lorens-Boursier, Francesca Jus-Burke and Grace Gayfer already navigating that shift in practice.

The question to ask your lawyer is not whether they use AI, but how. How are they using it? How does it benefit you? What safeguards are in place to protect you? A competent lawyer in practice today should be able to answer these questions for you. And as they do, where they fall on the spectrum from enthusiastic to defensive could be informative. (Sidebar: c'mon big law, it is time to retire the billable hour by default!) https://lnkd.in/gMADBAwz

DWT’s Managing Partner Jaime Drozd was recently featured in a Puget Sound Business Journal article discussing how AI has become an operational necessity for law firms. The piece highlights DWT as a first mover among Seattle area firms, with Jaime sharing how the firm is using secure, legal-industry specific AI tools to deliver high-quality work for clients more efficiently while maintaining strict confidentiality. She also discussed how AI is transforming legal training by enabling junior lawyers to focus earlier on judgment, strategy, and core legal skills that technology cannot replace. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/g_9A8U5D

I feel fortunate that Davis Wright Tremaine LLP moved first, and aggressively, to provide powerful AI tools (and in-house training) for its lawyers, paralegals and staff. Our ability to leverage this technology has led to real efficiencies as we work to drive our clients' projects. To provide one example, locating specific data points in thousands of pages of source material (say, a project EIS) can now be done in minutes, not hours. Linked below is an informative piece by the Puget Sound Business Journal where our Managing Partner Jaime Drozd outlines our approach so far. Onward #DWTDirt!

Generative AI is accelerating across the enterprise, and legal teams are being pushed to keep pace. At a recent Chicago roundtable event in conjunction with The Blickstein Group's 18th Annual Law Department Operations Survey, legal operations professionals discussed AI adoption, outside counsel expectations and resource constraints. Rohit Gulati and Brad Blickstein explore the key takeaways of the event in a new blog post — read their full insights here: https://bit.ly/3NmrX77

Michael Williams recently presented at the Consumer Goods Litigation Forum in Fort Worth, Texas. Michael co-led a discussion on how lawyers can leverage the positive, practical applications of artificial intelligence and the critical ethical considerations that come with using AI in legal practice. WDD partner Matt Dameron also attended the conference.

In a landmark decision for the digital age, a New York federal court has held that communications between a defendant and a generative AI platform are not protected by attorney-client privilege. The ruling in United States v. Heppner creates a major precedent for how legal strategy and AI intersect.