Rules for AI-generated evidence on deck

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Diana Novak Jones, Mike Scarcella and Sara Merken

Good morning. Here's what you need to know today: A U.S. judicial panel said it will develop rules to address artificial intelligence-produced evidence, as courts nationally grapple with the rise of AI. Plus, law firm profits spiked in the third quarter of the year; a would-be bride must return a $70,000 engagement ring to her former fiancé; and a New York judge is set to decide this week whether President-elect Donald Trump's hush money conviction can stand. Happy Monday.

Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe here.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

A federal judicial panel agreed to develop a rule to regulate the introduction of artificial intelligence-generated evidence and begin work on a policy to potentially help judges deal with claims that a piece of audio or video evidence is a "deep fake," our colleague Nate Raymond reports.

The U.S. Judicial Conference's Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules during a meeting in New York said they would press ahead with developing the two potential rules even as some expressed concern about whether old ones that predated the rise of AI technology were good enough to guard against deep fakes. The meeting came amid broader efforts by federal and state courts nationally to address the rise of generative AI.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, a Manhattan-based judge who chairs the panel, acknowledged the need for "caution" in developing new rules for the evolving technology. He also noted that developing such rules can take years, raising the risk that doing nothing would leave the judiciary unprepared if and when new technologies create problems. 

That marks the percentage increase of law firm profits in the third quarter of 2024 compared with the same time last year, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute's Law Firm Financial Index. Higher lawyer productivity, strong billing rates and relatively modest increases in direct and overhead expenses suggest that 2024 will be a highly profitable year for firms, the new report said. The third-quarter index score is the second highest since it was founded more than 15 years ago.

When Cedar the goat was sold at a county fair livestock auction for $902, he was earmarked for slaughter, even as his sobbing 9-year-old owner and her mother tried in vain to void the sale and spirit him away. The Northern California family last week netted a $300,000 settlement in a lawsuit against local authorities stemming from the goat's death. To columnist Jenna Greene, it's a notable outcome considering animals in the eyes of the law have traditionally been regarded as property, worth their market value alone. How did the payout happen?

—NLRB member Marvin Kaplan, dissenting to the board's ruling that Starbucks broke the law by telling workers at its flagship Seattle cafe that they would lose benefits if they joined a union. The 3-1 ruling overruled a 1985 decision that said most employer statements about the effects of unionization on the relationship between workers and management are lawful. Kaplan, the board's current lone Republican, in his dissent said the case "would make Shakespeare proud."

Significant proposed changes to the U.S. antitrust review process seem headed for implementation as early as January 2025 with the Oct. 10, 2024, adoption of the final rule, write Tod Northman and Ryan Kray of Tucker Ellis. Parties filing premerger notification and report forms will have to provide substantially more information about their businesses, their competitors, and potentially their customers and suppliers. Read today's Attorney Analysis.

The Daily Docket is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here.

Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement