Latham & Watkins partner Sy Damle is challenging the prospect of AI regulations. Damle, a vocal advocate for technological freedom, organized a letter from a variety of academics and think tank representatives to Congress, urging them to refuse any proposed artificial intelligence regulations in matters of copyright. Damle’s client list includes AI startup OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which is currently involved in several copyright lawsuits Politico reports.
Meanwhile, the drive to reduce expenditure is leading more corporate legal teams to embrace AI and other advanced technology. In a recent shift, as many as a third of all in-house law teams are now looking at AI as a solution to high costs. This is a significant increase from the 12% who gave the same response in last year’s survey. Additional strategies to curb spending include bringing more legal matters in-house and outsourcing work to smaller law firms, according to a survey reported by Cision PRNewswire.
On the east coast, DLA Piper’s decision to relocate to a downtown Baltimore office has reportedly elevated morale. The change in environment came in June, when the firm moved into an office space much smaller than its previous location. According to Baltimore Managing Partner Brett Ingerman, the transition to the new 35,000 square foot space, a sizable reduction from the previous 132,000 square foot office, has been well-received by the Baltimore team. More details can be found in the Baltimore Business Journal.
In the company movements department, several notable lateral moves were reported. Christopher L. Crumbley joined Bracewell on the intellectual property litigation team as a partner, Scott Watson joined Barnes & Thornburg’s environmental department, and David Chen joined Goodwin Procter’s life sciences practice in two locations, amongst others. More details about these movements can be found on Bloomberg Law.