Category «United States Law»

The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research, Public Health, and the Rule of Law – Part 6

As we approach January 20, 2026, the one year mark of the second Trump administration, Americans are witnessing the exercise of vast, often illegal and unconstrained presidential powers, unprecedented in our history. The impact of these powers, within our government, the private sector, and around the globe, continue to resonate. Part 6 of this series gives special attention to how operationalizing the full scope of actions outlined in the “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” has impacted the lives of ordinary Americans, regardless of where they live, with which party they may be affiliated, their age, ethnicity or gender. Consistent with the previous five parts of Sabrina I. Pacifici’s series, this article examines only one month, December 2025, of the Trump administration’s war every aspect of our democracy.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Education, Energy, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Resources, Health, Healthcare, Legal Research, United States Law

AI in Finance and Banking, December 31, 2025

This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Six highlights from this post: How the AI ‘bubble’ compares to history; Artificial intelligence and growth in advanced and emerging economies: short-run impact; Generative economic modeling; The Emerging Market for Intelligence: Pricing, Supply, and Demand for LLMs; Macroeconomic productivity gains from Artificial Intelligence in G7 economies; and AI boom adds $500bn to net worth of US tech billionaires in 2025.

Subjects: AI in Banking and Finance, Economy, Financial System, Government Resources, Legal Research

Make 2026 Your Best Year Yet: The Best Tips for Lawyers on AI, Marketing, IT Security and Productivity

Jerry Lawson advocates consulting more than one AI app when dealing with important issues. Multiple AI perspectives help with high-stakes questions, unsettled law, or anything involving tax regulations. When two models agree, you gain confidence. When they disagree, you gain a warning sign. Lawson also addresses cybersecurity issues, technology risks, legal marketing, and choosing the best hardware and software for your work configuration.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Gadgets/Gizmos, KM, Law Firm Marketing, LEXIS, Privacy, Social Media, Westlaw

Like Lawyers In Pompeii: Is Legal Ignoring The Coming AI Infrastructure Crisis? (Part I)

Stephen Embry and Melissa Rogo Rogozinski identify the multiple risk factors involved in the increasing usage of AI in the legal sector, including infrastructure gaps between chip capacity, demand for energy sources and building new data centers, as well as vendor dependencies, promises and deliverables. This four part series is available on LLRX.

Subjects: AI, Computer Security, Cybercrime, Education, Intellectual Property, KM, Management, Privacy, Software, Technology Trends

Like Lawyers In Pompeii: Is Legal Ignoring The Coming AI Cost Crisis? (Part II)

Stephen Embry and Melissa Rogozinski challenge the assumption fueling the explosion of AI use in legal is that it will save gobs of time. These savings will inure to the benefit of lawyers and clients, will lead to fairer methods of billing like alternative fee structures, will get better results, improve access to justice, and lead to ‘world peace’. Well, maybe even the vendors would not go so far as to guarantee the last one. But vendors do seem to be guaranteeing everything but that. And pundits talk as if AI will transform legal from the ground up. Law firms are buying into the hype, investing in expensive systems that do things they barely understand. See also Part I of their article here.

Subjects: AI, Continuing Legal Education, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Education, KM, Legal Profession, Legal Research, Management

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 28, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Google will finally allow you to change your @gmail.com address; Those Epstein Redactions Weren’t So Redacted; How Russia could attack Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites; Microsoft Teams to let admins block external users via Defender portal; and NIST warns of Network Time Protocol inaccuracy after blackouts across Colorado.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email, Email Security, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Technology Trends, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 20, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Online Shoppers Beware — Study Finds Fake Delivery Sites Exploding Ahead of Holiday Rush; FBI Couldn’t Read Data Pointing to Pipe Bomb Suspect; Medicare.gov to deploy ID.me for beneficiary verification; and How to spot videos created by artificial intelligence.

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, E-Government, Economy, Healthcare, Privacy, Social Media, United States Law

January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925!

This annual Domain Day review is by Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle from the Center for the Study of the Public Domain. On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. The literary highlights range from William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying to Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage and the first four Nancy Drew novels. From cartoons and comic strips, the characters Betty Boop, Pluto (originally named Rover), and Blondie and Dagwood made their first appearances. Films from the year featured Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, the Marx Brothers, and John Wayne in his first leading role. Among the public domain compositions are I Got Rhythm, Georgia on My Mind, and Dream a Little Dream of Me. We are also celebrating paintings from Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee. In this article you will read lists of some of the most notable books, characters, comics, and cartoons, films, songs, sound recordings, and art entering the public domain. After each of them, the authors have provided an analysis of their significance.

Subjects: Copyright, Education, Librarian Resources, Libraries & Librarians

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 13, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Your Boss Has More Ways Than Ever to Monitor What You’re Doing at Work; How to break free from smart TV ads and tracking; Every Legal Team Needs to See This LLM Leak; U.S. Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History; and A New Anonymous Phone Carrier Lets You Sign Up With Nothing but a Zip Code.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, KM, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Privacy, Social Media, Spyware

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 7, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Six highlights from this week: Admins and defenders gird themselves against maximum-severity server vulnerability; WhatsApp closes loophole that let researchers collect data on 3.5B accounts; Real or AI? The 7 Telltale Signs Every Fake Image Still Can’t Hide; Does a VPN really slow down your internet? I measured it; Google Starts Sharing All Your Text Messages With Your Employer; and Yep, Cloudflare died again. Here’s what happened.

Subjects: Computer Security, Cybercrime, Economy