Keeping up.

https://www.bespacific.com/artificial-intelligence-ai-legislation/

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Legislation

Multistate: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Legislation. “Lawmakers are increasingly addressing AI through legislation.  As AI technologies have burst on the scene, state lawmakers have responded by addressing concerns with this ubiquitous technology through public policy. In 2023, we saw less than 200 bills introduced across state legislatures addressing the issue of AI. But that shifted in 2024 when MultiState tracked over 600 AI-related bills with nearly 100 enacted into law. We expect 2025 to be a big year for AI legislation. Keep an eye on the bills we’re tracking with the state-by-state bill tracking map below. For a comprehensive view of current state laws related to AI, see our state-by-state AI policy overviews.”

One of many questions…

https://www.llrx.com/2025/03/does-the-government-decide-what-your-law-firm-will-do/

Does the Government Decide What Your Law Firm Will Do?

“If anyone’s going to speak up, it should be law firms. If anyone’s going to take a stand, it should be law firms.”

As you may have heard, Donald Trump is punishing law firm Covington & Burling for giving pro bono representation to former special counsel Jack Smith. His executive order canceled security clearances for members of the firm and directed government agencies to review all contracts with the firm for legal work.

I had hopes that other law firms might issue statements of support for C&B, though those hopes weren’t very high. Judging from this article, I was right to be skeptical: “Some firm leaders, citing corporate clients threatening to walk if they get crosswise with Trump, have rejected outright or put up roadblocks to partners seeking approval to represent DOJ lawyers, FBI agents, and other civil servants who’ve faced various forms of attack.”

But the quote that led off this post didn’t come from the Covington articles. It came from this one about law firms downplaying or removing mention of their DEI policies since Trump and Elon Musk began their anti-DEI crusade. The article singles out K&L Gates, which “removed references to its diversity initiatives from its website, including mentions of the Mansfield Pledge and key demographic statistics.” This is what “obeying in advance” looks like, by the way.