Lawyer Ex Machina #9: Feel the Heat
[Editor's note: starting next week, the newsletter will be sent out on Thursdays, except for holidays.]
A bill in the California Legislature that would have "required California trial courts that offer online civil-case records to provide free access to the general public" was killed in committee last week. [AB2962]
The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, which oversees attorney and judicial discipline, has released an advisory ethics opinion on whether lawyers can accept and hold cryptocurrency in escrow. (Answer: yes, with caveats) [ABA story]
The Federal Trade Commission is "is exploring rules to crack down on harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security." The Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking is here, with information on how to submit public comment. See the Events section at the bottom of this newsletter for the virtual public forum on the same topic. [Federal Register notice]
A lawsuit in New Jersey hinges on DNA collected from a newborn for medical screening that was requested by, and turned over, to state police as part of a criminal investigation against the child's father - another emerging issue regarding forensic genealogy.
The Law Society of the UK has published a report on neurotech (aka brain-monitoring technology) and how it might affect the practice of law.
The American Bar Association has released an Innovation Trends Report, focusing on legal technology, regulatory innovation, internal innovation within the ABA and "Rocket Lawyer's Experience in the Utah Regulatory Sandbox." [ABA Journal summary | Report]
Events
A group of so-called crypto skeptics have organized the Crypto Policy Symposium, to be held in London and online, September 5-6, 2022. Topics of the symposium include cryptocurrency, NFTs, DAO, web3 and other deployments of blockchain technology. More information and registration here.
On September 8, 2022 from 2-7:30 PM EDT, the FTC is hosting a virtual forum with public comment on the topic of commercial surveillance and data security. Public comment at the forum is slated to start at 5 pm EDT - to sign up to speak, members of the public must register on a first-come, first-serve basis here.