Jeremy T. Elman

A partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Palo Alto overseeing the firm’s intellectual property practice, much of Elman’s time is spent advising companies on protecting their software and data and what to do if and when it ends up in the wrong hands.

Parts of Elman’s practice involve questions that don’t yet have an answer, like what happens when a self-driving car hits someone.

“Right now the manufacturer is only liable if there is something wrong with the software,” Elman said. He added that as artificial intelligence and machine learning become more commonplace in devices such as self-driven cars, liability becomes murkier as machines make more decisions autonomously.

“Is the company responsible for the machine learning what to do and then hurting people?” Elman said. “I think it’s a really interesting debate in the future in litigation about how this software is powering the world.”

Elman also works with startups and other companies, counseling them on how to protect their data and proprietary information, and how to determine damages and what a tranche of breached data is worth.

“It’s not inherent what the value is,” Elman said of data that finds its way into the wrong hands. “Maybe there’s only one competitor in the space that they don’t want to have that information. So what if it got out to someone else?”

Elman also pointed to the challenges faced by courts digging through massive amounts of data in determining damages and liability.

“It used to be, ‘Here are the five exhibits that matter for this case,” he said, adding that the difficulty for judges of sifting through thousands of files was immense. “That’s why as the lawyers you really have to figure out a protocol for making it simple to explain to a judge and jury.”

To tackle this challenge, Elman said firms are starting to use AI to mine documents for relevant case information using artificial intelligence and smart technologies.

“Law firms are starting to finally get in the game,” he added.

— Chase DiFeliciantonio