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Analysis and practical guidance on digital assets, complex litigation, and emerging technology — 90 articles from attorneys who work these matters every day.
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90 articlesLegal UpdateOctober 29, 202627 min readAI Companion Chatbot Laws by State: Twelve Statutes, One Rule, and Every DateTwelve states have enacted AI companion chatbot laws as of October 2026, under one stated rule: the statute covers a consumer-facing AI that simulates conversation or a relationship and requires both an AI-identity disclosure and a suicide or self-harm crisis protocol. A state-by-state table with each statute's defined term, duties, minor provisions, enforcer, private right, and operative date, the duties compared, the enforcement already under way, and an operator's checklist.Legal UpdateOctober 29, 202629 min readCalifornia AI Bills Signed September 2026: All Twenty-Seven, With Dates and PenaltiesGovernor Newsom signed twenty-seven AI bills between September 9 and September 30, 2026, vetoed four, and issued two executive orders. One table lists every bill with its chapter, the date it takes effect, its enforcer, and its penalty, sourced to the chaptered text; the veto messages, the executive orders, and the constitutional rule that makes January 1, 2027 the default date follow.Client GuideOctober 29, 202630 min readCalifornia AI Workplace Laws 2027: The Rules That Reach a Hiring, Monitoring, or Firing ToolBy July 1, 2027 an employer with California staff can answer to three regimes for the same hiring, monitoring, or discipline tool, depending on its size and how it uses the tool. They are the FEHA automated-decision rules in force since October 2025, the CCPA's ADMT rules due January 1, 2027, and the four statutes signed September 30, 2026. One table by use, what each rule requires, who enforces it, whether a worker can sue, how Colorado and Illinois compare, and a dated action plan.Legal UpdateOctober 27, 202649 min readCalifornia AI Laws 2026: The AI Regulation Tracker for California and U.S. AI Laws, Enacted and PendingThe AI laws that bind a California company in late 2026 are not the ones founders calendared. Colorado replaced its AI Act before any enforcement, New York pushed the RAISE Act to 2027, and there is still no federal AI statute. What is live: California's own stack, the bills signed in September 2026, a national wave of chatbot laws, and enforcement under ordinary law. A dated tracker, the official cost figures, and a 2027 compliance calendar.Thought LeadershipSeptember 6, 202622 min readSmart Contract Legal Enforceability: When Code Isn't LawThe 'code is law' ethos collapsed with The DAO hack. Smart contracts face contract formation requirements, oracle problems, and dispute resolution challenges—but hybrid approaches like Ricardian contracts bridge law and technology.Client GuideAugust 31, 202616 min readCrypto Asset Forfeiture in California: How the Government Seizes Digital Assets, and How Owners Fight BackWhen the government seizes cryptocurrency, the case caption names the coins, not you, and the deadlines decide almost everything. A litigator maps the three forfeiture machines (federal civil, federal criminal, California state), the claim deadlines that can run from a website posting you never saw, and the realistic routes to getting seized crypto back.Client GuideAugust 31, 202613 min readCrypto Exchange Subpoenas: How to Get the Records, and How to Fight OneExchange records decide crypto cases, and they are less protected than bank records. A litigator walks both sides of a crypto exchange subpoena: how to serve one that actually produces the ledger, and what an account holder can and cannot do to stop one.Client GuideAugust 31, 202616 min readHidden Crypto Assets in California Divorces and Business Splits: How They Get Found, and What Hiding Them CostsOne in ten U.S. adults used cryptocurrency last year, and California's divorce disclosure form still has no line for it. A litigator explains where hidden crypto actually surfaces (exchange subpoenas, the new 1099-DA, the tax-return checkbox), and why California's remedy math makes concealing a volatile asset uniquely expensive.Client GuideAugust 31, 202613 min readVibe Coding and Copyright: Who Owns Your AI-Generated Codebase?Purely AI-generated code has no human author, and copyright law will not protect it. A technology-transactions attorney maps what a vibe-coded company actually owns, where the gap surfaces first (the diligence table, not the courtroom), and the provenance, policy, and contract fixes to put in place now.Client GuideAugust 31, 202612 min readWhat Happens When a Stablecoin Payment Goes Wrong? The Consumer-Protection Gap in America's New Payment RailsStablecoin payments settle in seconds, around the clock, with no chargeback and no error-resolution regime. A crypto payments attorney walks through what actually happens behind a stablecoin payment, where the law protects you, where it doesn't yet, and what businesses should put in place before moving real volume onto the new rails.Thought LeadershipAugust 21, 202613 min readWhat Is Discoverable When an AI Agent Is the Actor?When the conduct at issue was performed by an autonomous agent, the evidence is not email and testimony. It is system prompts, tool-call logs, model versions, and retrieval context—most of it ephemeral by default. What to preserve, what to request, and why the record can expire before anyone issues a hold.Thought LeadershipAugust 21, 20268 min readCan a California Court Reach the Company Behind an AI Agent?An AI agent transacts with a Californian and something goes wrong. The agent is not a legal person, so the defendant has to be the company that deployed it—and that company may sit anywhere. After Briskin and Gelasio, the borderless-internet defense is gone in the Ninth Circuit. Here is how the express-aiming test applies when the thing doing the aiming chose its own counterparty.Thought LeadershipJuly 29, 202615 min readCan You Sue a Prediction Market? Trader Remedies When Event Contracts Settle WrongKalshi paid out on whether Brad Pitt attended the World Cup Final. Polymarket paid out on whether Strategy sold bitcoin. Traders cried foul both times, but only one dispute produced a lawsuit. Here is what traders can actually do when a prediction market settles wrong, and why the answer is less than most assume.Client GuideJuly 20, 202647 min readAI Training Data Copyright: Fair Use, Licensing, and Infringement RiskTraining AI models on copyrighted works carries real infringement risk, but the case law is now split rather than one-sided. Recent federal rulings have found model training transformative while treating the use of pirated copies as infringing. This guide covers fair use analysis, licensing options, and risk mitigation strategies.Client GuideJuly 20, 202620 min readCalifornia DFAL License Requirements: Who Needs One in 2026?California's Digital Financial Assets Law is now live, and it is not the law businesses spent the spring preparing for. Who needs a DFPI license, who is exempt, what S.B. 97 rewrote one day before the deadline, and why the $500,000 surety bond everyone cites does not exist.Client GuideJuly 20, 202636 min readHow to Get a Crypto Exchange License: State-by-State RequirementsA 2026 guide to licensing a U.S. crypto exchange — the FinCEN MSB baseline, money transmitter licenses in 49 states, New York's BitLicense, California's DFAL, the MTMA standardization trend, and how the GENIUS Act changes the picture for stablecoin issuers. Includes a strategic state-selection framework and partner-bank alternatives.Legal UpdateJuly 20, 202615 min readThe Borderless-Internet Defense Just Died in the Ninth CircuitFor twenty years, online operators beat lawsuits by insisting the internet is everywhere and nowhere. Briskin v. Shopify ended that in the Ninth Circuit, Gelasio v. Zafar showed it reaches a foreign NFT operation that took a Californian's money, and in May 2026 the Supreme Court declined an invitation to intervene. Here is what changed, how far it reaches, and the seam that is still open.Client GuideJuly 20, 202615 min readCrypto Securities Class Actions: The Defendant's First 120 DaysBitGo Holdings went public on the NYSE on January 22, 2026. By June 8, a securities class action had named the company and eight of its officers and directors. Here is what the PSLRA's first 120 days look like from the defendant's chair.Client GuideJuly 20, 202639 min readCrypto Startup Founder's Legal Checklist: Formation to LaunchComplete legal roadmap for crypto founders: entity formation, securities compliance, regulatory requirements, and launch preparation. Real costs, timelines, and actionable checklists.Client GuideJuly 20, 202634 min readDAO LLC Formation Guide: Step-by-Step Wyoming DUNA SetupForm a Wyoming DAO LLC in 4-8 weeks with this step-by-step guide. Covers filing requirements, costs ($15K-$50K legal fees), operating agreement provisions, smart contract integration, and governance structure for liability protection.Legal UpdateJuly 20, 202630 min readFederal AI Regulation Landscape: Where Things Stand in 2026Where federal AI regulation stands in 2026. Track the live bills (Algorithmic Accountability Act, CREATE AI Act, AI Foundation Model Transparency Act of 2026), the July 2025 America's AI Action Plan and its executive orders, the December 2025 federal-preemption order, California's enacted SB 53, and what it all means for compliance.Thought LeadershipJuly 20, 202624 min readGenerative AI Copyright: Who Owns AI-Generated Content?The U.S. Copyright Office requires human authorship for copyright protection—but who owns AI-generated content? This guide examines current law, platform Terms of Service, infringement risks, and strategies to protect AI-assisted creative work.Client GuideJuly 20, 202614 min readHow to Recover Stolen Cryptocurrency: A California Legal GuideStolen crypto is recoverable where it touches the regulated financial system, and only while it sits there. A California litigator's honest guide to freezes, treble damages under Penal Code section 496, constructive trusts, the FBI lane, and the recovery scams that target victims twice.Client GuideJuly 20, 202658 min readState-by-State Crypto Licensing Map: 2026 Requirements GuideA 2026 state-by-state crypto money-transmitter licensing reference covering all fifty states and DC, New York's BitLicense, California's DFAL, the MTMA standardization trend, and how the GENIUS Act changes the picture for payment-stablecoin issuers. Includes a strategic state-selection framework. Verify current figures with each regulator.