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Now in its sixth year, Seyfarth's Commercial Litigation Outlook provides a clear view into the forces reshaping business disputes in 2026. This year's analysis highlights a risk landscape defined by accelerating technological change, an increasingly fragmented regulatory environment, and growing economic pressures across multiple industries.
According to the Outlook, artificial intelligence is creating new categories of legal risk, from the challenges of authenticating AI‑generated content to navigating the use of algorithmic tools while courts and regulators rapidly reset expectations around emerging technology. At the same time, state‑level regulation continues to expand, particularly around non‑competes, privacy, and biometrics, creating a compliance patchwork that requires businesses to adapt strategies by jurisdiction. Coupled with elevated interest rates, rising debt, and post‑pandemic strain, especially in real estate, health care, and franchise sectors, the commercial litigation environment remains fluid, fast‑moving, and resistant to neat predictions. Against this backdrop, eDiscovery, information governance, and cybersecurity response functions play increasingly central roles in managing litigation risk and staying ahead of shifting expectations.
Authored by Jay Carle, Matthew Christoff, and Danny Riley, this year's eDiscovery & Innovation article spotlights one of the most significant and fast‑moving risks in the discovery landscape: the rise of AI‑enabled notetaking and meeting‑summarization tools. As generative AI capabilities become embedded directly into videoconferencing platforms, these tools now routinely record meetings, create transcripts with speaker attribution, and auto‑generate summaries—often by default. The result is a sudden proliferation of new, unvetted records that can capture sensitive, strategic, or privileged conversations. The article warns that these tools exponentially increase the risk of inadvertent disclosure, while also creating evidentiary challenges when transcripts or summaries are later used to establish what was said, by whom, and with what intent.
The article also highlights that litigation risk is expanding beyond the developers of these tools to the organizations deploying them. AI notetakers raise overlapping consent, privacy, wiretap, and biometric concerns, and courts will increasingly scrutinize whether companies can demonstrate how meeting data was captured, stored, and controlled. As with prior waves of privacy litigation, the differentiator will be operational discipline: organizations that implement clear governance around meeting recording, restrict distribution of AI‑generated outputs, and define authoritative versions of records will be far better positioned to defend against disclosure missteps, authenticity disputes, and statutory claims.
Click here to download the 2026 Commercial Litigation Outlook.
2026 Commercial Litigation Webinar Series
Part 1: Securing Innovation and Competitive Edge in the AI Era
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Central
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Mountain
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Pacific
About the Program
We are excited to invite you to the inaugural session of our 2026 Commercial Litigation Outlook Webinar Series, designed to address the rapidly evolving legal challenges surrounding intellectual property, eDiscovery, innovation, and trade secrets in the age of generative AI and emerging technologies. This session will provide actionable insights and expert guidance to help legal professionals, business leaders, and innovators navigate these complex issues effectively.
What You'll Learn:
- Key updates on AI inventorship, patent eligibility, and copyright challenges. Strategies for safeguarding AI-related innovations and trade secrets.
- Risks associated with AI-enabled tools in eDiscovery and evidentiary disputes.
- Best practices for mitigating litigation risks tied to AI technologies.
- Trends in trade secret litigation and restrictive covenant enforcement.
- Practical tips for drafting compliant agreements.
This webinar offers a unique opportunity to gain critical insights into the intersection of technology and law. As generative AI and other technologies reshape industries, staying informed on regulatory developments, litigation risks, and intellectual property strategies is essential. Attendees will leave equipped with the tools and knowledge to protect their assets, manage risks, and stay ahead in a rapidly changing legal and technological environment.
Speakers
Matthew Christoff, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
Lauren Gregory Leipold, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
Robyn Marsh, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
Dawn Mertineit, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
Puya Partow-Navid, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
Owen Wolfe, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
Moderator
Rebecca Woods, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
