Self-driving cars / Shutterstock.com

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is the latest U.S. law firm to establish a practice group dedicated to legal issues surrounding autonomous vehicles (AV) and automated systems technology.

Headed by Palo Alto-based partner Mark Lyon, Gibson Dunn's Artificial Intelligence and Automated Systems (AI/AS) Practice Group will advise clients on matters as diverse as AV-related litigation, transactions, analytics technologies, robotics, circuit design, state and federal regulations and intellectual property.

Mark Lyon

“This is a step we've been talking about for over a year, and it isn't just a legal practice area but an industry area. We're recognizing that there's a very broad range of issues,” Lyon said.

In launching the practice group, Gibson Dunn joins a growing number of Big Law firms with practices dedicated to various facets of automated systems technologies, including Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Boies Schiller Flexner, and Morrison & Foerster.

Quinn Emanuel advised Waymo in its high-profile self-driving car IP dispute with Uber, while Boies Schiller and Morrison Foerster both advised Uber.

Other Big Law firms that practice in this area include Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Shearman & Sterling, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Nixon Peabody, Dentons, Goodwin Procter, Hogan Lovells, O'Melveny & Myers, and Greenberg Traurig,

Legislative Impasse

Law firms with expertise in AV-related issues are operating against a backdrop of uncertainty and delay at the regulatory level—at least for the moment.

The SELF DRIVE Act (H.R. 3388), a bill that would require manufacturers to improve cybersecurity for autonomous vehicles and would bar states from banning such vehicles, among other important measures, passed in the House of Representatives but the legislation has hit an impasse in the Senate, where politicians have expressed concern over whether the moment is right for AVs to cruise America's streets and highways in massive numbers.

Eric Tanenblatt

The lack of consensus at the federal level leaves a complex patchwork of local regulations. State laws differ with regard to such questions as to whether a driver needs to be on board and whether there is a requirement for a remote operator, said Eric Tanenblatt, global chair of public policy and regulation at Dentons.

“Without the federal government passing legislation, it's almost like the Wild West, because states are passing different laws, dealing with different aspects of AV,” Tanenblatt said.

At present, thirty states, plus the District of Columbia, have passed legislation concerning autonomous vehicles. In twelve states—Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin—governors have gone so far as to sign executive orders authorizing their use,

The proliferation of support for AVs at the state level has prompted practice groups to spring up within Big Law.

“Even though self-driving vehicle legislation has stalled in Congress, and it's unclear what will happen next year with a divided Congress, the Department of Transportation is still moving forward,” said Susan Lent, head of the infrastructure and transportation practice at Akin Gump. “It would have been beneficial to have more certainty at the federal level, but this technology is not stopping and waiting.”

Far-Reaching Ramifications

Tanenblatt says there will be a need in the near future for public finance lawyers to step in and help municipalities deal with an almost certain loss of revenue as AVs deploy alongside or phase out traditional vehicles. Cities that have issued bonds backed by parking revenue— tickets and towing and impound fees, for example—may not be prepared for a world where AVs drop off passengers and then drive away, minimizing or eliminating such fees.

The AV industry is also likely to have a dramatic impact on the insurance sector if, as proponents of AVs argue, their use sharply curtails accidents on the roads.

Gibson Dunn's Lyon believes it's only a matter of time before more law firms develop AV-related practices. He compares the current period to the early 2000s, when law firms began to devote themselves to legal issues related to online advertising and clickbait.

“It does strike me that people are recognizing that this is a unique legal area, that they need to have a little more focus on this particular area,” he said. “This is the direction that law firms will end up going.”

 

 

FURTHER READING:

Spread of Autonomous Vehicle Technology Fosters Opportunities for Lawyers