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March 8th, 2022
Jan. 6 Panel has Tough Case to Make on Trump Criminal Conspiracy
Ethics & Professional Responsibility Litigation Partner John B. Harris was quoted in the article, “Jan. 6 Panel has Tough Case to Make on Trump Criminal Conspiracy” published by The Hill. The article discusses the Jan. 6 riot investigation committee’s investigation into the attack on the capital and the committee’s newest claim that Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy in his effort to overturn the 2020 election results. The filing by the committee looks to persuade a federal judge that it should be allowed to obtain Trump campaign attorney John Eastman’s communications. John B. Harris explains details could waver in a larger case against Trump because the department of justice would need to show he had intent to defraud as he carried out his plans. John says, “Here I think the problem is that if Trump's defense may be that he truly, truly believed these measures might be justifiable and decided to believe one set of advisers or another. The Government can bang on the table a lot say, ‘Well, you had more — and more credible — advisers on the side that said you need to stop this.’ And you had advisers using very strong language that it's illegal and unsupportable,” adding, “But if he had his own mindset that something terrible happened here … that creates a bit of a swamp and some murkiness that the government will have to deal with at a trial to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump did this knowing that it was all a sham.”
John, who specializes in attorney-client privilege, says that the question of whether the crime-fraud exception applies is not clear-cut. “To me, the tricky part of this is that Eastman apparently believed that as an academic theory what he was proposing about Pence or the electors was plausible. If that was something that he believed was a fair extension or interpretation of the law, that gives him some protection. It wouldn't automatically be a crime or fraud for him to propound an academic theory even if he believed that it was certain to lose.”
Read the full article here.
Other Quoted
Challenges in Opt-Out Design and Children’s Privacy Highlighted by Sling TV’s Settlement With California AG
Cybersecurity Law Report quoted Daniel Goldberg regarding California AG Rob Bonta's $530,000 settlement with Sling TV for CCPA violations related to opt-out processes and children's privacy protections. Goldberg noted this is "the first CCPA settlement involving a connected TV" and indicates that connected TV is now a priority for privacy enforcement. Goldberg predicted future settlements are more likely to reach seven or eight figures as investigations progress. He explained that companies struggle to operationalize opt-outs across different platforms because many rely heavily on consent management platform vendors that often cover only cookie-based activity and don't connect to the backend systems that actually drive targeted advertising.
On children's privacy, Goldberg highlighted the CA AG's aggressive stance, noting that although Sling TV didn't collect age data, the AG concluded they still had knowledge of minors through child-directed channels, notifications from programmers, demographic inferences purchased from data brokers, and ad-targeting segments that included children. He observed this "arguably expands the notion of 'actual knowledge' under the CCPA." Goldberg advises companies to map out data flows and opt-out signals across every environment and audit vendor configurations to ensure the tools actually work. Read the full article on children’s privacy protections here. (Behind a paywall)
December 1 2025
Game companies must be flexible to comply with changing laws
Emma Smizer was recently featured as a panelist at GamesBeat Next 2025 and quoted in a GamesBeat article discussing global regulatory compliance and its impact on the gaming industry. The panel examined how evolving policy frameworks create new opportunities for developers and platforms navigating global markets.
Smizer addressed compliance challenges under emerging laws, specifically citing the Texas App Store Accountability Act. She noted that this kind of legislation changes how developers and platforms interact with users: “App stores have to do this age verification, but so do software and hardware developers. Global compliance is complicated, even just across the states… We’re moving toward a world where you can’t just be willfully ignorant about the age of your users.”
Her analysis emphasizes a growing trend that age verification and child safety requirements are not only regulatory hurdles but also can create opportunities and growth for businesses and sectors. Read the full summary of the panel here.
November 25 2025
Copyright Guide or Policy Change? Project Divides IP Attys
Law360 quoted Jacqueline Charlesworth on the controversy surrounding the American Law Institute’s copyright restatement project. Ms. Charlesworth criticized the initiative as advancing a “revisionist theory” that could weaken copyright protections. She was among nearly two dozen advisers who resigned from the project, signaling deep concerns about its direction.
The article highlights a broader debate within the IP community: whether the restatement simply clarifies existing law or attempts to reshape policy in favor of users. Ms. Charlesworth’s perspective emphasizes the stakes for rights holders as courts and practitioners consider how much influence the restatement may carry. Read the Law360 article about the copyright restatement project here.
November 19 2025
