Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

As we approach a new year, and a new administration, now is the perfect time to take a moment and review your organization's AI strategy and assess the challenges and opportunities that 2025 might bring. Kilpatrick Connect can help.   Kilpatrick Connect is our legally focused consulting and advisory offering designed to help you address and leverage all aspects of AI. Our offerings are customized to guide you through the complex legal, regulatory, and policy environment related to AI. We support the creation of practical and actionable strategies and solutions, ensuring your business stays compliant, mitigates risks, and is positioned for growth. Kilpatrick Connect is built upon Kilpatrick’s AI, legal, and industry expertise and delivered through a confidential attorney-client relationship.   Kilpatrick Connect can support all aspects of your AI initiatives, offering comprehensive legal guidance, crisis management, and issue-specific counsel, as well as complementary services in parallel with traditional consulting firms.   Learn more about the service in the brochure below and reach out to one of our primary contacts—Stephen Anstey, Michael Breslin, Meghan Farmer, or Joseph Petersen—to discuss how Kilpatrick Connect can help your organization navigate the legal complexities of AI and position your business for success. https://lnkd.in/e9asd7de

On December 26, 2024, the merits panel of the Fifth Circuit that will hear and adjudicate the government’s appeal of the district court injunction vacated the motion panel’s stay of the preliminary injunction. As a result of that order, the nationwide injunction against enforcement of the CTA is back in effect. No company need comply with the CTA while the injunction is in effect, including the current beneficial ownership reporting deadline for companies formed prior to 2024. FinCEN acknowledged the suspension in an alert it posted to its website on December 27. A preliminary injunction is not a final disposition of the case. While oral argument in the Fifth Circuit proceeding is currently scheduled for March 25, 2025, the government could appeal the stay denial earlier, which could potentially result in the CTA going back into effect. Read the Legal Alert from Louis Barbieri, David M. Eaton, and Kate Kanabay here: https://lnkd.in/eA4xy-P7

In 2024, lawsuits targeting companies for their use of commonly deployed digital tracking technologies, such as pixels, and session replay tools proliferated. Frequently used on apps and websites, tracking technologies enable businesses to collect data about user interactions to refine marketing strategies and improve engagement. Plaintiffs now allege that the tracking technologies "record" or "intercept" user interactions without appropriate consent in violation of state and federal laws. As these cases make their way through the courts, we can glean important insights into emerging trends and legal developments in tracking technology litigation. Read the Legal Alert from Meghan Farmer and Tatum Andres here: https://lnkd.in/eaZZQmVw

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized its long-awaited rule redefining the use of the term “healthy” on food packaging. While the rule technically goes into effect on February 25, 2025, businesses will have three years, until February 25, 2028, to comply. The updated rule is designed to ensure that foods labeled as “healthy” align more closely with evidence-based nutrition recommendations and promote better consumer understanding of healthy eating patterns. The rule also reflects a broader push for transparency in food labeling and consumer protection." Read the latest Legal Alert Barry Benjamin, Jonathan Thomas, Shreya Desai here: https://lnkd.in/eNwAdq9S

"On December 18, 2024, the IRS issued Announcement 2025-2 which states that the IRS intends to extend the applicability date of many of the 2024 proposed regulations that provide guidance on the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules under the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act. The applicable 2024 proposed regulations, when eventually finalized, are now expected to apply beginning in the 2026 distribution calendar year, rather than beginning January 1, 2025, as originally proposed.  Announcement 2025-2 does not change the January 1, 2025 effective date of the RMD final regulations that were published simultaneously with the 2024 proposed regulations." Read the latest ERISA blog from Sterling Perkinson and Sanyam Parikh, Esq. here: https://lnkd.in/evSUZSvX

On December 23, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed the nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) previously issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in a case challenging the constitutionality of the CTA.1 As a result of the stay, the CTA has gone back into effect nationwide after having been suspended since December 3. However, also on December 23, FinCEN announced that it was extending several beneficial ownership reporting deadlines, including extending the initial reporting deadline for companies formed prior to 2024 from January 1, 2025 to Monday, January 13, 2025. Read the full Legal Alert from Louis Barbieri, David M. Eaton, and Kate Kanabay here: https://lnkd.in/eDXRPamN

"Takeaway: Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011), numerous courts have upheld class action waiver clauses in mandatory arbitration agreements. But relatively few decisions have addressed the enforceability of class action waivers untethered to arbitration agreements. Earlier this year, however, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld a class action waiver in a residential lease agreement that did not contain an arbitration agreement. Pace v. Hamilton Cove, 317 A.3d 477 (N.J. 2024). The Pace decision introduces a new variable into the calculus of whether companies that face class actions must utilize mandatory arbitration agreements to avoid class litigation." Read the Class Action blog from Allen Garrett here: https://lnkd.in/eQDu5WuW

"Takeaway: The Sixth Circuit recently emphasized how demanding Rule 23’s commonality requirement can be. In In re Nissan North America, Inc. Litigation, --- F.4th ----, No. 23-5950, 2024 WL 4864339 (6th Cir. Nov. 22, 2024), the panel eviscerated a district court’s certification of ten statewide classes, finding the district court glossed over material differences arising from changes made to an allegedly defective product over time. Even beyond the commonality requirement, Nissan provides a roadmap for class action defendants to follow." Read the Class Action blog from Jay Bogan here: https://lnkd.in/eCwcFNT2

Samera Syeda Ludwig, who was selected to the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity's 2024 Class of Fellows earlier this year, has received the 2024 LCLD Atlas Award. The LCLD Atlas Award was designed to recognize Fellows who showed the highest levels of engagement throughout the Program. To receive the honor, each Fellow participated in nine or more programming components. This year, 40 Fellows were named Atlas Award winners, representing just 9% of their cohort. Congratulations, Samera! To learn more about the program, please click here: https://lnkd.in/eBBnH22J

Congratulations to Kilpatrick Partner Charlie Henn for joining the Atlanta Tipoff Club's (ATOC) Board of Directors! The ATOC, founded in 1956, administers the Naismith Awards®, the most prestigious individual national honors in high school and college basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, the family of Naismith Awards annually recognizes the most outstanding men's and women's high school and college basketball players and coaches and gives lifetime achievement awards to basketball contributors and college officials. Learn more about the ATOC here: https://lnkd.in/eA5eyR83