Today we filed a wrongful death suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman for a family whose 16-yr-old son Adam died by suicide after months of encouragement from ChatGPT. His parents are bravely fighting to prevent this from ever happening again. AI should never tell a child they don’t owe their parents survival. What this case will put on trial is the extent to which OpenAI and Sam Altman rushed the then-newest version of ChatGPT, 4o, to market despite clear safety issues. The Raines allege that deaths like Adam’s were inevitable: they expect to be able to submit evidence to a jury that OpenAI’s own safety team objected to the release of 4o, and that one of the company’s top safety researchers, @ilyasut, quit over it. The lawsuit alleges that beating its competitors to market with the new model catapulted the company's valuation from $86 billion to $300 billion. In response to coverage this morning, the company has admitted that the safeguards against self-harm that it has "become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model’s safety training may degrade.”

I'm excited to be launching The Backroom, a new feature in my Substack where I'm talking about how billion-dollar cases actually settle. And I'm particularly looking forward to sharing my (fairly unique) philosophy of negotiation.

Ever wonder what associates really get paid at nationally known plaintiffs’ firms? So did we. In this week’s Substack, we share exactly what we found out. lnkd.in/g48HyJ-c

Our first Settlement Scorecard is live! We just reviewed the $95 million Apple Siri settlement. The result? Let's just say it's not a proud moment. See the full breakdown here: leftsideofthev.substack.com/…

Lawyers billing 57.5 hours in a day. Two trials, same time, same lawyer. That’s what Ford alleges in its $300M ghost billing RICO suit. They even named a paralegal as a defendant. You’ve seen the headlines—here’s what the case might actually mean. Part 2 of the Taxi Cab series: leftsideofthev.substack.com/… #LegalEthics #MassTorts #ClassActions #RICO

New Substack is live: Left Side of the V First up: a 3-part series on fraudulent billing in the plaintiffs’ bar—and how one lawsuit might blow it open. Free to read. More coming. leftsideofthev.substack.com/

My sense is that BigLaw generally does pro bono work so that the (often left leaning) attorneys, and especially the associates, can feel better about themselves. (We poked fun of these firms in this video.) youtu.be/y12Xl_mGNUA?si=JrpM…

⁦@elonmusk⁩ - how does this get flagged for hateful conduct? I am making exactly the opposite point. Btw, I own a Tesla, which I like very much.

I wish there were a word for the mixed feeling of pride and concern when you send your dog into Starbucks and he gets your order correct but then you realize he doesn't know how to spell his own name.

It was only about Tom. I'm with you on the talking as much as we can about the scary rise in antisemitism and islamophobia. youtu.be/zbi4bUL-hNU?si=El3B…

What a game!!!!!

At long last we got everyone together to take a firm picture.