In the Counsel's Chair
AI in M&A: Due diligence and the new reps and warranties | ITCC
ITTC: FPPC Chair Adam Silver on money, ethics and California elections
ITCC: Joshua Robbins on rethinking trial advocacy
di The Daily Journal
On this episode of In the Counsel's Chair, host Jack Needham talks with Buchalter partners Philip Nulud and Jonathan B. Wilson about how AI is reshaping M&A. They cover the questions buyers and their counsel should now ask in due diligence, including whether AI was used to develop code or other IP, who owns the training data, and whether the target has an AI governance policy. They also discuss how reps and warranties are evolving to address AI risk, the confidentiality pitfalls of public-facing AI tools, and the unsettled questions around protecting AI-generated IP. Guests on this episode: Philip Nulud is a partner in Buchalter's Los Angeles office, where he chairs the firm's Luxury Brand Industry Practice and co-chairs its Internet Law, E-Commerce & Social Media Industry Practice. For nearly two decades, he has helped clients protect and monetize their trademarks and other intellectual property, focusing on the fashion, apparel, retail and consumer products space. His clients include apparel brands, couture fashion houses, streetwear brands, footwear manufacturers, licensing agencies, retailers, celebrities, athletes, influencers, and beauty and wellness companies. He has handled thousands of domestic and international trademarks and advises on patents, copyrights, licensing, marketing and advertising, social media influencers and domain names. Jonathan B. Wilson is a partner in Buchalter's Atlanta office and a member of the firm's corporate practice group. In more than 34 years of practice, he has represented startups and Fortune 100 companies in corporate finance and governance, securities, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, product distribution, intellectual property, computer software and litigation management. His IP licensing work includes trademark, patent and software licensing, OEM and white-label agreements, and IP-related joint ventures. He has served as general counsel or chief legal officer of two publicly traded companies. He was the founding chair of the American Bar Association Public Utility Section's Internet Industry Committee, which he led for more than a decade, and later founded the section's Renewable Energy Committee. He is the author of "The Corporate Transparency Act Compliance Guide" (Matthew Bender, 2023) and "FinCEN Reporting for Residential Real Estate" (2025).
In this episode of In the Counsel's Chair, host Jack Needham sits down with Adam Silver, chair of the Fair Political Practices Commission, California's campaign finance and ethics watchdog. Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, Silver traces the agency's roots to Proposition 9, the post-Watergate ballot measure that created the FPPC and some of the strictest campaign finance and ethics rules in the country -- rules his office is now charged with enforcing in the age of AI. The conversation ranges from AB 2355, the surviving bill from a package of three targeting deepfakes and AI-generated campaign ads, to how the commission is exploring technology to flag potential campaign money laundering and warn public officials of conflicts before they happen. Along the way, Silver explains why the agency's priority is transparency before an election rather than penalties after it, and why the appearance of impropriety can damage public trust as much as the real thing. Highlights: • The FPPC's post-Watergate origins and its role as the state's campaign finance and ethics watchdog • AB 2355 and enforcing disclaimer rules for AI-generated or AI-modified campaign ads • Using AI to flag patterns of possible campaign money laundering • A tool to warn officials of potential conflicts between their financial disclosures and upcoming agenda items • Why transparency before the election takes priority • The legislation Silver's office sponsored to ban campaign contributions inside state buildings
In this episode of In the Counsel's Chair, host Jack Needham sits down with Joshua Robbins, a partner in the Orange County office of Crowell & Moring, to talk about a different way of thinking about trial advocacy. A former federal prosecutor who began his career in international arbitration, Robbins explains how working in systems with limited discovery taught him to prepare for trial from day one, make more with less, and build cases around contemporaneous documents — witnesses that "don't forget and don't lie and don't have motives." The conversation ranges from the Tom Goldstein tax trial and what it reveals about juror skepticism toward polished performers, to the document-heavy Musk v. Altman verdict, to Robbins' experience teaching trial advocacy at UC Irvine School of Law. Along the way, he makes the case that the craft is less about courtroom theatrics than about narrative discipline: distilling business disputes into moral concepts jurors intuitively grasp, and knowing which evidence to leave out. Highlights: Why early exposure to international arbitration and criminal prosecution shaped an evidence-first approach to civil litigation The Tom Goldstein trial: how jurors' built-in skepticism punishes testimony that reads as a performance Building cases on documents and letting witnesses narrate them — not the other way around The Miles Davis quote he cites: five or six key documents matter more than hundreds of exhibits The hardest skill to teach young lawyers: listening and reacting in real time instead of clinging to the script
Introducing In the Counsel's Chair -- a new podcast from the Daily Journal talking to legal leaders across California and beyond.