California takes on legal AI

Trust, but verify. That’s the message coming out of California as the state takes a crack at regulating the legal industry’s use of AI. Everyone else should verify, too: where your attention goes when you’re interrupted every few minutes, and whether your firm is making good use of email marketing. Plus we’ve got a list of SCOTUS session previews that will have you ready for First Monday.

Coming soon, tips for how to network with referrals in mind. 

But first, I need to know if the courtroom flag has a gold fringe because I am not subject to admiralty law. IYKYK, and @attorneylatashaheflin clearly knows.

Professionalism’s on trial in the court of public opinion.
Last week the internet debated bringing iced coffee to a job interview. This week, everyone’s obsessed with a Texas attorney’s court attire. 

Correlation does not imply causation…
But Congress is passing laws to improve pilots’ mental health after comedian Nathan Fielder talked about them on his HBO show. Now we just have to wait and see what lawmakers do after watching Fielder’s documentary on Elizabeth Holmes. 

Like father, like son.
A Florida attorney lent his disbarred father his bar card so the duo could visit the son’s mother in jail. Now father and son have both had their law licenses revoked. No word on how the mom’s doing.

Mind the gap.
Both The New York Times and The New Yorker ran lengthy pieces on the space between where the law is and where technology is operating. 

What we’re watching.
Spooky season is here, so we’re watching Obsession. It’s a horror film that’s essentially about reading the fine print and drafting an airtight contract. And there are a million Reddit rabbit holes on this one, including several interesting ones about wish-wording, product liability law and criminal defense tactics. 

Legal clients aren't forgiving of missed calls in 2026, which is why a modern phone system like RingCentral is so important. The system offers:

Stay available for your current and future clients with RingCentral.

Paul Unger did the math. He realized, “If you get 150 emails, 50 messages, 20 telephone calls, 15 walk-in interruptions, 25 social media notifications, and 50 email or internet curiosity breaks, that totals 310 digital interruptions. Divide that into 480 workday minutes and you have an interruption every 1.5 minutes!” 

In this article, Unger offers five deceptively simple tips for reducing daily interruptions and focusing on more important tasks. 

Why this matters: If you’ve ever been shocked to find that you only did two hours of billable work despite spending all day at your desk, this article can explain why. (The Missouri Bar)

In August, the California Legislature unanimously passed SB 574, a “first-in-the-nation” law setting statutory requirements for how attorneys, arbitrators, judicial officers and ADR providers use AI. On September 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it (and other AI regulations) into law.

Why this Matters: Every lawmaker in the country (or, if being a self-regulated profession is still a thing after this, legal rules committee) now has a template to work from as they craft their own AI law. (Bloomberg Law)

This coming Monday is “First Monday,” which means SCOTUS is back in session. If you want a quick overview of cases the high court will hear, these are worth a listen:

Why this matters: Nobody can predict the future, but that doesn’t stop lawyers from pretending like we can each October. (Strict Scrutiny / Advisory Opinions / University of Chicago Law School / Federalist Society)

A growing number of law firms are turning to email marketing as a way to connect with potential clients in this fractured media environment. The benefits are clear, you own the content, you control how it is distributed and the recipients are people who are already inclined to listen to what you have to say. 

But what do you have to say? This article from PaperStreet lists 40 different ideas for e-newsletter content.

And this piece from Smokeball is a few years old, but it does a good job explaining how what you say should depend on who you are talking to.

Why this Matters: Successful marketing is a multi-channel effort. If you can get directly into someone’s inbox, you don’t have to worry about optimizing for search or AI. (Create Communications / PaperStreet / Smokeball)

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Raise the Bar is written and curated by Emily Kelchen edited by Bianca Prieto.