Law Firms Form Autonomous Vehicle Specialty Groups

With the explosive growth in autonomous vehicle technology, patents, pending legislation, regulation and ultimately law suits, it’s not surprising that the bigger legal practices are forming new specialty groups.

Case in point is Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, which has announced the formation of an Autonomous Vehicle industry group that includes a cross-disciplinary team of attorneys practicing in the firm’s Corporate, Intellectual Property and Litigation departments.

Honigman hired top Federal Trade Commission attorney Steve Wernikoff, who will co-lead the group along with Honigman partner Tom Appledorn. Wernikoff served as the FTC’s Enforcement Director in the Office of Technology Research and Investigation, and brings 17 years of experience in mobile and emerging technologies, privacy, data security, advertising and marketing, connected devices and big data matters.

The industry group focuses on advising clients on the development, procurement, investment, patenting, use and licensing of these new technologies. Additionally, Honigman lawyers advise on related activities, such as the creation and development of autonomous vehicle research, development and testing facilities. The firm reports that it “already has deep experience in the traditional automotive industry, as well as significant knowledge of the technologies used for autonomous vehicles, and the data privacy and cybersecurity concerns that commonly arise.”

More lawyers — that’s always a good thing, right?

Category: Featured, General Update