The Law+AI Initiative is a groundbreaking collaboration between Akerman and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, designed to accelerate knowledge sharing, shape legal standards, and influence cross-industry approaches for AI adoption across sectors by connecting academic insight with real-world legal and commercial experience.
AI is reshaping business models, legal frameworks, regulatory landscapes, and societal expectations, yet the gap between rapid technological progress and existing law presents complex challenges for innovators, investors, and policymakers. The Law+AI Initiative bridges the gap by creating a flagship knowledge-sharing platform where legal scholars and leading practitioners unite to:
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Build a synergistic ecosystem in which industry expertise, legal theory, and courtroom reality inform one another in real time.
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Provide foresight and clarity that enable stakeholders to deploy capital and code with confidence.
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Track global legislation, rulemaking, and litigation developments as they unfold.
A Living Forum for AI Law
With AI technologies evolving faster than traditional legal systems, stakeholders face uncertainty about risks, liability, intellectual property, ethics, and compliance. The Law+AI Initiative confronts these issues head-on, moving beyond siloed scholarship or advisory responses to create an ongoing forum for collaboration, research, and dialogue that fosters dynamic, actionable engagement between theory and practice and helps inform the development of emerging legal frameworks for AI.
A Different Approach to AI
Unlike traditional academic centers or advisory efforts, the Law+AI Initiative is built around continuous engagement. Through standing working groups, real-time legal tracking, and cross-industry forums, the Initiative will produce practical insight reflecting how AI is actually developed, financed, deployed, and regulated in the market, and how those realities should inform legal standards and policy discussions.
Pillars of Impact
The Initiative’s work rests on three core pillars that guide programs, research, and partnerships:
Law+AI Initiative Leadership
"By partnering with USC Gould, we're not just reacting to regulations and lawsuits; we will help shape the legal frameworks that will decide how AI systems learn, operate, and innovate. For AI investors and designers, the Initiative is positioned to provide foresight and clarity for deploying capital and code confidently."
William P. Heller
Executive Director, Law+AI Initiative
Lecturer in Law, AI Litigation, USC Gould School of Law
"By uniting USC Gould's expertise and academic rigor with Akerman's market-leading practice, we're creating a unique knowledge leadership and problem-solving platform. We aren't just analyzing the future of law and AI; we're helping build it."
Jeffrey Schneider
Executive Director, USC Gould Center for Sports, Entertainment, Media, and Technology Law
Academic Home of the Law+AI Initiative
Advisory Board of Industry Experts
The Law+AI Initiative is currently assembling an inaugural Advisory Board comprising experts and leaders from multiple sectors, including technology, investment, entertainment, sports, media, and healthcare, among others. This body will guide the Initiative's research agenda and strategic outreach, ensuring it remains responsive to the immediate needs of the global AI economy.
"Across industries, fields, and sectors, today's top executives and experts recognize the critical importance and evolving impact of AI in our world. We look forward to bringing together the minds who are defining AI's use and redefining its future."
Scott A. Meyers
Chairman and CEO
Akerman
