Lawyers Must Build Technical Competence Before Claiming AI CompetenceBy George BellasIntellectual Property, March 2026Artificial intelligence is becoming an inevitable component of practicing law, but before implementing AI into your practice, ensure you have the correct technological competency to satisfy your ethical obligations.
Lawyers Must Build Technical Competence Before Claiming AI CompetenceBy George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, January 2026Artificial intelligence is becoming an inevitable component of practicing law, but before implementing AI into your practice, ensure you have the correct technological competency to satisfy your ethical obligations.
Deepfakes in the Courtroom: Problems and SolutionsBy George BellasArtificial Intelligence & the Practice of Law, Standing Committee on, March 2025“Deepfakes” are altered or completely fabricated AI-generated images, audio, or video, that are also extremely realistic, making them difficult to discern from reality. In a sense, they’re AI’s version of photoshopping. Lawyers need to educate themselves and their firms on what deepfakes are and how to spot them, develop a healthy skepticism of content they encounter, and question its source. Take nothing at face value, and closely scrutinize details of that content to look for anything inconsistent with reality, such as people with more or less than five fingers.
Deepfakes in the Courtroom: Problems and SolutionsBy George BellasIntellectual Property, March 2025“Deepfakes” are altered or completely fabricated AI-generated images, audio, or video, that are also extremely realistic, making them difficult to discern from reality. In a sense, they’re AI’s version of photoshopping. Lawyers need to educate themselves and their firms on what deepfakes are and how to spot them, develop a healthy skepticism of content they encounter, and question its source. Take nothing at face value, and closely scrutinize details of that content to look for anything inconsistent with reality, such as people with more or less than five fingers.
Deepfakes in the Courtroom: Problems and SolutionsBy George BellasBench and Bar, March 2025“Deepfakes” are altered or completely fabricated AI-generated images, audio, or video, that are also extremely realistic, making them difficult to discern from reality. In a sense, they’re AI’s version of photoshopping. Lawyers need to educate themselves and their firms on what deepfakes are and how to spot them, develop a healthy skepticism of content they encounter, and question its source. Take nothing at face value, and closely scrutinize details of that content to look for anything inconsistent with reality, such as people with more or less than five fingers.
Deepfakes in the Courtroom: Problems and SolutionsBy George BellasCommercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, March 2025“Deepfakes” are altered or completely fabricated AI-generated images, audio, or video, that are also extremely realistic, making them difficult to discern from reality. In a sense, they’re AI’s version of photoshopping. Lawyers need to educate themselves and their firms on what deepfakes are and how to spot them, develop a healthy skepticism of content they encounter, and question its source. Take nothing at face value, and closely scrutinize details of that content to look for anything inconsistent with reality, such as people with more or less than five fingers.
Deepfakes in the Courtroom: Problems and SolutionsBy George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, January 2025“Deepfakes” are altered or completely fabricated AI-generated images, audio, or video, that are also extremely realistic, making them difficult to discern from reality. In a sense, they’re AI’s version of photoshopping. Lawyers need to educate themselves and their firms on what deepfakes are and how to spot them, develop a healthy skepticism of content they encounter, and question its source. Take nothing at face value, and closely scrutinize details of that content to look for anything inconsistent with reality, such as people with more or less than five fingers.
Leveraging Generative AI: Transforming the Practice of LawBy George BellasArtificial Intelligence & the Practice of Law, Standing Committee on, January 2025A general review of how legal practitioners can use these tools in their practice from a broad perspective.
AI in Discovery? It’s Called TARBy George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, March 2024Technology assisted review is a form of artificial intelligence in which the artificial intelligence machine learning assists in the review process by automatically reviewing, sorting, and classifying large volumes of documents based on whether the documents are likely responsive to discovery requests.
Personal Jurisdiction Remains a Fact-Intensive InquiryBy George Bellas & Kasey HughesCivil Practice and Procedure, July 2023The U.S. Supreme Court has created another level of uncertainty with a ruling that changes the landscape for establishing personal jurisdiction in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern R. Co.
ESI: A PrimerBy George Bellas & Joseph DybiszCommercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, July 2022Because exorbitant litigation costs resulting from complex e-discovery could materially impact a client’s ability to prove a given claim or defense, knowing how to identify, preserve, and negotiate with opposing counsel to obtain relevant electronically stored information presents critical leverage points during e-discovery.
ESI: A PrimerBy George Bellas & Joseph DybiszCivil Practice and Procedure, May 2022Because exorbitant litigation costs resulting from complex e-discovery could materially impact a client’s ability to prove a given claim or defense, knowing how to identify, preserve, and negotiate with opposing counsel to obtain relevant electronically stored information presents critical leverage points during e-discovery.
Lawyer Survival Requires Embracing TechnologyBy George BellasElder Law, August 2021Technology has allowed lawyers to adhere to the requirements of social distancing during COVID, but has also presented the profession with new challenges.
Lawyer Survival Requires Embracing TechnologyBy George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, July 2021Technology has allowed lawyers to adhere to the requirements of social distancing during COVID, but has also presented the profession with new challenges.
Why and How to Request Native File Formats in Requests for ESI ProductionBy George Bellas & Leslie NelsonCivil Practice and Procedure, February 2021As more of daily life continues to shift online—now accelerated due to the pandemic—the importance of electronically stored information will undoubtedly continue to increase across all litigation.
Text Messages and E-mails Sent From a Public Officials’ Personal Account Qualify as Public Records Under FOIABy Misty Cygan & George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, September 2020The appellate court recently affirmed the lower court's order, which found that Chicago's Office of the Mayor and tDepartment of Public Health had failed to perform a reasonable search as required by FOIA because they failed to make inquiries into the personal text messages and e-mails of public officials.
Blockchain as EvidenceBy George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, November 2019The increased use of blockchain technology will require lawyers to understand the concept in order to utilize it at trial.
The Basics of Preparing for E-DiscoveryBy George Bellas & Jillian TattersallCivil Practice and Procedure, September 2019As discovery increasingly focuses on electronically stored information, it is important to have a working knowledge of the many issues associated with e-discovery.
‘I didn’t mean it!’: Changing deposition testimony with errata sheetsBy George Bellas & Svetlana MeltserCivil Practice and Procedure, June 2019Errata sheets allow a witness to make changes to transcripts prior to submitting it as part of discovery, but to what extent can they be used to correct or corrupt testimony?
Lost text messages lead to sanctionsBy George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, March 2019Schmalz v. Village of North Riverside, et al. highlights the importance of taking measures to preserve data from mobile devices, as well as the risks associated with failing to take such measures.
Self-authentication of digital records: New Illinois Rule of Evidence 902(13)By George BellasCivil Practice and Procedure, December 2018Effective December 1, 2017, Rule 902 of the Federal Rules of Evidence was amended to add two provisions that authorize self-authentication of electronic evidence by certification.
What is the valuation standard for valuation of a minority interest in an Illinois LLC?By George Bellas & Jillian TattersallCivil Practice and Procedure, October 2018When a minority interest holder leaves an Illinois limited liability company, determining the value of that former member’s share presents counsel and courts with questions of methodology.
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