EP 204: Deepfakes, Drones and Damages

Two years after a horrific alleged assault at a Cornell frat house, the Cornell Seven case is finally getting national attention, and John Simon and Alvin Wolff want to know why the university kept it in-house instead of calling the police. They explain why a written policy is worthless if nobody enforces it. Then, California’s court reporter shortage forces the courts toward electronic recording, and the doctors debate whether AI will put court reporters out of work. In the mailbag, a grocery store manager won’t stop apologizing to an injured client. The doctors explain why “sorry works” and how it can raise or lower a case’s value. They also take on a client who sent his lawyer a 60-page AI-generated “Definitive Legal Strategy for Making Them Pay” and 83 questions for the defense.

How do you save a case after a client announces the litigation process is too stressful and they don’t want to move forward with the case while under oath during a deposition? Plus, The Case Doctors answer another viewer’s question on how to handle a pre-judgement loan that’s tripled in price and how to negotiate a better loan up front.

Hosts John Simon and Alvin Wolff weigh in on how attorneys fighting a California ballot measure that could cap personal injury attorney's fees have already raised $30 million to fight it. Plus, the Case Doctors dissect the FTC's right-to-repair settlement with John Deere, and a run of AI-driven courtroom dilemmas from the mailbag, including a questionable LinkedIn headshot used to attack a witness's credibility, a wrongful termination claim tied to an AI hiring tool, and a leaked, AI-doctored deposition prep video. Simon and Wolff weigh in on the legal issues, privilege concerns, and courtroom strategy behind each.

Uber sues NYC over a new law limiting driver deactivations. States challenge the $110B Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. Plus: a deepfake "confession" video, and a tomato-drone standoff between feuding neighbors. Through it all, John Simon and Alvin Wolff keep coming back to the same question: what are the damages?

The Case Doctors kick things off with a federal court ruling that sent a Sam's Club slip and fall case back to state court after a judge found the defendant jumped the gun on removal. Then, the hosts explore whether invasion of privacy or emotional distress is the stronger angle with a jury on a case involving data from a smart fridge that tracked a cheating wife’s late night snack patterns. Wolff's diagnosis? You don't have to choose. Invasion of privacy is the foundation, and emotional distress follows naturally. Two for one. And do attorneys representing employees disciplined for data collected by ergonomic smart chairs without their full knowledge or consent have a claim with the employer or the chair manufacturer? The consensus: the conduct is fundamentally unfair, and most jurors would agree.

Arguing with a judge never goes well, so how does one express their disagreements respectfully and strategically for the benefit of their client? John Simon and Alvin Wolff share the insights they’ve gleaned from past experiences while discussing a recent Philadelphia courtroom eruption in this episode’s hot topics. Then, from the inbox, The Case Doctors debate how best to handle a case involving a semi-autonomous vehicle that followed the rules straight into a tree, and attempt to answer: is algorithmic blind obedience a product defect?

John Simon breaks down nine of the top 10 factors most likely to derail a case and how to handle them in this episode of The Case Doctors, with Tim Cronin as guest host. Here’s a hint: Experts. They also examine the impact of recent social media–driven verdicts and discuss how a low rideshare verdict could influence similar cases moving forward in a good way.

In this episode of The Case Doctors, Christine tees up a lineup of legal dilemmas that range from rideshare upgrades to Instagram gotchas — while John Simon and Alvin Wolff do what they do best: separate real claims from manufactured outrage. And, a viewer wonders how to salvage their case after the defense found a workout video of an injured client. John Simon says a case he once had involving an injured wrestler was salvaged by the plaintiff’s honesty on the stand even though he was on commercials jumping from the top rope.

On this award-winning episode of The Case Doctors — fresh off their big win at the Missouri Lawyers Media Legal Innovation Summit for Legal Tech Education — the gang proves once again that education is subjective. Plus, John Simon and Alvin Wolff dive into how attorneys coping with a client impregnated after using a 3D printed contraceptive should handle challenges in the case, as well as an attorney wondering what direction to take a case involving an online influencer damaged by a facial suction device.

News of a corndog recall spark hilarious memories for Alvin Wolff of a case he once handled involving misuse of a corndog. And attorneys ask the Case Doctors how they keep their sanity and ethics intact when a client has a history of suing and firing previous attorneys.