About the Course
Introduction
This CLE webinar will discuss increasingly complex AI-related securities class actions, focusing on what companies and counsel can do to minimize the risks of these lawsuits and what they can do to overcome the challenges they present.
Description
What a company says about its AI capabilities can be material. If a company has made false, misleading, incomplete, or exaggerated claims about its own AI or AI in its products (known as AI washing) to suggest it has a technological advantage, it can find itself as a defendant in a securities fraud class action. Officers, directors, and management teams often lack more than general understanding of what the AI does and may authorize over-generalized descriptions that create misleading impressions.
A slightly more complex iteration of securities fraud claims arises not from what a company says about its own use of AI but what it says or does not say about the effect others' AI use will have on the company's business or revenues. The Reddit and SNAP class actions are often cited as examples.
A third, more subtle way AI references may support a securities class action is by implying that company events which would ordinarily raise concerns are not concerning but the result of AI innovation. As one group of commentators has noted, plaintiffs have and continue to develop ways to demonstrate the necessary fraudulent scienter in these situations by discovering and citing incongruency between the facts that would be expected if changes were the result of AI and the facts as they actually exist.
Listen as this panel of experienced securities litigators reviews the evolution of securities class actions from AI washing to AI-adjacent securities litigation.
Presented By
Ms. Benedon represents clients in a broad range of complex commercial litigation matters, with a focus on securities litigation. She has substantial experience representing companies and their officers and directors in shareholder class actions and derivative litigations, as well as in high-stakes trials and arbitrations, bankruptcy and restructuring matters, and regulatory and internal investigations.
Mr. Flores is a consulting and testifying expert economist who specializes in securities and finance matters. He leads consulting projects advising clients on economic, financial, and statistical issues in securities litigation and asset valuation disputes and has provided written and oral testimony in US federal district court and arbitration proceedings. In securities class actions, Mr. Flores has conducted economic, financial, and statistical analyses examining issues such as market efficiency and price impact in class certification, assessing materiality and loss causation, and estimating damages across equity, debt, and derivative securities. In addition, he has worked on matters involving the valuation of businesses and complex securities, assessed damages in employment disputes, and examined the economic characteristics of cryptocurrency transactions and offtake agreements in bankruptcy proceedings. Mr. Flores has written articles on market efficiency, attorneys’ fees, and trends in securities class actions and has presented his findings in webinars and at events providing CLE credits to attorneys. He is the lead author of NERA’s annual publication on recent trends in US securities class action litigation, which is regularly cited by law firms, insurers, and news media.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Thursday, August 6, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
I. Overview of securities fraud class actions
II. Conventional AI washing cases
III. AI-governance or readiness cases
IV. Explaining negative events as AI advances
The panel will discuss these and other important issues:
- Has Slack Technologies L.L.C. v. Pirani, 598 U.S. 759 (2023), with its tracing requirement, affected ascertainability and securities class certification?
- Is the AI premium real?
- How can companies mitigate the risk of litigation when making disclosures about AI?
- What are the "red flags" that demonstrate scienter?
Related Courses
AI Securities Class Actions: Recognizing Red Flags, Minimizing Risks, Overcoming Challenges
Thursday, August 6, 2026
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
