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UW Law in the Media

• Do child sex abuse claims threaten Pierce County’s budget?
  Oct 12, 2026 | Source: Tacoma News Tribune

  In the last year, about 232 people have come forward alleging they were sexually abused at Remann Hall, the county’s juvenile detention center. Hugh Spitzer, associate dean emeritus and retired professor in the UW School of Law, is quoted.

• Starbucks describes talk of possible Chipotle takeover as ‘rumors’
  Oct 08, 2026 | Source: Seattle Times

  When it comes to antitrust laws, “the acquisition could raise lots of issues,” said Douglas Ross, professor from practice at the University of Washington School of Law, who specializes in antitrust and class action litigation. Still, Ross sees “ultimately nothing that should block it from going through.” He predicted any case brought by a U.S. antitrust agency on the claim of less competition in the markets would fail.

• Whistle-blower says IRS leaked his tax records in retaliation
  Oct 07, 2026 | Source: New York Times

  An Internal Revenue Service investigator sued the agency this month, claiming officials illegally leaked his confidential personnel records to federal prosecutors to punish him for years of whistle-blowing on the agency’s failure to tackle tax dodging. Jeffrey Kadet, affiliate instructor of law at the UW, is quoted.

• Japan honors six Seattle-area recipients
  Oct 05, 2026 | Source: Northwest Asian Weekly

  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the honors Sept. 24. Recipients include UW Law professor Toshiko Takenaka.

• Who’s to Blame When A.I. Goes Rogue?
  Oct 01, 2026 | Source: New York Times

  Courts find companies liable for negligence when they foresee that their products can cause harm. But building that case could be challenging if an A.I. model exhibited harmful behavior for the first time, said Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington who studies autonomous systems.

• Who is liable for ‘rogue’ AI agents?
  Sep 30, 2026 | Source: Observer

  Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, says some risks are easier to anticipate than others. “It is very foreseeable that an AI designed to hack its way in and out of systems would escape confinement,” he says. “Other actions maybe less so.” So, much could depend on what the company knew before the incident, and what it did about it. (In the case of the Australian hack, much of this debate is moot, says Martin, because no one was harmed in the first place).

• Meta’s Muse is adults-only — why does it look like a kids’ toy?
  Sep 26, 2026 | Source: Wired

  Meta says Muse is just for adults, though its cuddly, Labubu-like mascot—and upcoming Tamagotchi-style AI device—may be disarming for users of all ages. Ryan Calo, professor of law and in the Information School at the UW, is quoted.

• Wrongly convicted Pe Ell man files federal lawsuit against Lewis County
  Sep 24, 2026 | Source: The Chronicle

  On Friday, Sept. 18, attorneys for Jordan D. Coleman, 44, of Pe Ell, filed a federal lawsuit on his behalf against Lewis County, three officers of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and two members of the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. David B. Owens, assistant professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

• AI’s Biggest Names Have a Liability Problem
  Sep 22, 2026 | Source: Wall Street Journal

  WSJ AI & Business newsletter: "AI Leaders Are Standing On a Liability Landmine. Plus, Anthropic delays its IPO, and AI agents have trust issues." A paper co-authored by Professor Calo on liability for agentic AI is cited.

• Q&A: UW researchers respond to recent concerns over AI risk
  Sep 16, 2026 | Source: UW News

  Recent news about AI safety is fueling a new wave of political and societal fear. Five UW AI researchers (including UW Law's Ryan Calo) discuss the real risks of AI and what to do about them.

• This software engineer is taking Google to the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify patent law
  Sep 14, 2026 | Source: GeekWire

  Experts say the courts’ application of Alice has broadened to invalidate the patents of real inventors in addition to those of patent trolls. Toshiko Takenaka, a University of Washington IP law professor who is working on an academic paper about Kohler’s case, said Alice’s ability to quickly defeat bad actors comes “at the expense of the best inventors.” “Software patents are too frequently being invalidated without giving the owner the opportunity to defend it,” Takenaka said. “This inventor provided something ordinary computers could not do, right? So therefore, in my view, this is an eligible invention.”

• Microsoft sets its own AI guardrails amid rising industry concerns
  Sep 13, 2026 | Source: Seattle Times

  As frontier artificial intelligence labs once again caution about the speed of the technology’s development, Microsoft released a code of conduct for how it plans to clamp down on its own AI models. Ryan Calo, professor of law and in the Information School at the UW, is quoted.

• DOJ struggled with securing protester felony convictions, data shows
  Sep 12, 2026 | Source: Associate Press

  “Prosecutors tend to win because they control what cases they pursue and they have a lot of resources and discretion,” said Mary Fan, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at the University of Washington.

• NextGen UBE retake in Washington goes off without a hitch
  Sep 03, 2026 | Source: ABA Journal

  “I’m incredibly relieved that the bar exam went as planned, though this was a much smaller cohort of examinees,” says Carrie Sanford, the director of academic success at the University of Washington School of Law. “I’m also mindful that there should have never been a need for a September bar exam.”

• “They want us to … destroy the non-compliant envelopes”: WA joins new suit against Trump order targeting mail-in voting
  Aug 26, 2026 | Source: Northwest Asian Weekly

  Danieli Evans, a University of Washington School of Law assistant professor, said that she did not want to speculate on what the Supreme Court will decide. However, she noted, district courts in prior cases had previously “found that the plaintiffs in these cases were highly likely to prevail on the merits” of the arguments Washington and others are bringing forward.