The firm has put together a cross-disciplinary team of lawyers in the corporate, intellectual property and litigation departments as new laws are adopted by this emergent industry. It hired top Federal Trade Commission lawyer Steve Wernikoff to co-lead the group along with Honigman partner Tom Appledorn. Mr Wernikoff served as the FTC’s Enforcement Director in the Office of Technology Research and Investigation.'The establishment of an autonomous vehicle industry group made perfect sense for us given our tremendous experience working with clients in the automotive, technology, regulatory, manufacturing and privacy/data sectors,' said David Foltyn, chairman and CEO of Honigman. 'Not only will this formalise the growing capabilities of attorneys who are practicing in this area, it also solidifies an important milestone in the firm’s strategic growth initiative.'

Regulatory requirements

With traditional automotive OEMs, suppliers and strategic investment entities making significant investments in the autonomous space and the industry facing inconsistent and conflicting regulatory requirements, the firm is targeting clients on the development, procurement, investment, patenting, use and licensing of hes new technologies. The Am Law 200's autonomous vehicle industry group includes several lawyers with a combination of work experience, graduate and undergraduate degrees in the sciences or engineering as well as lawyers who are certified privacy practitioners.