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Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Launches Nationwide AI and Technology Litigation Practice Group

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Why it matters

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, a New York-based plaintiffs firm, announced on October 20, 2026, a national practice group for artificial intelligence and emerging technology cases. The group pulls together lawyers from across the firm: 22 partners and senior attorneys and 21 junior attorneys, or 43 lawyers in all, which the firm says is more than half of its attorneys nationwide. It is chaired by Palo Alto managing partner Ella Zheng, who is also counsel to Devin Kim in his retaliation lawsuit against xAI and SpaceX. The group's work falls into seven areas: executive and founder representation, technology whistleblower and AI fraud, AI safety and compliance, cyber sexual abuse, privacy and data breach, product safety, and algorithmic bias. Christine Dunn, co-chair of the firm's Sexual Violence, Title IX and Victims' Rights Practice Group, will lead work on technology-facilitated harassment, exploitation and abuse. The firm says the group builds on its existing employment discrimination, whistleblower and qui tam, civil rights, and class action work, and that its lawyers have recovered more than $5 billion for clients through verdicts and settlements.

Several points remain unsettled. The reporting reviewed does not identify any specific legislation, regulatory action, or earlier timeline tied to the launch, so the firm's stated rationale and the Kim case are the only context available. The firm also describes the group as the first of its kind to cover the full range of AI-related harms, and that claim has not been independently verified. How the group will handle specific matters, and whether it will take on new cases beyond those already in the pipeline, has not been disclosed.

For attorneys, the launch signals where plaintiffs' firms expect claims to grow. The firm argues that employees inside technology companies are increasingly positioned to see safety problems, security vulnerabilities, and discriminatory outcomes that regulators and the public may not, which makes whistleblower work central to the group's strategy. Practitioners handling employment, privacy, or product liability matters involving AI should watch the Kim v. xAI and SpaceX litigation, where Zheng's role will show how the group approaches retaliation claims tied to technology employers. Defense counsel for tech companies should expect more internal-reporting disputes and retaliation claims as this group takes on cases.

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