Law Week Colorado Turns to Faegre Drinker Denver Partners for Insights on Industry Trends

Law Week Colorado turned to litigation partner Alec Harris, labor and employment partner Mary Will, intellectual property partner Kirstin Stoll-DeBell and product liability and mass torts partner Heather Carson Perkins for insights about industry trends they are seeing and trends to expect in 2025.

Will discussed legal changes and trends in the labor and employment space, saying she is seeing new laws in Colorado and a growing number of other states that provide a variety of protections to employees. 

“Staying on top of new developments can be tricky for Human Resource departments, especially for employers with employees in a number of states,” Will said.

Harris shared how he is adapting to changes, specifically the continuation of remote trials and hearings. “As judges get more comfortable with this approach, I think we’ll keep seeing more of this,” he said.

Stoll-DeBell and Perkins discussed hurdles to expect in 2025, including regulatory changes and AI. Stoll-DeBell shared about the team’s workload, which includes defending their long-time client Microsoft in several lawsuits over its generative AI products. She explained the outcome of the cases may have a significant impact beyond the parties involved in the suits. 

"We've seen AI help save individuals' eyesight, make progress on new cures for cancer and provide predictions to protect people from hazardous weather," she explained. "And, I personally have loved using new AI tools to help my kids with their homework." 

Perkins said that an increase in regulatory activity at the Federal Trade Commission is something for franchisor and franchisee clients keep an eye on. She explained the FTC recently released two documents summarizing top concerns from franchise industry stakeholders. "Both documents critically examine common methods franchisors use to implement system changes, suggesting that managing franchise [system] evolution will become increasingly complex," she said.