Who’s Liable When AI Agents Misbehave? A 2026 Guide to Deployer Responsibility and Compliance- by-Design

Jack L. Hobaugh Jr., Shareholder | Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

Jack L. Hobaugh Jr. is a shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck whose practice sits at the intersection of technology, policy, and law. He approaches client challenges from a rare combined technical, policy, and legal vantage point, drawing on a prior career as a global software, database, and network engineer. A leader in artificial intelligence governance, cybersecurity, and privacy, Jack advises clients on AI governance and law, cybersecurity law, and privacy law, with particular skill in guiding startup companies through the AI, privacy, and security compliance maze.

• Education & Credentials

Jack holds an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center and a second LL.M. from The George Washington University Law School, a J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and an M.S. from Johns Hopkins University. He has also completed executive programs at Chicago Booth: From Business Strategy to AI Strategy, and Leading AI Transformation. His professional certifications are extensive. He is a certified IAPP Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP) and information privacy professional (FIP, CIPT, CIPP/US, CIPP/E), as well as an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Jack is admitted to practice in Colorado, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and before the USPTO.

• Recognition & Leadership

Jack serves as Chair of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) KnowledgeNet Denver Chapter. He was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of Blood Cancer United Colorado, and he earned his AIGP certification among the early cohort of attorneys to hold that credential. He is the author of four books on cybersecurity law, including titles in the Hornbook and Concise Hornbook series, and is a frequent guest lecturer.

• Professional Involvement

Jack is a member of the Colorado Bar Association Artificial Intelligence & Innovation Task Force. His community and board service includes the Board of Trustees of Blood Cancer United Colorado and the Board of Directors of HighScope, in addition to his IAPP chapter leadership. He is a sought-after speaker and author, with recent engagements before audiences including Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School, SHRM Hawaii, ISC2 Security Congress, and the Colorado Bar Association’s IP & Tech Law Institute, and bylines in outlets such as Law360, ColoradoBiz, and the Cybersecurity Law Report.

• Experience

Jack combines global software, database, and network engineering experience with his legal practice to focus on artificial intelligence governance and law, cybersecurity law, and privacy law. Before entering law, he worked as a software engineer concentrating on international IT consulting and telecom across Europe, the Middle East, Northwest Africa, and Brazil—and wrote his first artificial intelligence program in 1989. In addition to litigating and prosecuting patents, he served as a patent examiner for the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In private practice, Jack draws on deep in-house experience—as a data protection officer, incident response counsel, and global privacy program compliance counsel—to advise clients on GDPR, the EU AI Act, HIPAA, GLBA, FERPA, COPPA, PIPEDA, FTC, and state compliance matters, including data protection agreements, business associate agreements, and data protection impact assessments. He is sought-out counsel for startups and for mergers and acquisitions. His practice spans Corporate & Business (including M&A), Crisis Management & Strategic Response, Ethics & Compliance, Privacy & Cybersecurity, and Technology Transactions, with industry focus in health care and life sciences.

Andrew B. Lustigman, Co-Managing Partner | Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP

Andrew “Andy” Lustigman is a nationally recognized authority on advertising, marketing, and promotions law who offers comprehensive counsel to domestic and international clients on advertising, marketing and promotions matters and represents them in regulatory investigations, enforcement actions, and litigation. Marketers, advertisers, agencies, and suppliers regularly turn to Andy for pragmatic, solutions-oriented guidance across every media channel. He chairs Olshan’s Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and co-chairs its Brand Management & Protection Group.

• Education & Credentials

Andy earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law in 1991, where he served as Managing Editor of The American University Law Review. He holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan (1988). He is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey.

• Recognition & Leadership

Andy is repeatedly recognized as a leader in his field. He has been named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers list and was featured as a Distinguished Adviser in Advertising & Marketing in Financier Worldwide’s “Power Players” Report. He is regularly ranked by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, Best Lawyers in America, and Super Lawyers, and was elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Within the firm, Andy is a co-managing partner and a member of its Executive Committee. A frequent media commentator, he appears on television and radio and in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The National Law Journal, New York Law Journal, Bloomberg BNA, Law360, Mobile Marketer, and Luxury Daily, and has testified as an expert witness on advertising compliance in federal court.

• Professional Involvement

Andy serves as Treasurer of the International Bar Association’s Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee. He is a prolific author and speaker, presenting throughout the country at venues including the Practising Law Institute, the American Conference Institute’s advertising-substantiation and food-law forums, the IBA Annual Conference, and numerous CLE programs on sweepstakes, false advertising, subscription compliance, influencer marketing, and AI-generated advertising. He has published Olshan’s Advertising Law Blog since its inception in the early 2000s and contributes regularly to the New York Law Journal, Bloomberg Law, and Law360. His pro bono and community work includes Olshan’s advertising-practice support for charitable fundraising efforts.

• Experience

Andy advises clients on the clearance of advertising, promotions, and marketing materials, and structures sweepstakes, games of skill, fundraising promotions, and other contests, social media programs, and direct marketing campaigns from both legal and compliance standpoints. He also conducts advertising and marketing due diligence in mergers, acquisitions, and investments, and is frequently called upon to help clients navigate the nation’s complex subscription marketing laws. His counsel spans social media, internet, television, print, radio, direct mail, mobile, telemarketing, and other electronic media, and he brings significant experience with FTC and FDA requirements governing health claims, advertising, labeling, and distribution of health-related products, including OTC products, dietary supplements, medical devices, cosmetics, and medical foods. On the disputes side, Andy represents clients in investigations, enforcement actions, and litigation brought by the FTC, FDA, U.S. Department of Justice, FCC, U.S. Postal Service, state attorneys general, district attorneys, and other authorities, and his experience extends to single-plaintiff, multiparty, and class action cases alleging false and deceptive advertising, intellectual property claims, and corporate disputes. Proactive and strategic, he frequently appears in federal and state court and before the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau. Representative results include defeating class certification to reduce potential liability from $20 million to $500 for a provider of automated voice-broadcasting and bulk-text technology in a TCPA class action, and resolving a significant California Automatic Renewal Task Force investigation for a leading subscription marketer of wine products. He is also retained by Am Law 100 and other leading firms as special counsel on advertising compliance matters.

Barry M. Greenbaum, Partner | Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP

Barry M. Greenbaum is a partner in Olshan’s Brand Management & Protection and Intellectual Property Law practices who helps clients turn their innovations and brands into assets by developing and executing IP strategies that support growth, commercialization, and transactions while protecting technology and product investments. With a background that pairs legal practice with hands-on engineering and startup experience, Barry is sought out by technology-focused clients—from early-stage startups to global enterprises—on patent prosecution, intellectual property transactions, trademarks and design, brand protection and enforcement, and privacy matters. Clients rely on him to secure and enforce their intellectual property in a way that aligns with commercial objectives, risk tolerance, and transaction needs.

• Education & Credentials

Barry earned his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 2008. He holds a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering, with a minor in Biomedical Engineering, from Cooper Union (2006), and a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from Cooper Union (2005). He is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

• Recognition & Leadership

Barry joined Olshan as a partner in 2026, a lateral move that drew coverage across the legal press. He previously served as Senior Counsel in Norton Rose Fulbright LLP’s Intellectual Property practice, and co-founded a cloud-based platform designed to automate patent drawing review and analysis—giving him firsthand insight into how technology companies build, scale, and protect their innovations and brands. Earlier in his career, he served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Edward R. Korman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
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Professional Involvement
Barry is an active author and speaker on the intersection of artificial intelligence and intellectual property. His recent writing includes articles in Managing IP on AI’s growing role in trademark naming and clearance and in Bloomberg Law on how AI is changing trademark creation, clearance, and enforcement. He also presents on emerging-technology issues, including a CLE webinar on creative content production using AI.

• Experience

Barry advises clients across the full IP lifecycle. He counsels clients on a broad array of commercial and technology agreements—including software licensing, SaaS, master services, consulting, assignment, and AI-technology agreements—and advises on privacy and data considerations in connection with them. He has significant experience managing global patent portfolios, coordinating prosecution across multiple jurisdictions, and counseling clients on trademark strategy, copyright matters, and brand protection. His work includes drafting and prosecuting utility and design patent applications in the United States and abroad, supporting post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and conducting IP due diligence and portfolio analyses in connection with financings, acquisitions, and other transactions. His practice concentrates on fast-moving and emerging sectors. Barry’s technical experience spans artificial intelligence and generative AI, machine learning, autonomous vehicles and robotics, IoT systems, fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency, image-recognition technology, advanced sensors, and data-driven infrastructure, as well as mechanical and consumer products such as medical devices, wearables, lighting systems, and power tools. Representative matters include counseling an applied-science research institute on monetizing a 350-patent portfolio spanning wireless communications, semiconductor design, imaging, and energy technologies; representing a global automotive technology company in patent prosecution across AI, autonomous-vehicle systems, and advanced sensors; and representing a consumer products company in cross-border enforcement of design patents, trade dress, and trademarks against a foreign competitor.

SESSION 1 – AI Agents and Liability: Managing the Risks | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

When an AI agent causes harm, liability rarely lands cleanly on one party. This session traces responsibility across users, deployers, and developers, examining tort standards, data provenance, contract drafting, and the enforcement risks shaping how agentic AI gets governed.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – AI Agent Conduct: FTC Section 5 and State UDAP Risks | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

Regulators and plaintiffs increasingly frame agent failures as deception or unfairness. This session examines FTC Section 5, state UDAP, ROSCA, and subscription-cancellation rules, then maps the governance controls and deployer obligations that build defensible records through 2026.