Expert Analysis & Litigation Support

Law firms, businesses, and policy-makers retain me for questions of corporate law doctrine, governance, and AI accountability that require independent scholarly grounding. My research on Canadian, US, and European law in these fields has informed litigation, judicial decisions, legislative work, and regulatory analysis.

Expert Witness

Independent expert reports and testimony for litigation, arbitration, and regulatory proceedings on corporate governance, directors and officers duties, corporate liability, and AI governance.

Litigation Support

Analytical and advisory support for legal counsel including research memoranda, case strategy input, and expert opinion on corporate law doctrine, governance standards, and liability frameworks.

Advisory

Board governance reviews, AI governance and frameworks, regulatory submissions, and policy commentary for law firms, policy-makers, and organizations facing novel legal challenges.

Board Service

Available to consider selected corporate and advisory board positions where expertise in governance, directors’ duties, AI oversight, technology risk, and regulatory strategy adds value.

Typical Questions I May Address

What governance and liability standards apply when a corporation deploys autonomous or agentic AI systems?
When does a parent company become liable for a subsidiary’s actions?
What constitutes adequate board oversight of corporate conduct?
When are corporations and their directors and officers liable to shareholders and third parties, and how can liability be avoided?
What is the scope of fiduciary duty in a contested M&A transaction, and what are appropriate remedies in failed control transactions?
What does current corporate governance practice require of boards and managers in terms of risk disclosure and their use and oversight of AI?

Selected Past Engagements

Retained as expert adviser to an overseas legislature on a corporate law reform package, providing comparative analysis of governance standards and reforms.

Engaged as expert by a Big Four professional services firm to contribute to a report on AI governance standards and corporate liability for AI systems.

Worked with a Magic Circle law firm to provide expert opinion on corporate obligations in the context of a complex cross-border corporate dispute.

AI Governance & Accountability: A New Legal Problem

Existing corporate and external laws were not designed for autonomous AI systems that make or materially influence corporate decisions and actions that may affect shareholders and third parties. The legal frameworks are still being developed, meaning litigation and regulatory proceedings operate at the same frontier as the research. I have been working on these questions since before most legal guidance existed.

Who Retains Me

Litigation and transaction counsel

Regulatory and government bodies

Law firms and private parties

Corporations and boards

Education & Credentials

S.J.D., UCLA School of Law

Ph.D. (magna cum laude), University of St. Gallen

LL.M. (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), Columbia Law School

New York Bar & Swiss Bar (both non-practicing)

NFP Board Governance Certificate (ICD & Rotman Management)

Works cited by the Delaware Court of Chancery and others. “Assessing Delaware’s Oversight Jurisprudence” (2011) was cited by Vice Chancellor Laster in In Re McDonald’s Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation (Del. Ch. 2023). Other works were cited by the Iowa Supreme Court, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the UK Parliament, the Swiss Supreme Court, and are referenced in trial documents.

Services provided are academic, advisory, and analytical in nature and do not constitute legal advice or create a solicitor-client relationship. Martin Petrin is not a practicing attorney.

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