AI Chatbot Litigation: The Next Frontier in Product Liability and Litigation

Matthew P. Bergman, Founding Attorney | Social Media Victims Law Center

Matthew P. Bergman is an attorney, law professor, philanthropist, and advocate who has become the nation’s leading legal voice on social media accountability. As founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, he pioneered the use of product liability law to overcome Section 230—the shield social media companies had relied on for decades to evade responsibility for their dangerously defective platforms—and his firm now represents more than 2,500 clients harmed by these companies. A veteran product liability litigator who has recovered over $1 billion for his clients, Matthew has carried the fight for injured victims from the courtroom to legislatures on both sides of the Atlantic.

• Education & Credentials

Matthew earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 1989, where he was elected to the Cornelius Honor Society, and his B.A. in Sociology from Reed College in 1986. He is admitted to practice in Washington and Oregon and before numerous federal district courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Bobby R. Baldock of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

• Recognition & Leadership

Matthew has been named a Washington Super Lawyer every year since 2005 and is recognized among the National Trial Lawyers’ Top 100. He received the Lewis & Clark Law School Distinguished Graduate Award in 2009. Over his career he has been appointed by the U.S. Trustee to represent asbestos claimants in more than a dozen major bankruptcy proceedings—including Kaiser Aluminum, Owens Corning/Fibreboard, Halliburton, and Georgia Pacific—and appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to serve on the trust advisory committees of several multibillion-dollar asbestos victims’ trusts.

• Professional Involvement

Beyond the courtroom, Matthew is a driving force in the global movement for online safety, working with lawmakers across the United States and Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom to protect children and young adults from the predatory design of social media. He teaches as an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, where he created the litigation strategy course “Litigation and the Art of War.” His civic and philanthropic commitments are wide-ranging: he founded the Maasai Children’s Initiative, which built solar-powered schools and a well serving 300 Maasai girls in southern Kenya, and he serves on the boards of institutions spanning higher education (Lewis & Clark College and Law School), civil rights and worker protection (the Mississippi Center for Justice and Working Washington), national security (the American Jewish Committee’s Arabian Gulf Institute), and the arts (the Tacoma Art Museum and Seattle Repertory Theater). He is a member of numerous bar and trial lawyer associations, including the American Association for Justice and the Washington State Association for Justice.

• Experience

Matthew is nationally known for his product liability work, having litigated more than 1,200 product liability cases, conducted over 25 jury trials, and served as counsel in more than 20 reported appellate decisions. Before founding the Social Media Victims Law Center, he founded Bergman Draper Oslund Udo, the leading asbestos law firm in the Pacific Northwest, where he represented more than 850 mesothelioma victims and secured over $900 million in recoveries, shaping Washington and Oregon toxic-tort law through landmark appellate rulings on duty to warn and “take-home” asbestos exposure. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and chaired and keynoted national and international seminars on toxic tort litigation and bankruptcy. Today, he applies that deep product liability expertise to holding technology companies accountable—representing “KGM,” the family behind a recent groundbreaking jury verdict against Meta and Google that pushes the industry closer to overhauling the algorithms designed to target and addict users—and his scholarship, including “Assaulting the Citadel of Section 230 Immunity,” is helping define the emerging law of social media and AI accountability.

SESSION 1 – AI Chatbots, Large Language Models, and Emerging Product Liability Risks | 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET

As artificial intelligence chatbots become increasingly integrated into everyday life, they are also creating new legal, ethical, and product liability challenges. This session explores the evolution of chatbot technology, beginning with the machine learning principles and self-improving algorithms that led to the development of today’s large language models (LLMs). Attendees will gain an understanding of how LLMs differ from traditional linear computing models and why their probabilistic reasoning can produce unpredictable or harmful outcomes.

The program will also examine the shift from the “attention economy” to the emerging “intimacy economy,” where AI systems are designed to foster increasingly personal and emotionally engaging interactions with users. Against this backdrop, the session will analyze potential product defects in AI chatbots, including issues such as automorphism—the tendency to attribute human characteristics and intent to AI systems—and sycophancy, where chatbots reinforce user beliefs or behaviors rather than providing accurate or balanced information. Through this discussion, participants will better understand the legal risks, emerging theories of liability, and practical considerations surrounding the design, deployment, and regulation of AI-powered conversational systems.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm ET

SESSION 2 – AI Chatbots in Litigation: Emerging Liability, Malpractice, and Product Liability Claims | 1:10pm – 2:10pm ET

As AI chatbots become increasingly relied upon for information, advice, and emotional support, courts and regulators are beginning to confront the significant legal questions arising from their use. This session examines the growing body of cases involving allegations that chatbot interactions have contributed to self-harm, suicide, and psychotic episodes, as well as claims stemming from inaccurate or harmful advice that may give rise to malpractice and professional liability concerns. Attendees will explore the current landscape of pending litigation against AI developers and technology companies, including the legal theories being advanced by plaintiffs and the defenses likely to shape future case law. The program will conclude by addressing the broader challenges that lie ahead, including evolving standards of care, regulatory developments, product liability issues, and the responsibilities of organizations deploying AI-powered conversational systems in increasingly sensitive contexts.