Robert Shannon Authors Article on Striking a Regulatory Balance for Disrupted Industries

Robert T. Shannon, chair of the firm's Government Practice, authored the article "Disruptive Innovation Demands Balanced Regulation," which appeared in Law360 on November 12, 2014. The article discusses the challenges that governments face in appropriately regulating industries as disruptive technologies bring into the market new types of competitors to existing participants. As Mr. Shannon notes in the article, "Simply put, technology appears to be outpacing the regulators. Regulators, though, have no choice but to keep up." He adds, "Instead of the never-ending task of chasing new technology with piecemeal regulatory reform, the goal should be to create comprehensive regulatory schemes to universally address fundamental public safety concerns. All sides must be heard and given a seat at the regulatory table to guard against disparate treatment. Throughout, regulators will have to be open-minded, well-educated and fair."