Technology Lawyer: Software, Data, AI, and Commercial Deals
If you are leading a technology company as a founder, CEO, department head, or in-house counsel, you know how much of your business moves through contracts. Every software license, cloud service agreement, and data-sharing arrangement carries both opportunity and risk.
A technology lawyer works with you to keep deals moving, align terms with your operating model, and protect the intellectual property that drives your business.
This page outlines the areas where technology companies most often need legal support, the agreements you will encounter, the issues that tend to shape negotiations, and the process a technology lawyer follows from intake to handoff.
Where a Technology Lawyer Adds the Most Value
Technology lawyers step in at the critical points where legal and business strategy intersect. For example, when managing SaaS Agreements or Master Subscription Agreements, terms may vary based on subscription tiers, user counts, or usage metrics. These contracts often include complex provisions around service level guarantees, restricted uses and licenses, data and content ownership, and termination rights, all of which are details that require careful consideration and negotiation.
They also provide guidance in vendor arrangements and internal policies, ensuring that commitments around uptime, support tiers, and remedies for service failures align with the company’s risk profile. Increasingly, data privacy and security compliance is front and center, with enterprise customers demanding comprehensive security policies and vendor risk assurances.
On the intellectual property side, technology counsel helps protect and monetize innovation. Some methods of protection and monetization include: patents for software and new features, trade secret protections for algorithms, LLMs, and other work product, copyright coverage for code and APIs, and trademarks that safeguard brand identity.
Finally, when a company faces investment, acquisition, or strategic partnership opportunities, a technology lawyer plays a pivotal role in due diligence. This includes reviewing product portfolios, license structures, open-source components, and key commercial agreements to ensure that no hidden risks undermine the deal.
The Agreements You Will See Most
As a leader or decision maker within your company, you are likely familiar with:
- Data and AI Terms addressing training data rights, output ownership, acceptable use, and disclosures.
- Master Subscription Agreements (MSAs) and Order Forms defining subscription terms, licensing, confidentiality, warranties, indemnities, liability caps, and scope of work.
- Master Service Agreements detailing the scope of work and obligations of the parties through a vendor-customer relationship.
- Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) establishing data security requirements and procedures, sub-processor lists, responsibilities and liability, and audit cooperation.
- End User License Agreements (EULAs) or Terms of Service outlining licensing and use rights, user restrictions, and content ownership for individuals and users of enterprise customers.
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Issues That Tend to Drive Negotiations
In transactions concerning technology-driven companies, negotiations often turn on a handful of recurring issues. Intellectual property ownership and licensing scope are frequent pressure points, especially around background IP, derivative works, and outputs generated by AI.
Indemnities tied to IP infringement, data breaches, and security incidents also tend to require more negotiation and discussion, as do liability caps and carve-outs for high-risk exposures. Security and audit rights, which cover control frameworks and remediation expectations, are another area where parties must align.
For companies with usage-based pricing models, discussions often center on metering accuracy, reporting obligations, verification rights, and how disputes will be resolved.
Open-source software use can raise additional questions, from attribution and copyright compliance to internal approval processes.
Privacy, Security, and AI Governance
As states continue developing comprehensive privacy laws and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation maintains full force and effect, companies collecting or processing any type of personal data must be aware of the data privacy legal landscape.
A mature privacy program includes customer-facing notice guidelines, data subject request procedures, retention schedules, data mapping, and cookie governance. Incident response plans define roles, notification triggers, cooperation steps and timelines, and data retention and logging. Further, vendor and sub-processor management involves due diligence, approval criteria, contractual flow-down terms, and monitoring cadence.
As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in business operations, AI governance has emerged as a critical legal focus. Technology lawyers help companies establish internal acceptable use policies, set clear boundaries on confidentiality and data handling, and place guardrails around training data sources. They also assist in drafting transparency and accountability standards for AI-generated outputs and negotiating or enforcing AI Addendums in commercial contracts.
*The free consultation is a brief introductory meeting to understand your needs and explain our services. It does not constitute legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed unless we’re formally engaged through a signed agreement.
Intellectual Property for Software and AI
Patents can protect unique software features when claims are framed strategically and aligned with your business objectives. Trade secrets require consistent measures such as access controls, logging, contractor agreements, and operational secrecy. Copyright protects source code, APIs, and datasets. Trademarks safeguard product names, logos, and related branding, with clear rules for partner and channel usage. See the USPTO Trademark Basics for more details.
Regardless of whether you hold registered patents, copyrights, or trademarks, it is essential to actively assert and defend your intellectual property rights. Registration strengthens protection, but even unregistered rights, such as trade secrets, proprietary algorithms, brand identifiers, or creative works, can carry significant legal weight when properly documented and enforced.
Failing to defend your IP can lead to erosion of rights, loss of competitive advantage, and difficulty securing investment or acquisition opportunities.
How an Engagement Typically Runs
An engagement often begins with an intake process to review your document set, objectives, prospective deals, and risk tolerances. Redlining then focuses on identifying issues, suggesting alternative language, and aligning terms with your internal policies and relevant law.
When you have a prospective deal to work through, negotiations follow a structured, version-controlled process that keeps momentum and works toward mutually agreeable resolution. Closing the matter involves delivering executed contracts, confirming relevant contract obligations are reflected in internal policies, and providing a clean artifact set for future deals.
Quick Contract Checkpoints
For SaaS or MSA sets:
✓ Confirm the agreements are customized to your business’ capabilities and offerings
✓ Ensure data handling conforms with relevant DPAs and applicable laws
✓ Align IP and indemnity coverage with product risks
✓ Include clear commercial terms in Order Forms or similar documents
✓ Specify warranties, representations, and remedies
For privacy and security documents:
✓ Document all data handling procedures and obligations
✓ Maintain up-to-date audit reports and certifications
✓ Define user and law enforcement notification triggers and cooperation steps
✓ Maintain an updated list of deal contacts and subprocessors
Request a Consultation Today
For a review of your current document set and priorities, please fill out the form below to arrange an introductory meeting with a technology lawyer. A firm representative will be in touch within 24 hours to confirm your meeting and next steps.
*The free consultation is a brief introductory meeting to understand your needs and explain our services. It does not constitute legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed unless we’re formally engaged through a signed agreement.
FAQ
Disclaimer: This content is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this material does not create, and is not intended to create, an attorney–client relationship between you and our firm. You should not act or refrain from acting based on the information contained herein without seeking professional legal counsel.
David approaches technology transactions with insights that are unique in the legal world. Before joining Founders Legal, David worked in the communication technology arena for nearly a decade as a sales consultant. It is in this capacity where David first gained industry experience in IT Security and Data Privacy, and where David first encountered the bureaucratic pitfalls that can cause deals to fall out.
A problem-solver by nature, and a skilled negotiator, David leverages his years of technology contract experience to enable clients to achieve their sales objectives. In this vein, David helps growing companies refine their sales documentation to reduce friction and speed up sales cycles, and to build out partner programs to leverage referrals, sponsorships, resales, and technology relationships.
Elena brings a strategic lens to business operations, helping clients stay agile while remaining compliant. With a background in marketing and European business, she understands the commercial drivers behind legal decisions and works to reduce friction in growth-oriented transactions.
Before joining Founders Legal, Elena earned her J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law, where she was a member of the Georgia Law Review and the recipient of the 2024 Real Property Law Section Award. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, she holds a B.B.A. from James Madison University, graduating with a concentration in Marketing and European Business.
Elena enjoys supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of growth, serving as a reliable legal partner who empowers founders to operate with confidence and clarity.
- Technology Lawyer: Software, Data, AI, and Commercial Deals - September 17, 2025
- What’s New in Data Privacy: Tennessee and Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Laws go into Effect - August 11, 2025
- AI Governance Policy: What Your Business Needs to Know - June 20, 2025
Upcoming topics in this series:
- SaaS agreements and licensing
- Cloud and outsourcing contracts
- Data Processing Agreements (DPAs)
- Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
- Privacy and security compliance
- Intellectual property for software and AI
- Startup and venture support
