About Promise Legal Insights
About Promise Legal Insights
The publication of Promise Legal PLLC — written for the operators we work with.
Promise Legal Insights is the editorial home of Promise Legal PLLC, a technology law firm based in Austin, Texas. We write for the people we represent: tech founders, in-house counsel, independent creators, and the small-firm attorneys building their own practices.
The premise is simple. Most legal publications are written for other lawyers. The few written for operators are usually shallow — produced to pull readers into a sales funnel rather than answer the question they came with. We try to write the article we'd want to read if we were sitting on the other side of the desk: actually researched, actually current, actually useful.
Who writes here
Posts are produced under the editorial direction of Alex Shahrestani, Managing Partner of Promise Legal PLLC. Alex is an attorney and software developer in Austin — a lawyer who reads the model docs, ships the contracts, and defends his own positions in front of clients and regulators. The publication's voice reflects that. When the law is unsettled, we say so. When a position is the firm's own, we say so. When something is a workaround instead of a real fix, we say that too.
How the blog is organized
Content is grouped by audience, not by area of law. Each hub is its own landing page with the questions, posts, and topics most relevant to that reader.
For builders and founders
- For Founders — entity formation, fundraising, AI compliance, and the contracts that scale
- For EdTech & Kids' AI — COPPA, FERPA, parental consent, child-directed AI
- For Game Studios — IP, lootboxes, EU DSA, age ratings, platform terms
- For Health Tech — HIPAA, telehealth, FDA, AI in clinical workflows
- For Hardware Founders — invention assignment, employer-IP risk, patents, export controls
For independent creators
- For Creators — the umbrella for all five sub-hubs below
- For Musicians — copyright, sync licensing, PRO disputes, label deals
- For Visual Artists — copyright, AI training opt-outs, commissions, gallery deals
- For Streamers — FTC endorsements, brand deals, copyright, platform ToS
- For Writers — publishing contracts, AI training opt-outs, audiobook rights
- For Filmmakers — location releases, music sync, festival rights, distribution
For attorneys and in-house counsel
- For Law Firms — solo and small-firm AI adoption, audit-ready workflows
- For Practice Transitions — succession, retirement, and orderly exits
- For In-House Counsel — GCs, Chief AI Officers, board AI governance
What this publication is not
This publication does not provide legal advice. Articles describe how laws and regulations work in general; whether they apply to your situation is a question for an attorney who knows your facts. If you want that conversation, start here.
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A free subscription gets you the full archive plus email when new posts go up. A paid subscription supports the editorial work and unlocks tier-specific resources — templates, walkthroughs, and tech-stack guides we use ourselves. Subscriptions make this publication possible. Thank you for considering.
Have a specific question?
Promise Legal works with the operators behind these audiences every day. Talk to our team about scoping the right legal infrastructure for your stage.