Regulatory Compliance & Legal Risk Management

Regulatory compliance and risk management for technology companies — FTC enforcement, state regulators, sector-specific frameworks, and the operational systems that turn compliance into competitive advantage.

EdTech

EdTech Student Data Privacy Compliance: FERPA, COPPA, and State Laws for Startups Selling to Schools

EdTech founders assume FERPA only applies to schools. But the school official exception, COPPA, and 40+ state laws like California SOPIPA impose direct obligations on vendors. Here's what to build before selling to school districts.

Hardware Founders

Export Controls for Hardware Startups: When EAR and ITAR Reach Your Product, Your Engineers, and Your Investors

EAR and ITAR export controls can restrict who hardware startups hire, where they ship, and what they can publish. Here is what Texas founders need to know about deemed exports, semiconductor rules, and BIS enforcement.

Founders

Non-Compete Agreement Enforceability in Texas: A Founder's Guide After the FTC Ban Failed

The FTC abandoned its non-compete ban in September 2025. Non-compete agreement enforceability in Texas is now governed entirely by state law. Here's what founders can actually enforce—and how to draft agreements that survive judicial review.

In-House Counsel

Board Oversight of AI and Cybersecurity Risk: What Caremark and McDonald's Mean for GCs

After McDonald's and Marchand, Delaware boards face personal liability for failing to oversee AI and cybersecurity risk. Here's how GCs should structure board-level reporting to satisfy Caremark and SEC obligations.

Founders

FTC Click-to-Cancel Rule Compliance: What DTC and SaaS Startups Must Do Now

The FTC's Click-to-Cancel Rule was vacated by the Eighth Circuit, but enforcement hasn't stopped. Here's what DTC brands and SaaS startups must do for subscription billing, free trials, and cancellation flows under ROSCA, state laws, and class action risk.

Founders

What TRAIGA Requires From Texas AI Startups: Compliance, Governance, and Enforcement

TRAIGA compliance for Texas AI startups: prohibited practices, disclosure obligations, NIST safe harbor, AG enforcement with $200K penalties, and how it compares to Colorado and EU AI laws.

Game Studios

Game Publisher Agreements: What Indie Studios Sign Away in IP, Revenue, and Creative Control

A clause-by-clause breakdown of game publisher agreements for indie studios — IP assignment, revenue splits, cross-collateralization, milestones, creative control, and rights reversion. What you sign away and how to negotiate it.

Founders

Does Your Startup Have a National Security Data Problem? The DSP Compliance Checklist Founders Are Missing

Your privacy program does not cover the DOJ Data Security Program. Since October 2025, the DSP and PADFAA restrict which vendors, investors, and engineers can access your users' data based on ties to Countries of Concern. Here is how to find your exposure.

Law Firms

AI Ethics for Lawyers: A Practical Compliance Checklist for Using Generative AI in Client Work

What solo and small-firm attorneys must do before using ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot in client work — competence, confidentiality, supervision, and disclosure obligations under ABA Model Rules, Texas Disciplinary Rules, and state bar ethics opinions.

Health Tech

Genetic Data Privacy for Health Tech: The 2026 Compliance Roadmap

GINA, GIPA, Florida's DNA Privacy Act, Illinois BIPA, Texas HB 130, and FTC enforcement — the operational compliance roadmap for health tech apps that collect, process, store, or share DNA and genetic data in 2026.

Practice Transitions

Selling Your Law Practice: Model Rule 1.17 Ethics Requirements Explained

Selling a law practice under ABA Model Rule 1.17 requires written client notice, licensed purchaser, no fee increases, and liability insurance. Texas rules differ — here's what solo and small-firm attorneys need to know.

Hardware Founders

Right-to-Repair Compliance for Hardware Startups: What Your Connected Device Company Must Provide Under New State Laws

New state right-to-repair laws in NY, CA, MN, and OR require hardware startups selling connected devices to provide parts, tools, firmware, and repair documentation to independent shops — for up to 7 years after discontinuation. Here is what your company must do before first shipment.

Podcasters

Sponsorship Disclosure for Podcasters: What the FTC Actually Requires in Audio

Most podcasters think a line in the show notes covers their sponsorships. The FTC says otherwise: if the ad is spoken, the disclosure must be too. What "clear and conspicuous" means for audio — host-read vs. produced spots, affiliate links, and gifted products.

Podcasters

Defamation Risk for Podcasters: What You Can Say, What Gets You Sued, and What Insurance Covers

The Dominion, Smartmatic, and Alex Jones verdicts are the extreme end — but the same rules apply to any podcaster who states a false fact about a person or company. Opinion vs. fact, public vs. private figures, the republication trap, why Section 230 won't save you, and what media insurance covers.

Regulatory Compliance & Legal Risk Management

Lootbox Compliance for Game Studios: What Regulators in the EU, UK, and US Actually Require

A jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction compliance roadmap for indie game studios shipping games with loot boxes, gacha mechanics, and randomized reward systems — covering Belgium ban, Dutch consumer protection rules, Germany age rating impacts, UK industry-led guidance, and US FTC enforcement.

Privacy Law

AI in EdTech: FERPA, COPPA, and State Student Privacy Laws When Your App Adds AI Features

When your EdTech app adds AI tutoring, grading, or content generation, three regulatory layers apply at once: FERPA, COPPA's updated 2026 rule, and 100+ state student privacy laws restricting profiling and automated decision-making.

Regulatory Compliance & Legal Risk Management

Telehealth Cross-State Licensing Compliance: The 2026 DEA and State Board Roadmap for Health Tech

Health tech founders assume their telehealth platform can operate nationally once the app ships. But every state has its own medical licensing, telehealth registration, and prescribing rules and the DEA controlled-substance telemedicine rules remain in regulatory limbo through 2026.

AI Law

AI Vendor Agreement Clauses: What In-House Counsel Must Negotiate Before Signing

AI vendor contracts shift risk in ways standard SaaS templates don't cover. Five clauses in-house counsel must negotiate: training data, output IP, hallucination liability, model deprecation, and indemnification gaps.

Health Tech

When Your Health App Becomes a Medical Device: FDA SaMD Regulation for AI Health Tech

When does your AI health app become an FDA-regulated medical device? This guide covers SaMD classification triggers, the CDS four-criteria exemption test, 510(k) vs De Novo vs PMA pathways, and the FDA's Predetermined Change Control Plan for adaptive AI models.

Founders

The GPL Trap: How Open-Source Licenses Can Force Your Startup to Open-Source Its Proprietary Code

GPL and AGPL-licensed dependencies can force your startup to publish proprietary source code. Here is how copyleft licenses work and what to do about them.

Game Studios

When Players Build: UGC Legal Compliance for Game Studios

Game studios hosting user-generated content face overlapping obligations under Section 230, DMCA safe harbor, COPPA 2025 amendments, and the EU DSA. Here is the compliance framework.

Founders

The Howey Test for Founders: When Your Token Is a Security

Most founders launching tokens don't have a clear framework for whether they're issuing a security. The Howey test has four prongs, and the SEC has applied each of them to token issuers in ways that would surprise most founders who think 'utility' is the safe word.

Game Studios

Game Engine Licensing After Unity's Runtime Fee: What Your Studio's Legal Exposure Actually Is

Unity's 2023 runtime fee revealed how engine makers can change the rules mid-project. Here's what Unity, Unreal, and Godot terms actually say — and how to evaluate your studio's engine dependency risk.

In-House Counsel

Building an AI Use Policy: What General Counsel Needs to Cover in 2026

Only 37% of organizations have a formal AI governance policy despite 69% suspecting unauthorized employee AI use. Here's the seven components every AI use policy needs, plus how to fold in TRAIGA and EU AI Act obligations.

Founders

Texas Non-Competes: What Employers Can Enforce After Recent Case Law

Texas non-competes are not unenforceable — but they are far more complicated than a form clause. This guide breaks down what the Texas Covenants Not to Compete Act actually requires, what recent case law says about reasonable restrictions, and how to draft agreements that hold up.