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.

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.

Founders

Starting a Business in Texas: Entity Types, Franchise Tax, and Structural Decisions

Texas-based founders who aren't on a VC fundraising path can save time and money by forming here. This guide covers entity types, the franchise tax's $2.65M threshold, operating agreement requirements, and annual compliance obligations.

Founders

Amazon Seller Agreement Red Flags: What You're Actually Agreeing To

Amazon's Business Solutions Agreement has real teeth: 90-day payment holds, perpetual IP licenses, de facto price parity enforcement, and immediate suspension with no appeal outside Amazon. Here's what's buried in the terms you already agreed to.

Founders

FTC Endorsement Rules for Product Sellers: Reviews, Affiliates, and Influencer Campaigns

Most DTC brands know they need disclosures. Fewer know that review gating is a federal violation, that #ad in a bio isn't enough, and that the FTC has levied multi-million-dollar penalties against fashion and beauty brands for exactly these mistakes.

Hardware Founders

FCC Certification and CE Marking for Connected Devices: The Hardware Startup Compliance Roadmap

Most hardware founders don't discover FCC and CE certification requirements until a purchase order is blocked at customs or a retailer won't stock the product. Here's what connected device makers need to know about the certification process, timeline, cost, and how to plan it from day one.

Founders

The State Privacy Law Patchwork in 2026: Which Laws Apply to Your App and What They Require

Twenty states now have active privacy laws. This guide maps which ones apply to your app based on your user base, explains the California/Texas/other enforcement tiers, and covers the five elements every privacy notice must include.

Health Tech

Mental Health App Data Privacy: What Therapy and Wellness Apps Must Do Beyond HIPAA

Most wellness and therapy app founders assume HIPAA is the only privacy framework they need to worry about. It isn't. Mental health data sits under a stricter federal layer, state confidentiality statutes, and FTC enforcement actions that apply even when you're not a covered entity.

Founders

Employee vs. Independent Contractor in 2026: The Tests Every Startup Must Pass Before Classification

The DOL's 2024 rule reinstated a multi-factor economic reality test that puts most startup contractor arrangements under real scrutiny. Here's what the tests actually require and where the misclassification risk is highest.

Founders

At-Will Employment in Texas: The Doctrine, the Exceptions, and the Termination Mistakes That Create Exposure

Texas founders rely on at-will more than the law justifies. This guide covers the five state-law exceptions, federal overlays like the NLRA and FMLA, what employment agreements do to at-will status, and the documentation that limits termination exposure.

Founders

Non-Compete Agreements After the FTC Rule Litigation: What Texas Startups Can Enforce

The FTC’s sweeping non-compete ban is on hold after a Texas federal court enjoined it. While the legal battle continues, Texas has its own enforceable framework—and most startup non-competes still fail it. Here’s what the law actually requires.

Founders

DAO Liability: Are Members Personally Exposed? Lessons from the CFTC's Ooki DAO Enforcement

The CFTC's 2023 judgment against Ooki DAO established that decentralized structures don't prevent regulatory enforcement—and three courts have since confirmed that governance token holders face unlimited personal liability as general partners. Here's what that means for your protocol.

Founders

CCPA and CPRA for Consumer App Founders: What Applying to California Users Requires

Most founders assume CCPA only applies to enterprise companies. It doesn't — a consumer app with 100,000 California users is covered regardless of revenue. Here's what the thresholds, six consumer rights, and 2025 CPPA enforcement actions mean for your product.

Founders

Product Liability for DTC Brands: When You're the Importer, You're the Manufacturer

Most DTC founders assume their factory contract and supplier insurance protect them. They don't. US law treats importers as the manufacturer when the foreign supplier is unreachable — strict liability, CPSC reporting duties, and recall costs all land on the brand.

Law Firms

Law Firm Data Breach Response: Ethics and Notification Duties for Texas Attorneys

A data breach at your firm triggers three separate clocks: Texas Chapter 521, TDRPC 1.05 ethics duties, and possibly HIPAA. Here's what triggers notification, the current timelines (including a 2023 change many sources still get wrong), and when to bring in outside breach counsel.

Founders

Subscription Billing Compliance: ROSCA, the FTC Click-to-Cancel Rule, and What DTC Brands Must Do Now

The FTC's 2024 click-to-cancel rule was vacated by the Eighth Circuit in July 2025 — but ROSCA, Section 5, and state automatic-renewal laws remain fully operative. This guide covers what DTC brands and subscription operators need to know, from California's AB 2863 to the $100M Vonage settlement.

Founders

Employee Handbook Essentials for Startups: The 8 Policies You Need Before Your Fifth Hire

Most startups skip the handbook until they get a demand letter. Then they download a template that creates new problems. Here are the 8 policies every startup needs before employee #5 — and the 2 things most templates get dangerously wrong.

Practice Transitions

The Solo Attorney's Succession Plan: Protecting Your Clients, Files, and Trust Account If You Die or Become Disabled

Texas imposes no rule that says "write a succession plan" — but the duties you owe clients don't pause when you die or become disabled. Here's how solo and small-firm attorneys designate a successor, solve the trust-account problem, and protect their clients before a crisis hits.

Filmmakers

Talent, Location, and Music Releases: The Clearance Package Every Indie Film Needs Before Delivery

No distributor will take your film without E&O insurance, and no insurer approves it without a complete clearance package. A practical guide to talent, location, and music releases, life rights, and the chain of title that makes an indie film deliverable.

Musicians

AI Voice Clones and the NO FAKES Act: Protecting Your Voice and Likeness as a Creator

An AI track faked Drake and The Weeknd and racked up millions of plays before it was pulled. If your voice or likeness can be cloned, here's the legal toolkit that protects creators today—and what the NO FAKES Act would change.

Hardware Founders

Manufacturing and Supply Agreements for Hardware Startups: NRE, Tooling Ownership, MOQs, and the Clauses That Protect Your Product

Hardware founders negotiate the unit price and sign the rest. But the manufacturing agreement decides who owns the tooling you paid for, what 'conforming' means, and whether you can ever leave. A clause-by-clause guide to NRE, tooling title, MOQs, warranty, IP/anti-cloning, and your exit.

Writers

Newsletter Legal Checklist: CAN-SPAM, Privacy Policy, and Platform Risk for Substack and Ghost Creators

Running a paid newsletter also means running an email marketing operation. Federal law, state privacy statutes, and FTC disclosure rules apply to your subscriber list whether you have 200 readers or 200,000.

Writers

The Legal Guide for Newsletter Creators: Copyright, FTC Disclosures, and Privacy Compliance

Running a paid newsletter is running a business. Here's what every newsletter creator needs to know about copyright, FTC disclosures, privacy compliance, and platform terms.

In-House Counsel

The EU AI Act's Big Deadline Just Moved to 2027 — What US Founders and In-House Counsel Should Actually Do Now

The EU AI Act's high-risk deadline slipped from August 2026 to December 2027 under the Digital Omnibus. But several obligations did NOT move, and US companies are squarely in scope. Here's what changed, what didn't, and what to do with the runway.

Practice Transitions

How to Sell a Law Practice in Texas: The Legal and Ethical Roadmap for Solo and Small-Firm Attorneys

Selling a law practice in Texas is not prohibited — but it triggers a web of ethical obligations most attorneys don't know about. Here's what you must do under the TDRPC before you hand over the files.