Business and AI counsel for startups, entrepreneurs and growing companies
Alan N. Walter 
Most companies negotiating an AI contract ask an important question: Who owns the output? But that may not be the question that creates the biggest business risk. A more important question may be: What happens if the AI provider changes the rules? A company can spend months building a critical process around an AI tool, training … Read more
The House passed the Stop Insider Trading Act in July, and the headline was the exemption. The bill bars members of Congress from buying individual stocks, passed 232 to 198 and does not apply to the president or vice president. It reads like Congress deciding the president is above the law. He isn’t. The exemption is narrow, … Read more
This Insight was published as a Bloomberg Law Perspective in October 2026. The Bottom Line The insurance representation in your last technology acquisition was probably accurate. It also may have been worthless. Buyers of AI-enabled companies may be inheriting liabilities they incorrectly believe are insured, and representation and warranty insurance fails to fill the gap. … Read more
You put a noncompete in a contract. You make it five years, cover half the country and add a few restrictions for good measure. Then someone challenges it. Will the court enforce it? Throw it out? Or rewrite it into something reasonable? The answer is: it depends. And increasingly, the answer depends on how unreasonable … Read more
A slight variant of this insight was originally published in the ABA Journal, the flagship magazine of the American Bar Association, in September 2026 as part of its Your Voice series. When I first watched The Prisoner as a teenager, I was captured, in every sense, by its themes and its aesthetics. A secret agent resigns, is gassed in … Read more
If your New Jersey business uses freelancers, consultants or independent contractors, a new interpretation of the state’s worker-classification rules takes effect today. For some businesses, that could make existing contractor relationships harder to defend. New Jersey has used the ABC test to decide whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor for years. … Read more
This insight first appeared in Bloomberg Law in September 2026 under the title, “DOJ’s OpenAI Copyright Brief Previews AI Licensing’s Future.” The Bottom Line The Department of Justice told a federal judge this month that Congress, not the courts, should decide how artificial intelligence companies pay for the copyrighted material they use to train their … Read more
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority opens applications for Cohort III of the New Jersey Innovation Fellows program on September 9 and closes them December 4 at 5 p.m. The pitch sounds almost too simple. Assemble a team of at least three entrepreneurs, commit full time to a startup in one of the state’s targeted industries and … Read more
In the 20th century, nuclear technology was developed with the hope of tapping into a powerful new source of energy. But its potential for catastrophic destruction as a weapon of mass destruction became undeniable with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, devastating both cities and causing immense loss of life. … Read more
This Insight originally appeared in the September 2026 issue of the ABA Journal as part of the Mind Your Business series. Bar associations throughout the country have steadily issued ethics opinions regarding artificial intelligence. The ABA issued Formal Opinion 512 in July 2024. The Florida Bar issued Opinion 24-1 in January 2024. The State Bar of Texas issued Opinion 705 in … Read more
Drive through almost any American suburb now and there is a good chance a Flock Safety camera is reading your license plate before you reach the next stop sign. The cameras have spread to thousands of towns, homeowners associations and police departments, and the question residents keep asking is simple: is this legal? The honest … Read more
Governor Mikie Sherrill signed S4384 on August 28, 2026, four days before the COVID-era rules were set to expire. The law took effect immediately. The sealed margarita you have been picking up with your takeout since 2020 is now a permanent fixture of New Jersey law rather than an emergency measure on a countdown. The headlines all … Read more