AI Contract Review Training: Best Practices in AI-Assisted Contract Review and Contracting with AI Vendors

Stanislav (Stas) Zakharenko, Principal, Technology Transactions Group and Co-Leader of the Artificial Intelligence Practice; Former General Counsel of Audible | GTC Law Group PC & Affiliates

Stanislav (Stas) Zakharenko is a Principal at GTC Law Group PC & Affiliates, where he is a member of the Technology Transactions Group and co-leads the firm’s Artificial Intelligence practice. A technology and AI-focused attorney with two decades of experience at the intersection of intellectual property, technology, digital media, and AI, he helps companies navigate the opportunities and risks of emerging technologies with clarity, pragmatism, and business alignment — structuring data and model licensing deals, building responsible AI programs, negotiating cloud and SaaS transactions, and assessing AI and software risk in M&A and software due diligence. Before joining GTC, he served as General Counsel of Audible, Senior Counsel at Amazon, and Director of Product and Tech Legal at Netflix, where he advised engineers and data scientists on machine learning and artificial intelligence. Having negotiated AI and technology agreements from inside some of the world’s most sophisticated technology companies, he brings an insider’s understanding of how AI vendors build, train, and license their products — and of the contract terms that matter most when lawyers rely on those products.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Zakharenko earned his J.D. from Boston University School of Law and his B.A. in Music from Stony Brook University.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Zakharenko was tapped in 2024 to co-lead GTC Law Group’s Artificial Intelligence practice, with the firm citing the “extraordinary experience and expertise” he brings to its AI Group. He is a frequent CLE and conference speaker on AI governance and risk. In April 2026 he spoke at the General Counsel Conference Midwest: SuperConference in Chicago on “Confronting the Unknown: Developing Robust Risk Management Frameworks for Emerging Technologies,” and he has lectured on the accredited CLE program “AI in Contract Management: Legal Risks, Ethical Duties, and Practical Guidance,” which addresses using AI in contract drafting, review, and management, evaluating third-party AI vendors, governance practices, and evolving regulatory and security expectations.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Zakharenko works closely with product, engineering, data science, and executive teams to translate complex technical and regulatory issues into practical paths forward. His clients span media, communications, hardware, software, insurance, financial services, security, healthcare, automotive, biotech, and mar-tech, ranging from high-growth startups to Fortune 50 companies. He has advised on AI and technology aspects of M&A matters totaling more than $1 billion in aggregate value. He partners with clients as an extension of their teams, anticipating the downstream implications of technical and commercial decisions and helping them move quickly without losing sight of regulatory, contractual, or reputational risk. Outside the law, he is an avid musician who performs with community jazz and classical groups.

• Experience

Mr. Zakharenko joined GTC Law Group in 2024 after senior in-house roles at three of the world’s leading technology and media companies. Across his roles as General Counsel of Audible, Senior Counsel at Amazon, and Director of Product and Tech Legal at Netflix — where he advised engineers and data scientists on machine learning and AI — he provided product development counseling, negotiated complex technology and content agreements, and delivered strategic legal and business leadership. At GTC, his practice focuses on AI governance and responsible AI programs, data and model licensing, cloud and SaaS transactions, and AI risk assessment in M&A and software due diligence. His goal is always the same: to help clients innovate with confidence, make informed decisions, and build durable frameworks that keep pace with rapid technological change — making him exceptionally well positioned to show attendees how to evaluate AI vendors, allocate risk in AI contracts, and govern the use of AI in contract review.

Jennifer N. Elleman, Partner and Leader of the Contract Solutions Team, Corporate Transactions & Securities | Thompson Hine LLP

Jennifer N. Elleman is a partner in the Dayton office of Thompson Hine LLP, where she leads the firm’s Contract Solutions team within its Corporate Transactions & Securities practice. Her practice is devoted to the commercial contracts that run modern businesses — vendor and consumer master service agreements, statements of work, consulting, referral, nondisclosure, supply, reseller and distribution, licensing, managed technology services, and business process outsourcing agreements — and to building the template contracts, stock-language repositories, and contract management workflows that allow legal teams to review and negotiate those agreements faster and more consistently. She advises clients on artificial intelligence, on data privacy (including GDPR and CCPA compliance and data processing agreements), and on privacy and cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and global supply chain matters, and she serves as outside general counsel to company leadership on legal risk. A former in-house lawyer at a leading global IT services provider and a Lean Six Sigma–certified practitioner, she brings to this program a rare combination of deep technology-contracting experience and a process-improvement mindset that is essential to integrating AI into contract review.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Elleman earned her J.D., with honors, from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law, where she served as Managing Editor of the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Miami University. She is admitted to practice in Ohio and earned her Lean Six Sigma certification during her in-house tenure.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Elleman was named to the Dayton Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” and has been recognized as a NetDiligence Breach Coach (Silver). She is a frequent speaker on AI contracting and contract operations, including as a panelist on “Game of Terms: Winning the Battle for Fair AI Contracts” for The Knowledge Group (November 2025), “Efficiencies in Contract Management” for the Dayton Bar Association, “CCPA, Data Privacy and Contracts” and “Legal Project Management: Providing Value for In-House Law Departments” for the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Southwest Ohio Chapter, and an “Internet of Things” panel for Thompson Hine clients, as well as a widely viewed webinar on force majeure clauses.

Her publications include “The Microsoft Outage, Cyber Disruptions and Force Majeure Events” (co-author) in Pratt’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report; “Using Reps & Warranties to Protect the Value of a Target Company’s Proprietary Software” (2025); “FTC Releases Final Rule on Negative Option Practices in Consumer Contracts”; “Banking Regulators Publish Third-Party Risk Management Guide”; analyses of new auto-renewal contract laws in Virginia and Utah; “EU Approves New Standard Contractual Clauses for Cross-Border Data Transfers”; “Work Smarter, Not Harder: Implement Lean and Six Sigma Process Methodologies in Your Legal Departments”; and “Smith v. Van Gorkom and In Re Caremark” (co-author) for LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Elleman is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the Dayton Bar Association, and is a former trustee of the Ohio Women’s Bar Association. She is active with the Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio (Southwest Chapter) and the Volunteer Lawyers Project, serves on the Executive Leadership Team of Go Red for Women, and has served on the boards of the Muse Machine and the Montgomery County Citizens Review Board.

• Experience

Before returning to Thompson Hine, where she began her career as an associate in the Corporate Transactions & Securities group, Ms. Elleman served as in-house counsel at a leading global IT services provider, acting as lead counsel to multiple business units on risk, compliance, litigation management, and commercial negotiations and supporting strategic initiatives in M&A, product development, and strategic sourcing. Today she handles inbound and outbound software and SaaS licensing, cloud hosting, and database and bulk data licensing; master services and master consulting agreements; reseller, channel partner, and distributor agreements; managed technology services agreements for providers; business process outsourcing for healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, and information services clients; government contracting; and acquisitions and divestitures for public companies and private equity buyers. Having sat on both the vendor and customer side of technology deals — and having spent her career making contract review more efficient — she is uniquely positioned to guide attendees through AIassisted review best practices and the key terms to negotiate with AI vendors.

Julie D. Honor, Counsel, Corporate Transactions & Securities and Founding Member of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Team; Certified AI Governance Professional (AIGP) | Thompson Hine LLP

Julie D. Honor is Counsel in the Chicago office of Thompson Hine LLP, where she practices in the firm’s Corporate Transactions & Securities group, is a member of its Contract Solutions group, and is a founding member and leading lawyer of the firm’s Artificial Intelligence Industry Team. A Certified AI Governance Professional (AIGP), she advises clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to high-growth startups on how to build, buy, and deploy artificial intelligence with a “compliance by design” approach — from the AI policies and training that govern how employees use generative AI tools to the vendor contracts that determine who bears the risk when those tools fail. Her day-to-day practice sits squarely at the center of this program: she drafts and negotiates the full spectrum of commercial agreements, including master services agreements, statements of work, consulting, referral, nondisclosure, supply, reseller and distribution, and technology licensing agreements; builds contract templates and stock-language and clause libraries; negotiates generative AI software contracts; and redesigns contract management and commercial contracting workflows. Drawing on a background as a general counsel and experience spanning litigation, intellectual property, employment, and commercial contracting, she brings the perspective of both the in-house leader who must roll out new contracting technology and the outside counsel who negotiates the terms on which that technology is bought.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Honor earned her J.D., cum laude, from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where she served as Senior Production Manager of the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, and her B.S., with high distinction, from Penn State University. She is admitted to practice in Illinois and New Jersey, holds the Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP) certification, and speaks Spanish.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Honor is a sought-after national speaker on AI governance and AI contracting. Her recent programs include “Winning the Battle for Fair AI Contracts” for The Knowledge Group (November 2025); “AI Regulations to Watch For in 2026” (December 2025) and “US AI Regulators vs. The EU AI Act” (January 2025) for DataCamp; “Practically Applying AI Governance Principles” for the University of Dayton Program of Law and Technology (November 2025); “From Frameworks to Impact: AI Governance for In-House Counsel” for the Association of Corporate Counsel in Cincinnati (October 2025); “Building and Implementing Comprehensive AI Governance Frameworks” for CenterForce Conferences (October 2025); and the “AI Program Considerations and Your Take-Home Framework” series at Mitratech Interact and on BrightTALK (2025). She has also presented “Developing a Comprehensive Corporate AI Policy” at the AI Strategy Summit in Chicago, “Navigating AI Opportunities and Risks” for the Society for Corporate Governance’s Ohio Chapter, the AI legal landscape for CISOExecNet, and a two-part “Generative AI for Life Sciences” series for Ohio Life Sciences.

She writes regularly on AI and contracting. Her publications include “Questions to Ask Your Law Firms About Their Use of Artificial Intelligence” (co-author) in the Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law; “Compliance-Forward Approach to Developing and Deploying AI and GAI”; “Critical Components of AI Governance Programs”; “The Broad-Reaching EU AI Act Goes Into Effect Today: Why You Might Fall Into Its Scope”; “Illinois Enacts State Laws Regulating AI Use in Employment”; “White House Releases Sweeping AI Action Plan” (2025); “California Enacts Mandatory Disclosure Requirements for AI-Generated ‘Synthetic Performers’ in Advertising” (2026); and “Unlocking Value in Commercial Contracts” in Crain’s Chicago Business.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Honor is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Project Management Institute — an affiliation that reflects her process-driven approach to contract operations. Long before AI-assisted review became mainstream, she was a leading voice on contract technology adoption, presenting “Change Management with Contracts: Best Practices for Rolling Out Modern Technologies,” “Contract Data Storytelling” at the Consero General Counsel Virtual Summit, “Legal Innovation: Using Tech to Navigate Crises,” and “The Future of Data in a Privacy-First World,” and appearing as a featured customer speaker at the SpringCM Customer Summit. She serves on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of Illinois and as a Council Member of the American Lung Association, and has served as a mentor with the Chicago Mentoring Society and as a volunteer attorney with the Center for Disability and Elder Law.

• Experience

At Thompson Hine, Ms. Honor develops corporate AI policies and governance programs, has served on a multinational company’s generative AI committee, and negotiates generative AI software contracts. She counsels clients on inbound and outbound software and SaaS licensing, cloud hosting, and technology licensing; master services and master consulting agreements, including global agreements using affiliate adoption agreements; statements of work and the stock-language databases that accelerate SOW creation; referral, reseller, channel partner, and distributor agreements; and government contracting. Her data privacy practice covers GDPR and CCPA compliance, data processing and vendor agreements, privacy notices and online terms, written information security plans, data mapping, and incident response. She has represented a publicly traded company in global commercial transactions, advised buyers and sellers in M&A, and resolved claims and disputes before litigation — making her uniquely positioned to show practitioners how to put AI review tools to work responsibly and how to negotiate the AI vendor terms that protect their organizations.

Lee Rone, General Counsel | IntelAgree

Lee Rone is General Counsel of IntelAgree, the AI-powered contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform that helps legal, procurement, and revenue teams make contract management faster, easier, and more secure. At IntelAgree he negotiates the company’s key contracts with customers, vendors, and partners, takes part in the design and development of the company’s AI-driven contracting products, and advises its customer success, data science, and implementation teams. His career has been built at the intersection of contract practice, data governance, and enterprise software: he has extensive experience designing contract templates, drafting and negotiating commercial agreements, handling data privacy matters, and developing contracting workflows for both cloud and on-premise software companies. As the chief legal officer of an AI contracting vendor — and a contract negotiator who works alongside the data scientists who build AI review tools — he offers attendees a rare view from both sides of the table: how AI-assisted contract review actually works, and what customers should expect, ask for, and negotiate when they contract with AI vendors.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Rone earned his J.D. from Whittier Law School and his B.A. in Political Science from Texas A&M University.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Rone is a member of IntelAgree’s senior leadership team and a recognized CLE faculty member on AI and technology contracting. He has lectured on the accredited CLE programs “AI in Contract Management: Legal Risks, Ethical Duties, and Practical Guidance” — which covers using AI in contract drafting, review, and management, the ethical and confidentiality risks of AI-assisted contract work, evaluating third-party AI vendors, governance practices, and evolving regulatory and security expectations — and “Navigating SaaS Contracts: Top Tips for Reducing Risk.”

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Rone plays a hands-on role in IntelAgree’s product strategy, bringing a practicing contract lawyer’s judgment to the design of AI features used by legal, procurement, and revenue teams at organizations that include Fortune 500 companies and major league sports franchises. He works closely with the company’s data science team on AI-powered contract analysis and with its implementation and customer success teams on deploying the platform within customers’ contracting workflows. He also brings working knowledge of the security and compliance framework that underpins the platform, which is built on Microsoft Azure and supports SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance — the very data-protection and vendor-diligence issues that lawyers must evaluate when selecting an AI contract review tool.

• Experience

Before joining IntelAgree, Mr. Rone was one of the lead transactional attorneys for SAP America, Inc., the U.S. arm of one of the world’s largest enterprise software companies and a Global 500 SaaS provider, where he handled complex enterprise software transactions. Across his career he has designed contract templates, built contracting workflows, and managed data privacy matters for both cloud and on-premise software businesses. Today, as General Counsel of an AI-native CLM company, he negotiates AI vendor relationships from the provider’s side every day — making him uniquely positioned to explain how AI contract review tools are trained, deployed, and secured, and to equip attendees with practical best practices for adopting AI in their own contract review and for negotiating data use, confidentiality, accuracy, and liability terms with AI vendors.

SESSION 1 – AI-Assisted Redlining Workflows for Commercial Contracts | Julie D. Honor & Jennifer N. Elleman | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session delivers practical, day-to-day mechanics of using AI to review and redline commercial agreements accurately and consistently, from the perspective of two legal practitioners who lead the commercial contracting practice of a national law firm. Topics include what AI contract review actually gets right and wrong in 2026; how to use AI effectively as a starting point to create templates, clause libraries, and playbooks; and how to use AI to perform a first-pass AI review with a human verification workflow for agreements attorneys see every day (MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, SaaS and software licenses, and  other standard form agreements).  Attorneys completing this session will get practical advice on how to use AI effectively to increase the efficiency of their contract review workflow, while also improving prompts and inputs to get more reliable output.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Governing and Contracting for Legal AI: Internal Use Policies, Vendor Diligence, and Key AI Terms | Stanislav (Stas) Zakharenko & Lee Rone | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

Building Session 1 focuses on how to use AI contract-review tools, this session addresses how law firms and legal departments can put those tools in place responsibly. Taking into account recent judicial decisions such as United States v. Heppner, we will cover how to establish internal AI use policies and governance: which tools are approved, what work they may be used for, what client and counterparty information may be entered, and how human oversight is documented. We will also discuss selecting and contracting with legal AI vendors, including existing vendors (and their sub-processors) that are adding AI to tools you already use: what to look for in diligence (security, data use, model training rights, and human oversight and intervention features), and the key AI terms to negotiate in vendor agreements. Attendees will leave with a framework for an internal AI use policy and guidance on evaluating and contracting with legal AI vendors.