Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Understanding the Technology, Challenges, and Legal Implications — New Deadlines, Settled Cases, and Contracting for Agents

Theresa M. Weisenberger, Partner | Baker & Hostetler LLP

Theresa Weisenberger co-leads both BakerHostetler’s intellectual property and technology transactions practice and its cross-practice AI team. With a background in electrical engineering, experience in patent prosecution and litigation, and 10 years of machine learning experience, she advises content providers, technology developers, and end users on the IP and regulatory issues that arise in developing, deploying, and using generative AI. Her practice spans IP and AI audits and policies, infringement risk analysis, OSS compliance, and the negotiation of development deals, technology acquisitions, data licensing agreements, and SaaS and XaaS contracts, with a focus on how licensing third-party technology affects clients’ own rights and obligations. Recognized by IAM Patent 1000, The Legal 500, and The Best Lawyers in America® for IP litigation, prosecution, and transactions, she served as Secretary and Vice President of Governance of the Copyright Society and speaks regularly on copyright law and emerging technology.

• Education & Credentials

Theresa earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2011, where she was Articles Editor of the Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, a Dean’s Scholar, a member of Phi Delta Phi, a Mock Trial Quarterfinalist, and recipient of the Vanderbilt Scholastic Excellence Award for Patents and Know- How. She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, from Mississippi State University (2008), along with an Engineering Entrepreneurship Certificate. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.

• Recognition & Leadership

Theresa is recognized by IAM Patent 1000, The Legal 500, and The Best Lawyers in America® for IP litigation, prosecution, and transactions, and is listed by The Legal 500 as a Recommended Lawyer for Intellectual Property in its Atlanta Elite rankings. In April 2025 she sat for an interview with the Journal of the Copyright Society on the state of copyright and artificial intelligence, published at 72 J. Copyright Soc’y 520 (2025). Within Baker Hostetler she co-leads the IP and technology transactions practice and the firm’s cross-practice AI team.

• Professional Involvement

At the Copyright Society, Theresa has served as Secretary and Vice President of Governance and cochaired the Society’s 2024 Annual Meeting. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Georgia, and she speaks regularly on the intersection of copyright law and emerging technology.

• Experience

Theresa maintains BakerHostetler’s Case Tracker: Artificial Intelligence, Copyrights and Class Actions, following the copyright litigation brought against AI developers, and has written on the copyright treatment of AI-generated content, including the firm’s analysis “Copyright and AI-Generated Content: Establishing Scope Requires More Than Registration.” Her work for technology clients has included designing and integrating an IP capture and copyright registration program into a company’s software development workflow.

Amy S. Leopard, Counsel | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Amy S. Leopard helps clients move regulated data through the full AI life cycle, from concept to deployment, advising on enterprise governance and risk management, contracting and procurement, regulatory and product counsel, data rights, interoperability, and government enforcement. Based in Bradley’s Nashville office, she has spent more than 25 years guiding healthcare providers, payors, and innovators through complex regulations, and she has prepared enterprise-wide AI governance initiatives and developer and deployer policies grounded in the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. Amy holds MIT Sloan’s AI in Health Care certificate, covering AI assurance, risk stratification, transparency, and bias mitigation, and is certified by the IAPP in both AI Governance and Privacy (AIGP-CIPP).

• Education & Credentials

Amy earned her J.D., cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1996, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of Health Matrix: Journal of Law-Medicine. She holds an M.S. in Health Services Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a B.S., with high honors, from Auburn University, where she was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board. She is licensed in Tennessee, the District of Columbia, and Ohio, holds the Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP) and CIPP certifications from the IAPP, and holds MIT Sloan’s AI in Health Care certificate.

• Recognition & Leadership

Amy is listed in Chambers USA for Privacy & Data Security: Healthcare (Nationwide, 2021–2026; Global Guide, 2026) and Healthcare: Regulatory (2020–2021, 2023–2026), and in The Best Lawyers in America® for Information Technology Law (2025–2027), Privacy and Data Security Law (2024–2027), and Health Care Law (2006–2027). She was named Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” for Healthcare Law in Nashville in 2017 and received the Nashville Business Journal Healthcare Innovation Award as Legal Champion in 2021. She has also been listed in the Nashville Post “In Charge – Legal” (2023), Nashville Medical News “InCharge Healthcare” (2019–2021) and “Women to Watch” (2016), and received the Academy of Medicine of Northern Ohio Presidential Citation for outstanding legal service in healthcare and information technology law and the YMCA of Greater Cleveland “Women of Professional Excellence” Award (2010).

• Professional Involvement

Amy is a member of the Responsible AI Institute, the Coalition for Health AI, and the NIST Generative AI Public Working Group. She served as Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Health Law Association from 2018 to 2024, chaired its Health IT Practice Group from 2015 to 2018, and co-chairs its Tech Licensing & IP & Telemedicine Affinity Group. She is a Fellow of the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society and a member of the American Bar Association’s Healthcare and Intellectual Property Sections.

Her earlier service includes chairing the Ohio State Bar Association Health Care Law Committee (2000– 2004), serving on the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Health Law Council (1999–2003) and as Secretary and Executive Council member of its Women in the Law Section, participating in the Ohio Health Information Security & Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) Legal Working Group, and sitting on the Case Western Reserve University Law-Medicine Center Professional Advisory Committee, where she previously taught healthcare finance and transactions. She currently serves as Secretary of the Executive Committee of the West End Home Foundation.

• Experience

Amy prepared an enterprise-wide AI governance initiative for a national healthcare provider, including a Responsible AI Statement of Principles and Governance Policy, and has drafted both developer and deployer policies for trustworthy AI grounded in the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. She prepares Terms of Use to govern AI-driven solutions and data analytics products, and counsels on AI licensing issues so that innovative AI applications comply with HIPAA and healthcare regulations.

On the regulatory side, she advises clients on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services AI regulations, including ONC rules governing Predictive Decision Support Interventions (PDSI) and the Office for Civil Rights’ treatment of patient care decision support tools under the Affordable Care Act’s nondiscrimination provisions. Her decade in hospital leadership supplies operational insight into how these solutions are actually deployed, and an early internship at the U.S. Department of Justice shaped her approach to regulatory counsel. Across her practice she designs technology and data-sharing solutions that protect patients, data, technology assets, and intellectual property while mitigating privacy and security risks.

SESSION 1 – From Prompt to Product: Intellectual Property and Transparency in the Age of AI | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session provides an update on the leading copyright cases, and the implications of these cases across the AI ecosystem, from AI developers to AI end users. It will also explore the legal implications of downstream use of generative AI outputs, including the potential liabilities, intellectual property protections, and transparency requirements. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for advising clients on ownership, liability, and compliance in an increasingly AI-driven marketplace.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Before You Buy, Before You Deploy: A Legal Playbook for AI Procurement and Governance | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session equips attorneys to guide clients through the full AI lifecycle, from the decision to procure through deployment and monitoring. Attendees will learn how to triage AI use cases, translate that risk classification into binding contract terms, and stand up governance structures that establish boundaries and oversight. The session closes with a survey of the regulatory and enforcement landscape, including state statutes, so attorneys can align contract and governance work with evolving statutory duties of care.