John F. Weaver - McLane Middleton

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John F. Weaver

Director, Corporate Department and Chair, Real Estate Practice Group and Chair, Artificial Intelligence Practice

Woburn, Boston and Manchester

Office781-904-2685

Mobile603-674-2817

john.weaver@mclane.com

300 TradeCenter
Suite 7000
Woburn, MA 01801

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John is the chair of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group, chair of the firm’s Artificial Intelligence Practice, and a member of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Group. He is a leading transactional real estate attorney north of Boston and a sought after national voice on legal issues involving artificial intelligence.

John serves as outside real estate counsel to regional and national companies, overseeing the management, financing, and expansion of their real estate holdings. In that role, he develops strategic plans for clients’ real estate assets and coordinates with local counsel across the country to effectively implement those plans, protecting and leveraging clients’ holdings. He also represents clients in all manner of discrete real estate transactions in the north of Boston market, including sales, acquisitions, leases, easement negotiations, and municipal land use applications before zoning, planning, and select boards. John frequently works with in house and outside real estate counsel on stand-alone projects where local counsel is beneficial.

As a cybersecurity and privacy attorney, John divides his practice between pre-breach and post-breach representation. Before a data breach, he conducts risk assessments of clients’ privacy and information security controls, oversees remediating information security vulnerabilities and gaps in privacy regulatory compliance, and negotiates data security agreements with their customers and vendors. After a data breach, John converts “end of company” attacks to manageable events by calmly quarterbacking clients’ data security teams – cyber liability and cyber crime insurance providers, forensic investigators, IT staff, etc. – to restore operations, evaluate legal obligations, and retain customer relationships.

John is a nationally recognized voice in the nascent field of artificial intelligence law, advising a wide range of companies – from startups to international corporations. His practice includes conducting risk assessments of AI systems, advising clients concerning AI policies and best practices, and counseling clients regarding emerging legal and practical issues in AI. John also serves on the steering committee for the American Bar Association’s Artificial Intelligence & Robotics National Institute. He is the author of Robots Are People Too: How Siri, Google Car, and Artificial Intelligence Will Force Us to Change Our Laws, a contributing writer at Slate focusing on legal issues implicated by AI and autonomous devices, and a columnist for and member of the board of editors of The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law. His current project at The Journal is an examination of the essential principles of Constitutional rights and how they apply to AI.

John received his J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University.

Representative Work

Representative Real Estate Matters

Outside real estate counsel for national RV dealership chain, overseeing management and expansion of nationwide real estate holdings
Outside real estate counsel for national property holding company, overseeing lease relationships
Outside real estate counsel for regional furniture retailer, overseeing restructuring and eventual sale of real estate assets
Represented regional retail chain in $50 million acquisition of distribution center
Represented buyer in $28 million acquisition of lab and office buildings
Represented regional electrical supplies wholesaler in $6 million acquisition of light industrial building complex
Represented national retail chain in planning board application to permit development of new shopping plaza
Represented nationally recognized college in boundary line adjustment agreement to resolve dispute with neighboring entity

Representative Cybersecurity and Privacy Matters

Led team securing PHI and negotiating with affected customers following multiple ransomware attacks against international communications company
Led team responding to malware attack against engineering firm and complying with statutory notice requirements
Conducted privacy and information security risk assessment for video hosting platform, prepared resulting privacy policy, and negotiate data protection agreements with clients in ongoing capacity
Conducted privacy and information security risk assessment for online medical device training portal, and prepared company’s resulting privacy policy, terms of use, and form SaaS contract
Prepared Data Protection Impact Assessment of Hong Kong based mass mailing company consistent with European Union General Data Protection Regulation
Negotiate data protection agreements for international security firm consistent with privacy regulations in multiple jurisdictions, including the European Union and California

Representative Artificial Intelligence Matters

Conducted risk assessment of AI systems for customer modeling software company
Advised research firm regarding legal and practical concerns in analysis of aggregated data by AI application that could identify the personal identities of otherwise anonymous data subjects
Advised labor union database management company regarding assessing individuals’ employment and retirement benefits using AI software

Admissions

Massachusetts
New Hampshire

Involvement

Boston Bar Association, Privacy, Cybersecurity & Digital Law section, Co-Chair (2023-present)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Organizational Governance of AI Working Group
The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law, Editorial Board
Boston Bar Association Privacy & Cybersecurity Conference Steering Committee
New Hampshire Bar Association Real Estate Section, Chair (2012 – 2014)
Agnes Church, Faith Formation Teacher
Reading Little League Coach

Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch

2021

Massachusetts Super Lawyers (Real Estate)

2023

Awards

Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers of 2021 and 2022 (Real Estate)
BookAuthority’s Best Artificial Intelligence Books, for Robots Are People Too

Speaking Engagements

- PODCAST: Vaccine Passports, McLane Middleton Minutes (July 12, 2021)
- CPRA: It’s Not Just for California, TerraLex’s International Privacy Day Series (January 28, 2021)
- “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sophia? The Future of Legal Personhood for Artificial Generally Intelligent or Superintelligent AI Systems,” American Bar Association’s Artificial Intelligence and Robotics National Institute (October 2020)
- PODCAST: “Navigating Through the Future Legal Issues Facing Emerging Technology Companies,” Future Tech Podcast (July 5, 2018)
- “Artificial Intelligence and Governing the Lifecycle of Personal Data,” Richmond Journal of Law & Technology’s 2018 Artificial Intelligence and Law Symposium (February 23, 2018) Click here for replay (John’s presentation begins at 5:06:30)
- PODCAST: “Do Twitter ‘Bots’ Have First Amendment Rights?,” Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (February 20, 2018)
- “Welcome to Your Obsolescence (or Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace),” American Bar Association Section of Labor & Employment Law National Symposium on Technology in Labor and Employment Law, Washington, DC (April 7, 2016).
- “Robots Are People Too: Artificial Intelligence and the Law,” Newton Free Library, Newton, MA (February 2, 2016).
- “Laws That Are or May Be Applicable to Autonomous or Semi-Autonomous Land Vehicles,” Drone Law – New Challenges, New Opportunities CLE, Concord, NH (December 2, 2015).
- “Privacy Issues Associated with Autonomous Cars,” Technology May-Rathon, Boston, MA (June 5, 2015).
- “Robots Are People Too – Artificial Intelligence and the Law,” Hudson Public Library, Hudson, MA (April 15, 2015).
- “Zoning for Droning,” Mass Development, Boston, MA (April 1, 2015).
- “Robots Are People, Too,” Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, Hamilton, MA (March 11, 2015).
- “Driverless Cars: Who’s ‘Driving’ and Who’s Responsible” (appearing with Todd Berg and Anna Eby), Legal Talk Network Podcast (February 20, 2015).
- “Robots Are People Too: Artificial Intelligence and the Law,” Brookline Public Library, Brookline, MA (February 18, 2015).
- “Artificial Intelligence and the Law – Legal Changes to Address Technological Changes,” Bolton Public Library, Bolton, MA (September 18, 2014).
- “Robots Are People Too – Artificial Intelligence and the Law,” Portsmouth Public Library, Portsmouth, NH (June 12, 2014).
- “Legal Issues in Artificial Intelligence,” McLane & Middleton, Woburn, MA (March 11, 2014).
- “The Complex Relationship Between Humans & Robots” (appearing with Maja J. Matarić, Pieter Abbeel, and Joanna Bryson), HuffPost Live Panel (Jan. 9, 2014)
- “Real Estate in Probate,” Joint Meeting of New Hampshire Bar Association Elder Law and Real Property Sections (August 14, 2012).
- “Real Estate Issues in Telecommunications and Utility Leases and Easements,” New Hampshire Bar Association Real Property Section (March 13, 2012).