Leslie F. Spasser partners with her clients to provide strategic and tactical guidance on complex business transactions involving technology and related matters. Leveraging eight years of in-house experience as well as her work as outside counsel, Leslie works closely with her clients’ business and legal teams to understand and help them achieve their key objectives. Leslie’s extensive work supporting technology organizations has positioned her to handle cutting-edge transactions involving artificial intelligence, edge computing, new iterations of cloud-based services and adaptive software.

Leslie currently serves as Atlanta's Office Managing Partner. Her experience spans industries as diverse as media and entertainment, telecommunications, financial services, education, health care and automotive/mobility. She works with companies at all phases of their lifecycles – from founder and venture-funded start-ups to private equity portfolio companies to large publicly traded and privately held enterprises. For these clients, Leslie handles transactions involving Cloud computing/hosted services; technology and media licensing; video programming distribution; outsourcing; advertising and new technology development and deployment. As the technology and legal landscapes evolve, Leslie pairs her practical experience with an innovative and creative approach to help clients assess and address the resulting risks and opportunities.

Education

  • New York University School of Law (J.D., 1990)
    • Duke University (A.B., magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa, 1987)

      Bar Admission

      • Georgia, 2015
      • New York, 1991
      • Virginia, 2005

      Professional Affiliations

      • American Bar Association
        • Science and Technology Section 
      • Virginia State Bar 
      • Atlanta Bar Association
         

      Recognition

      • Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America® for Artificial Intelligence Law, 2026
      • Managing Intellectual Property, IP Stars – Transactions Star, 2024-2025
      • Selected by The American Lawyer as a South Trailblazer, 2022
      Publications
      All Publications
      America’s AI Action Plan is a “National Security Imperative”
      Key Takeaways America’s AI Action Plan (the Plan) emphasizes respect for states’ rights to legislate AI, provided that such laws prudently balance innovation and align with the Plan. The Plan endorses AI literacy and cybersecurity as essential to clear governance. Under the Plan, AI innovation includes collaboration between sectors and allies. Virginia’s first-of-its-kind regulation for AI agents appears to align with the Plan. The Plan released last week by the White House declares “America must have the most powerful AI systems in the world.” Following up on the executive order released in January, the Plan emphasizes deregulation and comes on the heels of several first-of-their-kind laws enacted by states that aim to balance regulation with AI innovation. To dive into the three pillars of the plan
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      NIST Releases Risk ‘Profile’ for Generative AI
      A year ago, we highlighted the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s ("NIST") release of a framework designed to address AI risks (the “AI RMF”). We noted how it is abstract, like its central subject, and is expected to evolve and change substantially over time, and how NIST frameworks have a relatively short but significant history that shapes industry standards.  As support for the AI RMF, last month NIST released in draft form the Generative Artificial Intelligence Profile (the "Profile"). The Profile identifies twelve risks posed by Generative AI ("GAI") including several that are novel or expected to be exacerbated by GAI. Some of the risks are exotic and new, such as confabulation, toxicity, and homogenization. The Profile also identifies risks that are familiar, such as those
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