Dr. Michael Meehan, JD, PhD, is a technology attorney with broad expertise in AI, intellectual property, and data privacy, advising clients from startups to large technology companies to governments. He has served as General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary at the leading non-neural-network AI company, held leadership roles at Google and Uber, where he built and led the IP department, and is currently an appointed advisor to the UK Government. He leverages his deep legal and technical background to drive results for organizations at the complex intersection of law, technology, and innovation.
Michael is an experienced technology attorney, with a career that has spanned large and small tech companies, governments, and academia. As General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer at Howso AI, he built a world-class patent portfolio of over 100 assets and 40 approved patents, negotiated over 100 complex SaaS agreements, and led a $25M A-round funding and secured millions in venture debt financing. Prior to that, Michael grew the Intellectual Property Department at Uber from 3 to 12 attorneys. At Google, he was the lead patent attorney for the Geo business (Maps, Navigation, Street View, Google Earth, and Captcha) and directed the IP-side for many company acquisitions. He also has worked at top law firms and served as a clerk to the Honorable Judge Bryson at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Michael is a founding member of TechGC and has authored over 30 articles in legal, academic, and technology publications. Michael’s pre-legal career was in technology, where he worked both in industry, from individual contributor engineer to director of engineering and CTO, and in academia as a researcher at Stanford, UNC, Kodak, the Swiss Government, and an Italian Hospital.
Michael holds a JD from Stanford University Law School with Distinction, a PhD and MS in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina, and a BSE in Computer Engineering from Purdue University, Summa Cum Laude. A U.S. Rowing Champion who has competed in 10 triathlons, he also serves on various boards, including numerous technology companies in the medical device, AI, and virtual reality spaces, and the Data & Trust Alliance.
