John Weaver

Background

About John Weaver

My practice focuses on two distinct areas: real estate and technology, particularly data privacy and artificial intelligence. I joke that half my practice is older than dirt and the other half we're just making up as we go. I am the chair of McLane Middleton’s Artificial Intelligence Practice Group and an internationally recognized voice in AI law. I was once introduced at a conference as a “Godfather of the AI bar”, having been active in AI law since before there was an AI bar to speak of. I first began publishing and speaking on AI law in 2012, attracting forward thinking clients who saw how the technology could develop and wanted to be ahead of the curve. My first book on AI law, Robots Are People Too, was published the following year by Praeger Publishing, and I have gone on to be a prolific writer and speaker in the field, both in the United States and abroad, where Robots Are People Too has had a second life. In 2024 alone, I contributed two chapters to other books and gave dozens of presentations to industry groups and clients across the United States. My voice is not only sought out by clients and their industries, I have been featured in Slate (where I have worked as contributing writer on AI issues), NPR, The Atlantic, and many other general population publications. I am the co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Privacy, Cybersecurity, & Digital Law section, which oversees the association’s artificial intelligence activities, and I chaired that section’s first AI law conference in 2024. I am also the vice-chair of the American Bar Association’s annual conference on AI law. Since its founding in 2017, I have served on the board of editors for The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law. I also chair McLane's Real Estate Practice Group and serve as outside real estate counsel to regional and national companies, overseeing the management, financing, and expansion of their real estate holdings. In that role, I develop strategic plans for clients’ real estate assets and coordinate with local counsel across the country to effectively implement those plans, protecting and leveraging clients’ holdings. I also represent clients in all manner of discrete real estate transactions in the greater Boston market, including sales, acquisitions, leases, easement negotiations, and municipal land use applications before zoning, planning, and select boards. I frequently work with in house and outside real estate counsel on stand-alone projects where local counsel is beneficial.