Overview
Adam Berkland has over a decade of experience advising clients on a broad range of corporate and transactional matters. He takes great pride in his high responsiveness to clients and his pragmatic and efficient approach to problem solving.
As a key contributor in the firm’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Practice Group, Adam regularly advises emerging growth companies through each stage of the company's lifecycle, including initial company formation and early-stage commercial agreements, equity and convertible debt financings, and mergers and acquisitions – and frequently serves in an outside general counsel role for such companies.
Adam is also co-chair of the firm's Intellectual Property & Technology Practice Group, advising clients of all sizes (from one employee to thousands) on software licensing; SaaS subscriptions; reseller, OEM and channel partner agreements; e-commerce; emerging legal issues surrounding the use of artificial intelligence; and other IP and technology-related matters. He also has extensive experience counseling clients on privacy and cybersecurity matters, including navigating compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) and similar U.S. state-level regulations, and sector-specific regimes such as HIPAA and GLBA.
Experience
Emerging Companies & Venture Capital
- Led document drafting, negotiations and legal due diligence efforts for a CO2 conversion technology company in a $70 million Series B Preferred Stock financing involving a syndicate of strategic and financial investors.
- Led document drafting, negotiations and legal due diligence efforts for an agricultural robotics company in a $30 million Series B Preferred Stock financing.
- Led document drafting, negotiations and legal due diligence efforts for a sports entertainment SaaS provider in a $2.7 million Series A Preferred Stock financing.
- Represented a tech-enabled, on-demand mobile car servicing business in a $4 million venture debt/credit facility transaction.
- Represented a tech-enabled ESG data and indexing business in a $2 million SAFE offering.
Intellectual Property & Technology
- Drafted standard forms for, and serves as the principal negotiator for all comments and redlines on, the entire suite of customer (SaaS subscription and IT service) agreements for a provider of HR-focused management software and for a provider of blockchain infrastructure technology.
- Drafted and negotiated university “spinout” IP assignment and exclusive licensing agreements for a provider of health data analytics software and for an artificial intelligence-powered EdTech solution.
- Routinely serves as an intellectual property and information technology subject-matter expert in mergers and acquisitions transactions, leading due diligence reviews and analyzing, drafting and negotiating IP- and IT-related clauses in transaction agreements.
- Regularly assists clients in addressing legal compliance issues and negotiating relevant contract addenda relating to artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
Cybersecurity & Privacy
- Drafted or overhauled privacy policies and related internal privacy compliance programs for dozens of clients of all sizes and across industries (including highly regulated industries such as financial services, insurance, health IT and EdTech).
- Regularly drafts, reviews and negotiates data processing addenda attached to services agreements and software license agreements, including as needed for compliance with GDPR and comprehensive U.S. state-based data privacy and security laws.
- Routinely serves as a data privacy and cybersecurity subject-matter expert in mergers and acquisitions transactions, leading due diligence reviews and analyzing, drafting and negotiating data privacy- and cybersecurity-related clauses in transaction agreements.
- Counsels clients on planning for—and promptly, diligently and effectively responding to—data breach and security incident scenarios.
Mergers & Acquisitions
- Represented an EdTech SaaS business in a $20 million majority recapitalization transaction with a private equity firm.
- Represented a machine learning-powered document-processing technology company in a $7 million merger transaction with a strategic acquirer.
- Represented a property management mobile maintenance and servicing software business in a $7.5 million stock sale transaction with a strategic acquirer.
Accolades
Honors & Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in America, One to Watch, corporate, venture capital, 2022-26; intellectual property, technology, 2023-26
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, Rising Star, business/corporate, 2024-25
News & Events
News
Events
Insights
Publications
Practice Areas
Education
Duke University, J.D., summa cum laude, 2015, Order of the Coif
Boston College, B.A., summa cum laude, 2009, Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admissions
- North Carolina