About Tech Contracts Academy®

Our Founder, Your Teacher

David W. Tollen is one of the industry’s leading authorities on software licensing and cloud computing agreements. His particular expertise is in making complex topics easy to understand and engaging — and he’s been widely recognized for both.
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Our Company

Tech Contracts Academy®, LLC offers training and tools to help companies, government agencies, lawyers, and contract staff do tech contracts better, faster, and with more confidence. We seek to bring clarity to this complex, ever changing area.

Tech Contracts Academy® uses David Tollen’s perennial American Bar Association IP bestseller, The Tech Contracts Handbook, as the foundation for its training and tools. We also rely on David’s forte for taking big, complex topics and making them simple, clear, and user-friendly.

We offer a wide range of courses about IT contracts – our comprehensive Tech Contracts Master Classes™ (four courses, appx. 2 hours each) and our shorter “Focused Topics” (each 1 to 2 hours). We can also customize courses specifically for in-house teams, to suit their special needs. (Scroll down for details.)

We deliver our programs in three formats to best fit your needs and schedule:
  • (i) live public webinars (with 30 days’ access to a recording after);
  • (ii) on-demand programs, broken down into concise topic or contract clause lessons (available for up to one year, depending on the course); and
  • (iii) in-house, provided by video conference or at your offices. (We can also give in-house teams blends of formats.).
Master class session in progress

ANYONE RESPONSIBLE FOR SOFTWARE LICENSES OR CLOUD CONTRACTS BENEFITS, INCLUDING:

  • • Procurement and contract managers
  • • IT staff and project managers
  • • Lawyers – both In-House and at law firms
  • • Tech Sales People
  • • Insurance agents (reviewing SaaS, software, and cloud contracts)
  • • Executives

With little or no formal training on tech contracts, many professionals expose themselves and their companies to expensive mistakes. Learn-as-you-go education and a lack of confidence often leave contract negotiations bogged down by uncertainty and open the door to disputes and litigation.

Training and other resources from Tech Contracts Academy® speak in plain English. They give professionals confidence in their knowledge and skills – with the goal of doing better deals, faster.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credit

  • California: Credit is available! Tech Contracts Academy is an approved CA CLE multiple activity provider (MAP). Your CA CLE credit is “participatory” for attending live webinars, “self-study” for watching on-demand courses and recordings of webinars. 
  • Other Jurisdictions: We provide a certificate and other resources that may assist students seeking credit outside California. Jurisdictions differ on whether students may self-report or apply individually (and, if so, what’s required).
  • In-House Trainings: Contact [email protected] to discuss potential CA CLE for private trainings. (If offered, additional fees may be required.)
  • See here for general details about our CLE, and each course’s sales page for its specific offering. 

Testimonials

"David's expertise and deep knowledge of tech contracts is unparalleled, and his training has had a transformative impact on our team's skills and capabilities. He has an exceptional ability to break down complex concepts into practical frameworks that our attorneys can readily apply in their day-to-day work. "
Shannon YavorskyPartner, Orrick
"Every tech lawyer should take this course. David has mastered the ability to deliver complex tech concepts in simple fashion."
Recent Trainee
“... Tollen’s Tech Contracts Handbook offers a comprehensive mix of plain-language guidance and tech licensing best practices. Tollen (writes) with an expert hand, born of his experience drafting and negotiating tech agreements in Silicon Valley’s virtual trenches.”
Tom JevensCorporate Counsel, Google Inc.; Lecturer, Santa Clara University School of Law
“An exceptionally helpful and concise book that should be on the desk of every lawyer who drafts licenses and contracts or wants to learn how…”
Ian BallonExecutive Director Of Stanford Law School’s Center For E-Commerce; Tech Law Author
"I haven't found other courses regarding tech contracts available without enrolling in a master's degree or postgrad program."
Recent Trainee
“Once again David Tollen has done the impossible ... taken one of best treatises on IP contracting and made it even better.”
H. Ward ClassenLegal Counsel, Accenture, LLP; author of Software Licensing for Licensees and Licensors
I wanted to extend a huge thank you to David Tollen for delivering such an insightful and dynamic workshop at our recent summit …. The subject matter couldn’t have been more relevant, and David’s clear, engaging style made it a highlight of the event.
Tali KaufmanGlobal Event Producer, World Commerce & Contracting
To inquire about training with Tech Contracts Academy®, please visit our Contact page.