ABOUT
Roland Trope is a partner in the New York City offices of Trope and Schramm LLP and served as Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Law and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1997 – 2025).
He is Co-Chair of the ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force, Vice-Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee for the ABA Public Contracts Law Section, a member of the New York City Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Council, a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War, co-host for the ABA sponsored podcast series, Mind the Gap: Dialogs on Artificial Intelligence, accessible at https://www.mindthegapdialogs.com/, and former Vice-Chair of the ABA Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence.
Mr. Trope has a national security practice in which he advises on government procurement, protection and licensing of intellectual property under government contracts, cross-border tech transfers, export controls, economic sanctions regulations, anti-corruption laws, reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), determinations of foreign ownership, control, and influence (FOCI), cyberspace law, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
Mr. Trope has over 40 years of experience in cross-border legal transactions representing governments and multi-national corporate clients. He advises high tech companies, financial institutions and equity investors, developers, owners and operators of critical infrastructure, and contractors for design and development of military systems and medical devices for the battlefield. He has represented allied ministries of defense in major system procurements from the U.S. Government and in international arbitrations of commercial contracts for design and development of advanced, digital-based defense systems.
He has written more than 40 articles on legal issues and contributed as author, co-author, or co-editor to several books and chapters in books published by the American Bar Association (ABA), including:
- The Law of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning;
- ABA Cybersecurity Handbook (1st, 2nd, and 3rd editions);
- Guide to Cybersecurity Due Diligence in M&A Transactions;
- Sailing in Dangerous Waters: A Director’s Guide to Data Governance; and,
- Checkpoints in Cyberspace: Best Practices for Averting Liability in Cross-Border Transactions.
Education
J.D., Yale Law School, 1980
B.A., M.A., Oxford University, 1972, 1976
B.A., University of Southern California, 1969
Honors
Danforth Fellow, Oxford University, 1974 – 1978
Marshall Scholar, Oxford University, 1969 – 1972
U.S. Army Commander’s Award for Public Service, 1994, 2000
Professional Affiliations
Adjunct Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, U.S. Military Academy (2018 – 2025)
Adjunct Professor, Department of Law, U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1992 – 2018)
Co-Chair, American Bar Association (ABA) Cybersecurity Legal Task Force (since 2023)
Vice-Chair, ABA Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence (2023 – 2024)
Chair, Subcommittee on Artificial Intelligence, New York City Bar Association’s Council on Intellectual Property (2020 – 2021)
Member, New York City Bar Association’s Council on Intellectual Property (2019 – )
Co-Chair and Co-Host, ABA, Section of Business Law, Podcast Series, Mind the Gap – Dialogs on Artificial Intelligence (2022 – )
Member, ABA Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence (2023 – 2025)
Public Liaison, ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force (2017 – 2023)
Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Artificial Intelligence, New York City Bar Association’s Digital Technologies Task Force (2022 – 2023)
Steering Committee, ABA Task Force on Cybersecurity (2012 – 2015)
Chair, Commission on Defense Procurement, International Society for Military Law and the Law of War (since 2011)
Board of Directors, International Society for Military Law and the Law of War (since 2011)
Co-Chair, Intellectual Property Committee, ABA Public Contracts Section (2017 – 2020)
Copyright and Literary Property Committee, Association of the Bar of the City of New York (since 2005)
Co-Chair, Cybersecurity Subcommittee, Cyberspace Law Committee, ABA Business Section (2011 – 2020)
Fellow of The American Bar Foundation (since 2016)
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) (since 1996)
Associate Editor, IEEE Security & Privacy (2004 – 2009)
Books and Chapters in Books
2022: Duty to Advise Clients Concerning Use of Cyber and Other Digital Technologies, chapter in The ABA Cybersecurity Handbook, 3rd Edition, March 2022
2019: AI-Controlled Vehicles: How Will We Frame Thy Fearful Symmetry?, chapter in The Law of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, published by ABA Business Law Section, August 2019 (First Author)
2017: Guide to Cybersecurity Due Diligence in M&A Transactions, book published by ABA, August 2017 (Co-Editor and Contributing Author)
Duty to Advise Clients Concerning Use of Cyber and Other Digital Technologies, chapter in The ABA Cybersecurity Handbook – A Resource for Attorneys, Law Firms & Business Professionals, 2nd Edition, published by ABA, November 2017
2013: Duty to Advise Clients Concerning Use of Cyber and Other Digital Technologies, chapter in The ABA Cybersecurity Handbook – A Resource for Attorneys, Law Firms & Business Professionals, published by ABA, August 2013
Maddening to Militaries and Museums: Why Large-Scale RFID Systems May Lose Track of Objects, chapter in RFIDs, Near-Field Communications, and Mobile Payments: A Guide for Lawyers, published by ABA, August 2013
2006: Sailing in Dangerous Waters: A Director’s Guide to Data Governance, book published by American Bar Association, 2006 (Co-author)
2005: Checkpoints in Cyberspace: Best Practices for Averting Liability in Cross-Border Transactions, treatise published by American Bar Association, 2005 (First author)
Recent Articles
2026: When Deft Hands Are Needed: DoD’s Conflicted Strategies for Acquiring IP Rights in AI Systems, Business Law Today, April 15, 2026
2026: AI Tools To Summarize and Preserve Attorney-Client Conversations: To Use or Not To Use, New York Law Journal, February 9, 2026 (First Author)
2026: Old Stories Revisited: Cybersecurity with New AI Twists, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2025 – 2026 (First Author)
2025: Emerging Guardrails for GenAI, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2024 – 2025 (First Author)
2024: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: Training for Inevitable Cyber-Attacks, New York Law Journal, August 19, 2024 (Co-Author)
Look Before You Leap: Reflections on Ill-Informed Introductions of AI and Other Digital Technologies, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2023 – 2024 (First Author)
2023: If You Think It “Thinks,” Think Again, The New York Law Journal, July 3, 2023
Why It Matters: ABA House of Delegates Adopts Guidelines for Developers and Users of Artificial Intelligence, The New York Law Journal, March 13, 2023
2022: When Security Paradigms Fail, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2022 – 2023
The “New Abnormal” – The Emergence of Persistently Insecure Digital Systems, The Business Lawyer, published in Winter 2021 – 2022
2021: What a Piece of Work is AI – Security and AI Developments, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2020 – 2021
2020: Whether to Secure, Or Not Secure, Data Integrity – That Is The Question: Cybersecurity Developments May 2018 – May 2019, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2019 – 2020 (First Author)
2019: When Incident Response Goes Awry: Cybersecurity Developments May 2017 – May 2018, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2018 – 2019 (First Author)
2018: Why Smart Car Safety Depends on Cybersecurity, The SciTech Lawyer, Summer 2018 (First Author)
Reckoning with the Hacker Age: Cybersecurity Developments, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2017 – 2018 (First Author)
2017: The Importance of Cybersecurity Due Diligence in M&A Transactions, Business Law Today, September 2017 (First Author)
Hacking Away at Trust: Significant Developments in Cybersecurity 2015 – 2016, The Business Lawyer, Winter 2016 – 2017 (First Author)
2016: Mettle Fatigue: VW’s Single-Point-of-Failure Ethics, IEEE Security & Privacy, January/February 2016 (First Author)
Works in Progress
Co-Author (1st Author), Guide to CFIUS Reviews of Foreign Direct Investments in Companies Designing and Developing Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Technologies, ABA Section of Business Law, to be published in 2026
Co-Author (1st Author), In the Right Hands, In the Wrong Hands: Planning Wealth Transfers in the AI Era, ABA Section of Business Law, to be published in 2027
Recent Presentations and Briefings
2025
Protecting Sandcastles at High Tides: The Rising Cyber and GenAI War and Ethical Considerations, 62nd Hawaii Tax Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 2025
Getting Your Bearings in the AI Fog: Extracting Wealth from Post-Mortem Rights of Publicity and Other IP, 62nd Hawaii Tax Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 2025
A Lawyer’s View of the Risks and Challenges of Generative AI, White House Chronicle, PBS Television, Interviewed by Llewellyn King and Adam Clayton Powell III, April 25, 2025
Using AI In Your Practice, Chicago Estate Planning Council, Chicago, Illinois, April 2025
Intellectual Property Implications Surrounding Artificial Intelligence; Intellectual Property Institute, New York City Bar, March 2025
Defending Sand Castles from the Rising Threats of Cybersecurity and GenAI, Winter Working Meeting, ABA Cyber and Technology Law Committee, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, January 2025
2024
“Don’t Bank On It”: GenAI’s Risks to Earning and Transferring Wealth, Including Ethical Considerations, 61st Annual Hawaii Tax Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 2024
Artificial Intelligence and Its Many Uses and Misuses, 61st Annual Hawai’i Tax Institute, Japan-U.S. Alliance Program, Honolulu, Hawaii, scheduled for November 6, 2024
The Five C’s of Cyber Security, 61st Annual Hawaii Tax Institute, Japan-U.S. Alliance Program, Honolulu, Hawaii, scheduled for November 4, 2024
Intersections of Cybersecurity and AI, ABA Webinar – Intersections of GenAI and Cybersecurity: Reckoning and Responding to the Risks, September 10, 2024
Current AI Challenges, ABA Webinar – Intersections of GenAI and Cybersecurity: Reckoning and Responding to the Risks, September 9, 2024
Military Procurement Law and Considerations of National Security and Cooperation with Allies (Challenges for Trilateral Military Acquisition of AI-Augmented Systems and Allocations of IP Rights), 23rd Congress of the International Society on Military Law and the Law of War, Vilnius, Lithuania, May 24, 2024
In the Right Hands, in the Wrong Hands: Wealth Transfers in the AI Era, The Northern Trust 2024 Wealth Planning Symposium, Chicago, Illinois, April 25, 2024
AI and Wealth Planning Implementation and Risks, The Northern Trust 2024 Wealth Planning Symposium, Chicago, Illinois, April 25, 2024
Planning Wealth Transfers in the AI Era, Winter Working Meeting, ABA Business Law Section, Cyberspace Law Committee, January 27, 2024
Intellectual Property under Government Contracts for Artificial Intelligence, Bar Association of the City of New York, January 25, 2024
2023
Ethical Issues Arising from Generative Artificial Intelligence Programs in Legal Practice, Nassau County Bar Association, November 2023
In the Right Hands, In the Wrong Hands: Planning Wealth Transfers in the AI Era, 60th Annual Hawaii Tax Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 2023
AI, Its Application to Professional Services and Ethical Considerations, 60th Annual Hawaii Tax Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 2023
Braving the Thucydides Trap: Challenges to Transit Through the Narrowing Straits of CFIUS Reviewed Investments in AI and Other Emerging Technologies, ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, Seattle, WA, April 2023
2022
US Trade Control and Foreign Direct Investment Reviews – Working With Our Allies, Safeguarding Australia Summit 2022, November 2022, Canberra, Australia
US Trade Control and Foreign Direct Investment Reviews – Working With Our Allies, Australia Export Control Council, November 2022, Canberra, Australia
Intersection of Government Procurements of AI and Other Emerging Technologies, Intellectual Property Rights, and Security, XXIInd Congress of the International Society on Military Law and the Law of War, Florence, Italy, May 2022
Conservation of Orderly Orbital Operations: Key to Protecting Terrestrial Critical Infrastructure, XXIInd Congress of the International Society on Military Law and the Law of War, Florence, Italy, May 2022
Thinking Inside the Black Box: AI Due Diligence in M&A Transactions, ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, Atlanta, GA, presentation, April 2022
2021
When OTAs Become Terra Incognita: IP Rights in AI-Augmented Systems under OTAs, ABA Section of Public Contracts, Committee on Intellectual Property, Webinar, May 2021
“No bucks, no Buck Rogers”: Negotiating IP Rights Under USG Contracts for AI and Other Emerging Technologies, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Webinar, March 2021
2020
National Security S.H.I.E.L.D., ABA Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Institute, Webinar, October 2020
Emergence of Artificial Intelligence as Collaborator, as Creator: An Exploration of the Intersection of AI, IP, and Security, New York City Bar Association, Webinar, June 2020
Cracking the CFIUS Code – Illuminating the New Regulations Implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), ABA Business Law Section, Webinar, June 2020
Rising Tides of Protectionism? Foreign Direct Investment Regulations Across the Globe, Speaker, ABA Section of International Law, New York City, Webinar, June 2020
Cracking the CFIUS Code – Challenges to IP Rights in CFIUS Reviews of Foreign Direct Investment Transactions, New York City Bar Association, Webinar, May 2020
Embedded Security Risks and Artificial Intelligence, 2020 Cyberspace Law Institute and Winter Working Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona, January 2020
2019
Cracking the CFIUS Code – Startup’s Guide to Averting Bad Outcomes in National Security Reviews of Foreign Direct Investment, International Startup and Emerging Growth Forum: Pushing the Boundaries, ABA Section of International Law, San Francisco, California, scheduled for September 2019
Uncle Sam Wants Your Innovations, Not Your Intellectual Property – Strategies for Protecting a Startup’s IP Under Federal Funding Agreements, International Startup and Emerging Growth Forum: Pushing the Boundaries, ABA Section of International Law, San Francisco, California, scheduled for September 2019
Is the U.S. Open for Business or Not – CFIUS’ Increasingly Important Role in Cross-Border M&A Deals in Light of New Laws, ABA Section of International Law Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2019
Artificial Intelligence and the Law, ABA Section of Business Law Section Spring Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, March 2019
Guiding Clients Through CFIUS Reviews In the Wake of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, March 2019
Compliance with U.S. Economic Sanctions Regulations, Sanctions Compliance Workshop, Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, February 2019
Resilient Cybersecurity for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Systems, Winter Working Meeting, ABA Business Law Section, Cyberspace Law Committee, January 2019
2018
Voices in the Room: Ethical Challenges to Advising Clients on Responding to Cyber Extortion Demands, ABA Business Law Section Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas, September 2018
Regulating Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S. – Reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., ABA Conference on Trans-Pacific Transactions, Singapore, May 2018
Cybersecurity and IP in IoT Devices Installed in Smart Cars, ABA Conference on Trans-Pacific Transactions, Singapore, May 2018
Averting and Responding to Ethical Crises in Multi-National Enterprises, ABA Conference on Trans-Pacific Transactions, Singapore, May 2018
Where was the Board? Where were the lawyers? Averting and Responding to Institutional Ethical Crises, ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting, New York City, April 2018
Averting Corporate Ethical Crises, ABA Business Law Section, Cyberspace Law Committee, Winter Working Meeting, Atlanta, GA, January 2018
2017
Where was the Board? Where were the lawyers? Averting and Responding to Institutional Ethical Crises, The Ed Sell Lecture, 2017 Business Law Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, November 2017
Connected Cars, Cybersecurity, and CFIUS, Speaker, ABA Business Law Section, Annual Meeting, Chicago, September 2017
Avoiding the Next Yahoo!/Verizon: Cybersecurity Due Diligence in M&A Transactions, Speaker, ABA Business Law Section, Annual Meeting, Chicago, September 2017
From Enron to Volkswagen and Companions: Where were the Boards? The Critical Importance of Governance, Culture, Compliance, and Ethics, Speaker, ABA Business Law Section, Annual Meeting, Chicago, September 2017
When Companies Go Wrong: Implications for Legal, Speaker, East Coast General Counsel Forum, New York City, September 2017
Connected Cars, Cybersecurity, and CFIUS, Speaker, ABA SciTech Section MeetUp, May 2017
Cybersecurity Due Diligence in M&A Transactions, Speaker, Conference on Emerging Legal Challenges in the United States and India, Washington, DC, May 2017
Intellectual Property Rights under U.S. Government Contracts, Speaker, Conference on Emerging Legal Challenges in the United States and India, Washington, DC, May 2017
The New Realities of Dealing with Iran: What Has and Has Not Changed Since Implementation Day and how to Comply without Over-Compliance, ABA Section on International Law Spring Meeting, Washington, DC, April 2017
When Boards are Confronted by Ethical Crises, Presentation to West Coast Chairs Roundtable (independent directors of Fortune 500 companies), Menlo Park, California, March 2017
From Enron to Volkswagen: The Critical Importance of Governance, Culture, Compliance, and Ethics, 20th Annual Corporate Counsel Institute: An Insider’s Guide to Washington, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, March 2017
When Boards are Confronted by Ethical Crises, Presentation to East Coast Chairs Roundtable (independent directors of Fortune 500 companies), New York, New York, March 2017
Cybersecurity Risks in Connected Vehicle Technologies, ABA Cyberspace Law Committee Winter Working Meeting, San Diego, January 2017
2016
From Enron to Volkswagen: The Critical Importance of Governance, Culture, Compliance, and Ethics, at Meeting of Association of Corporate Directors, Minneapolis, and at Retail Industry Leaders Association Law Conference, Atlanta, October 2015
Cybersecurity Due Diligence in M&A Transactions, ABA Business Law Section Meeting, Montreal, Canada, April 2016
From Enron to Volkswagen: The Critical Importance of Governance, Culture, Compliance, and Ethics, ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting, Montreal, Canada, April 2016
Reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, ABA-SILF Conference, India-United States Cross Border Investment 2.0: Counseling in Reform Environments, New Delhi, India, February 2016
Intellectual Property Rights Under U.S. Government Contracts, ABA-SILF Conference, India-United States Cross Border Investment 2.0: Counseling in Reform Environments, New Delhi, India, February 2016
Bar Admissions
New York (1982)
Minnesota (1984)
U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Photo Journalism
New York City Press Credential (2023 – )
