Biography
Professional experience
Education
Cases
Biography
Candace McCaddon advises companies on complex technology transactions, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, information security, data privacy, and intellectual property matters. She serves clients ranging from emerging and midsize technology companies to Fortune 50 enterprises, with depth in the energy, infrastructure, and industrial sectors. Her matters typically involve multi-year technology development and deployment programs, enterprise software and cloud agreements, AI and autonomous systems initiatives, privacy and incident response program builds, and patent and technology licensing. Individual engagements frequently carry committed spend in the tens of millions of dollars.
Capabilities:
- Technology, Outsourcing, & Commercial Transactions — Master services agreements, statements of work, SaaS and cloud subscriptions, IaaS and PaaS, managed services, software licenses, and research and joint development agreements.
- Artificial Intelligence Transactions & Governance — AI development and deployment agreements, AI contract addenda, model and training data rights, AI use policies and governance frameworks, vendor AI risk assessments, and EU AI Act readiness.
- Robotics, Automation, & Autonomous Technology — Development, integration, and field deployment programs for AI-enabled robotics and autonomous systems, including IP allocation, data rights, and acceptance criteria.
- Privacy, Data, & Cybersecurity — Privacy program design and compliance under US state and global regimes, data processing agreements and cross-border transfer mechanisms, incident response planning, breach notification strategy, and vendor security and risk assessments.
- Intellectual Property Transactions — Patent and technology licensing, joint development and research agreements, trade secret protection, IP due diligence, and IP allocation in complex commercial transactions.
Distinctive Strengths:
Candace brings more than 18 years of experience, beginning at premier law firms and including more than a decade in the legal departments of global Fortune 100 corporations. That in-house vantage point continues to shape how she practices: pragmatic, efficient counsel calibrated to what the business needs, with an eye toward enabling deals rather than simply flagging risk. She has supported procurement, information technology, and business teams executing more than 750 technology and commercial agreements annually, and she builds the pro formas, playbooks, and workflows that allow those teams to move at speed without surrendering leverage.
Her technical and regulatory credentials are unusual in combination. Candace is a USPTO-registered patent attorney with an undergraduate degree in chemistry and holds three certifications from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (CIPM, CIPP/E, and CIPP/US), which allows her to engage directly with engineers, security analysts, and data scientists on the substance of a transaction. She speaks and writes regularly on artificial intelligence, privacy, and cybersecurity law.
Professional experience
- Candace McCaddon Law PLLC - Founder and Managing Member
- Bechtel Global Corporation - Senior Counsel, Information Security, Technology, and IP
- Phillips 66 Company - Senior Counsel, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Technology
- BASF Corporation - Senior Counsel, Intellectual Property
- Fluor Corporation - Senior Counsel, Intellectual Property
- Howrey LLP - Associate
- Duane Morris LLP - Associate
Education
- South Texas College of Law, Houston, J.D., cum laude, 2008
- The University of Texas at Austin, B.S., Chemistry, 2004
Cases
- Structured and negotiated multi-year technology development and services agreements for the AI-powered autonomous robotics programs of a global corporate client, addressing IP allocation, data rights, and AI training provisions; these engagements included committed spend in the tens of millions of dollars.
- Advised energy and infrastructure companies on AI governance frameworks, AI use policies, and vendor AI risk assessments, including EU AI Act compliance.
- Built and led cross-functional, multi-jurisdictional privacy programs for companies spanning US state and global privacy laws, including workstreams for data processing agreement review, data subject access requests, and privacy-by-design training.
- Designed and implemented enterprise incident response programs, including response plans, ransomware playbooks, and SOC-to-executive escalation procedures, for energy and infrastructure companies, and advised executive leadership during live incidents on regulatory reporting, breach notification, and ransom payment considerations.
- Counseled technology, energy, and industrial clients on IP due diligence, patent and technology licensing, and joint development and research services agreements.
- Led the reorganization of a global intellectual property program for a global company, reducing overall IP spend by 50% and outside counsel expense by more than 60% over two years while maintaining full compliance with filing deadlines.
