Stephen Ratner

About

Stephen Ratner is a commercial, privacy, and product attorney who advises AI and software companies on enterprise contracting, data use, technology transactions, and operational legal strategy. Today he is Sr. Counsel and Forward-Deployed Attorney at General Legal, embedding with client teams.

He also served as in-house counsel at synthetic video and adtech companies on generative-AI, model-training, and privacy. He has represented clients on immigration, workplace harassment, and settlements. Earlier roles: venture law at Gunderson Dettmer, deputy press secretary at DOJ, and a White House internship.

ADMITTED New York · Washington, D.C. · Arizona

Timeline

001

General Legal

Sr. Counsel & Forward-Deployed AttorneyCurrent

The work runs commercial, privacy, and product counsel in one seat at an AI-native law firm. He deploys alongside client teams rather than advising from a distance, across enterprise contracting, data use, and all of the product questions in between.

002

Roadmap

Founding Counsel

His own practice, built to serve AI-native clients. He designed legal systems across scale, risk, and day-to-day operations for companies whose products move faster than traditional counsel can follow. Founded to make counsel move at product speed.

003

adMarketplace

Sr. Legal Counsel

Senior legal counsel at a search-advertising marketplace. He negotiated complex commercial and data agreements with advertisers, publishers, and platforms. The work spanned product, privacy, and enterprise deals across every part of the business.

004

Synthesia

Legal Counsel

Legal counsel for synthetic media products. He handled commercial, product, and enterprise legal work across the company as the category was being defined in public, with a focus on generative AI, model training, and privacy law.

005

Remote

Product Manager

Product work, not legal work. He was part of a team that built a contract management tool focused on contract automation and employment infrastructure, working alongside engineering and design.

006

Gunderson Dettmer

Corporate Associate

Emerging-companies and venture-fund law. He worked with technology companies and investors across startups, financings, and company formation. Clients ranged from first-time founders to established venture funds, from incorporation through to financings.

007

U.S. Department of Justice

Deputy Press Secretary
to the Attorney General

Deputy press secretary to the Attorney General of the United States. He was part of the team that managed public communications inside a legal institution built around trust. The work spanned press strategy, rapid response, and public remarks alike across the Department.

008

The White House

Intern

An internship on the White House communications team. He worked alongside the staff who managed the administration's public message, supporting the daily communications work of the President of the United States.