EU AI Act Hiring: Why US Law Firms Cannot Wait for Federal AI Rules
July 20267 mins read
EU AI Act Hiring: Why US Law Firms Cannot Wait for Federal AI Rules
The US may still be debating federal AI rules, but many law firms’ clients are already affected by the EU AI Act – creating an immediate need for lawyers who can advise on cross-border AI risk.
The Act can apply to non-EU providers that place AI systems or general-purpose AI models on the EU market. It can also cover non-EU providers or deployers when the output of an AI system is used within the EU. US companies with European customers, employees, operations, partners, or technology deployments may therefore fall within its scope.
For private practice firms, hiring implications are becoming harder to ignore. Clients may need advice on AI governance, contracts, product design, employment, data use, intellectual property, risk management, and cross-border compliance.
This is already creating billable advisory work, so firms that wait for a single US federal AI law may find that client demand – as well as the strongest legal talent – have already moved elsewhere.
When does the EU AI Act apply?
The EU AI Act entered into force in August 2024, but its requirements apply in stages.
The European Commission’s current AI Act timeline states that:
- Prohibited AI practices and AI literacy requirements have applied since February 2025.
- Rules covering general-purpose AI models have applied since August 2025.
- Transparency requirements for AI-generated content apply from 2 August 2026, with a transition period until 2 December 2026 for certain systems already on the market.
- Following the May 2026 political agreement on the AI Omnibus, requirements covering high-risk uses such as employment, education, biometrics, infrastructure, and migration are scheduled to apply from 2 December 2027.
- Requirements for high-risk systems embedded in regulated products are scheduled to apply from 2 August 2028.
The delayed dates for some high-risk systems do not remove the need to prepare. Businesses need time to identify their systems, establish governance, review supplier contracts, collect documentation, allocate responsibility, and train employees.
Private practice firms also need time to build the teams that can advise on this work.
Does the EU AI Act apply to US companies?
The EU AI Act can apply to an organization without an EU headquarters.
For example, a US AI developer may come within scope when it offers a system or model in the EU. A US employer could face requirements when it uses AI to assess European job applicants or employees. A US technology, financial services, healthcare, consumer, or manufacturing company may also face obligations when its AI outputs are used in the EU.
The possible penalties add to the commercial pressure. Depending on the breach, fines can reach €35 million or 7% of global annual turnover, with lower thresholds applying to other categories of non-compliance.
US law firms therefore need lawyers who can connect European obligations with US privacy, employment, consumer protection, intellectual property, product liability, and sector-specific rules.
GDPR and the privacy acts in the EU already drive a lot of what happens here in the US, and all these companies are global, so it’s as important as any regulation would be here in terms of how it affects the market.
Why US law firms shouldn’t wait for federal AI legislation to hire
Federal AI policy is moving, but businesses still do not have a settled federal statute that provides one comprehensive compliance framework.
In June 2026, a bipartisan group of House representatives released the Great American AI Act as a discussion draft. The proposal covers areas including frontier AI governance, independent verification, cybersecurity, workforce impact, and federal pre-emption of some state requirements.
In July, Senator Ed Markey released an AI accountability agenda containing bills on automated employment decisions, algorithmic discrimination, workplace surveillance, children’s safety, healthcare oversight, and data center impacts. One proposal would prevent employers from relying primarily on automated systems for hiring, firing, and promotion decisions. Another would require independent assessments of bias in consequential AI systems.
State activity is also increasing. US legislators introduced more than 1,000 AI-related measures during 2025, including proposals addressing employment, healthcare, consumer protection, discrimination and transparency.
Ultimately, while there is no federal uniformity at present, private practice firms should be ready to help clients manage three overlapping areas:
- EU AI Act obligations with cross-border reach.
- Existing and emerging US state rules.
- Federal legislation, agency action, and sector-specific requirements.
How does the EU AI Act change legal hiring in the US?
The EU AI Act creates two separate talent requirements for law firms.
The first is client advisory capability. Clients need lawyers who can interpret new requirements and apply them to products, employment systems, commercial agreements, corporate transactions, investigations, and operational decisions.
The second is internal AI governance. Law firms are adopting AI for research, drafting, review, knowledge management, matter delivery, and business services. They need internal expertise to set policies, assess tools, train teams, protect client information, and review output quality.
The 2026 Thomson Reuters AI in Professional Services Report found that in 2026, 41% of law firms and 47% of corporate legal departments reported using generative AI, up from 28% and 23% respectively in 2025. Two-thirds of corporate respondents wanted their outside firms to use AI, although fewer than 20% required it. This leaves law firms responsible for opening clearer conversations with clients about usage, risk, confidentiality, quality control, and value.
This means hiring cannot focus solely on lawyers who advise clients. Firms also need leaders who can develop their own responsible AI operating model.
Which AI legal roles are US law firms hiring for?
Most firms do not yet use one standard set of AI job titles. AI expertise is appearing within existing legal roles, while a smaller number of dedicated positions are emerging.
Relevant hires may include:
- AI regulatory and policy lawyers
- Privacy and data governance lawyers
- Technology transactions and product counsel
- Employment and discrimination lawyers
- Intellectual property and litigation lawyers
- Legal engineers and innovation specialists
Lawyers in these roles may need to address training data, intellectual property rights, confidentiality, security, audit access, model changes, performance standards, human review, liability, regulatory cooperation, and the allocation of provider and deployer responsibilities.
A lot of the clients that we work with are now looking for individuals that have that familiarity working with AI contracts, and understand the language, laws and the regulations that are being currently formed and developed.
Should law firms hire a dedicated AI lawyer or build a multidisciplinary team?
Large international firms may appoint an AI regulatory partner or counsel and build a multidisciplinary group around that person.
Mid-sized firms may be better served by appointing one lead lawyer with privacy, technology or product experience, supported by specialists from other practice groups. Smaller firms can build capability through a combination of targeted recruitment, training and external partnerships.
The team may draw on:
- Privacy and cybersecurity
- Technology transactions
- Employment and labor
- Intellectual property
- Regulatory and product law
- Litigation and investigations
- Corporate and M&A
A named practice lead should coordinate and have ownership over this work, so firms avoid the risk of providing disconnected advice or missing opportunities to support clients across several legal issues.
Direct EU AI Act experience remains limited, so firms should assess transferable expertise rather than requiring candidates to have spent several years in a field that is still developing.
Strong candidates may bring:
- Privacy, technology, employment or sector-regulatory experience
- Experience advising software or digital product teams
- AI contract drafting and negotiation skills
- Cross-border regulatory and governance experience
- The ability to work with technical, product and commercial teams
How much should US law firms pay for AI legal talent?
There is no standard salary scale specifically for AI lawyers. Compensation depends on firm size, location, associate level, practice expertise and the scarcity of relevant AI, technology or regulatory experience.
The Larson Maddox USA Private Practice Compensation Guide provides a useful starting point:
| Associate Level | Big Law Base Salary | Big Law Total Compensation | Am Law 100-200 Base Salary |
| 3rd Year | $260,000 | $332,500 | $200,000 - $220,000 |
| 5th Year | $365,000 | $480,000 | $220,000 - $250,000 |
| 8th Year | $435,000 | $575,000 | $265,000 - $300,000 |
Big Law total compensation includes base salary, annual bonus and special bonus. Am Law 100–200 figures show starting base salary ranges across metro and non-metro markets.
These figures provide broad private practice benchmarks rather than AI-specific rates. However, lawyers with combined experience across AI regulation, privacy, product counseling, technology transactions and cross-border compliance may command the higher end of a firm’s range because the experienced talent pool remains limited.
Read the USA Private Practice Compensation Guide or contact Larson Maddox for tailored compensation data and market mapping tailored to your role, location and practice area.
How Larson Maddox supports AI legal hiring for US law firms
The AI legal practices best equipped to advise clients will combine regulatory expertise, sector knowledge, commercial judgment, and technical fluency as US federal AI policy continues to develop. Building that capability takes time, and the talent pool will become harder to access as implementation work increases.
Larson Maddox is here to support private practice firms hiring regulatory & legal talent across the US and international markets.
Our dedicated private practice team can:
- Scope AI, privacy, product and regulatory positions
- Map relevant partner, counsel and associate talent
- Benchmark compensation and candidate expectations
- Reach passive lawyers with relevant transferable experience
- Build permanent teams or make targeted senior hires
Whether you are building an AI regulatory practice, strengthening internal AI governance, or expanding technology-focused legal teams, Larson Maddox identifies and secures the legal talent needed to support your clients and future growth. Request a call back or submit your vacancy to learn more.