If You’re Leading HR, Recruitment, or Talent in a Law Firm, This Shift Is Already on Your Desk

AI isn’t just influencing legal workflows, it’s fundamentally reshaping the roles, skills, and mindsets legal departments need. Yet many HR leaders and hiring managers are being asked to recruit for positions that didn’t exist until recently. The pressure is real, the expectations are high, and the path forward can feel anything but clear.

At Clermont, we’ve seen this shift up close. Legal departments are being tasked with leading AI governance, managing regulatory risk, and shaping organisational policy on responsible technology use. But in many cases, the people they need to make that happen aren’t in place yet and in some cases, those roles haven’t even been defined.

This creates a challenge for HR because how do you hire when the role doesn’t have a precedent?

As AI regulation becomes more sophisticated, legal teams are no longer just advisors, they’re stewards of risk, ethics, and compliance in a new and highly complex space. This has given rise to roles such as:

  • AI Governance Counsel: Legal experts focused on evolving AI regulation, vendor accountability, and internal compliance.
  • AI Ethics Lead: A cross-functional role helping organisations define principles, evaluate risk, and guide ethical decisions.
  • Risk & Data Protection Officer (AI-Focused): Professionals managing privacy and algorithmic risks specific to AI tools.
  • AI Training & Change Manager: Helping teams adopt new tools responsibly and embedding AI policies into everyday practice.

These roles are not about replacing traditional legal jobs. They’re about complementing them with new, adaptive positions that bring structure and oversight to a growing area of concern.

The Human Side of Hiring for AI

Hiring into these roles isn’t simply about finding someone who knows AI law. It’s about identifying individuals who can navigate ambiguity, balance ethical tensions, and communicate across legal, technical, and business teams. They need to be collaborative, curious, and comfortable with change.

For HR leaders, that means rethinking how job descriptions are written, what questions get asked in interviews, and how success is measured over time. It also means working more closely with legal and compliance teams to define what these roles need to achieve and not just what they look like on paper.

We’ve seen organizations fall into common traps with these common mistakes:

  • Copy-pasting outdated job specs: Trying to force new responsibilities into old roles leads to hiring misalignment.
  • Treating AI governance as purely technical: Many of the risks that matter most are legal, reputational, or ethical.
  • Waiting too long to hire: By the time the risk materializes, the team is already behind.

But we’ve also seen firms get it right by:

  • Creating space for hybrid thinkers with legal professionals who can work in multi-disciplinary teams.
  • Investing in internal AI literacy so that hiring decisions are made from a place of understanding.
  • Prioritising agility by choosing candidates who may not tick every box, but can grow with the role as it evolves.

What HR Can Do Right Now

Start with a conversation. Ask your legal leaders what they’re being asked to solve for. Where are the gaps? What new challenges are showing up?

Then, work together to define the capability, not just the title that’s needed. Consider:

  • What risks are emerging that your team isn’t equipped to manage?
  • Where are legal decisions now involving data science or AI tools?
  • Which internal stakeholders need clearer accountability structures?

Even without a perfect job spec, you can begin shaping the role and identifying the type of candidate who will thrive in it.

A Call to Build Not React

This isn’t about trend-following. It’s about recognising that legal teams are on the frontlines of an AI transformation. The companies that build early, with the right people and foresight, will be the ones who navigate it best.

If you’re unsure where to start, you’re not alone. But you don’t need to figure it out in isolation.

Clermont is here to support you, not just in hiring, but in thinking through the structures and competencies your legal team needs to stay effective, compliant, and future-ready.