Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis Build Hundred-Lawyer Data Center Practices to Ride 'Unique and Unparalleled' AI Boom
Elite law firms are scaling dedicated data center practices in response to what the industry is calling a "unique and unparalleled" AI boom. Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis are among the firms building depth and breadth of talent, assembling practices with hundreds of lawyers focused exclusively on data center projects as facilities multiply across the US and internationally. The build-out reflects surging client demand driven by hyperscale infrastructure investment tied to generative AI deployment. The trend sits alongside broader cross-border dynamics: UK government policy is already centred on AI computing infrastructure and semiconductor investment, and the UK-Japan Hydrogen Summit flagged the rapidly growing power demands of AI as a strategic national challenge. For law firms, data center work cuts across real estate, project finance, energy regulation, environmental permitting, and corporate practice groups, making it one of the few areas where a single transaction can engage an entire firm's platform.
Why this matters
Data center mandates are becoming a bellwether for elite firm competitiveness: the ability to staff a single project across real estate, energy, permitting, and finance simultaneously rewards firms with genuine multi-practice scale. Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis are explicitly building toward hundreds of dedicated lawyers, signalling that this is a structural practice investment rather than an opportunistic pivot. The AI infrastructure investment wave is global, UK government AI Growth Zone commitments and the UK-Japan Hydrogen Summit's focus on powering data centres confirm that deal flow will not be confined to US domestic markets. Firms that establish early dominance in data center practice will carry significant first-mover advantages as hyperscale capital expenditure accelerates.
On the Ground
Trainees rotating through real estate, project finance, or energy groups should expect data center instructions to dominate deal flow in the near term. Understanding the interplay between grid connection agreements, planning consents, and power purchase agreements is fast becoming a core associate competency. Flag to supervisors any client touchpoints in infrastructure or tech-adjacent sectors, data center conflicts checks are increasingly live.
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