The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is driving unprecedented investment in data centers, power generation and digital infrastructure—and with it, a significant shift in the legal market.
What was once considered the domain of specialist energy lawyers is now creating opportunities across a wide range of transactional practice areas, from M&A and Capital Markets to Project Finance, Real Estate, Tax and Regulatory.
To explore how these trends are reshaping the legal landscape, we spoke with CarlaLuna, who specializes in recruiting M&A and Capital Markets lawyers across the U.S. In this Q&A, she shares her perspective on why data center activity is bringing practice areas together, where demand is strongest, and what associates should be thinking about as the market continues to evolve.
Q&A with Carla Luna
Q. Energy has traditionally been viewed as a specialist area. What's changed, and why is data center activity at the center of it?
Carla Luna:
Traditionally, energy work was much more siloed. Project finance lawyers would focus on power purchase agreements (PPAs), regulatory teams handled FERC matters, and real estate lawyers dealt with site acquisition and development.
The rapid growth of AI infrastructure has fundamentally changed that model.
A single data center project can now involve power procurement, land use, construction, tax incentives, financing and regulatory approvals simultaneously. Rather than sitting neatly within one specialist practice, these transactions require lawyers from multiple disciplines working together throughout the lifecycle of a project.
The scale of investment reflects that shift. Data center M&A reached a record $69 billion over the past year, highlighting just how significant this market has become and why so many practice areas are now intersecting around these projects.
Q. Which practice areas are getting pulled in, and is this creating opportunities for lawyers who wouldn't call themselves "energy lawyers"?
Carla Luna:
Absolutely.
Data centers sit at the intersection of power, digital infrastructure, technology and capital investment, so it's natural that they require expertise from a broad range of practice areas.
We're seeing real estate lawyers advising on site acquisition and zoning, project finance teams structuring financings, tax lawyers navigating credits and incentives, regulatory lawyers handling permitting and utility negotiations, IP lawyers supporting the technology layer, and capital markets and structured finance teams becoming increasingly involved as projects are financed through more sophisticated capital structures.
What's particularly interesting is that this creates opportunities for lawyers who may never have considered themselves "energy lawyers."
For example, a real estate associate with significant site control or zoning experience, or a finance associate with project-level debt experience, may be more valuable on a data center transaction than someone with a traditional energy background but limited transactional experience.
Ultimately, firms are increasingly hiring for relevant deal experience rather than simply the name of a candidate's practice group.
Q. What kinds of matters are M&A and Capital Markets lawyers finding themselves involved in?
Carla Luna:
The work is becoming increasingly varied as the market evolves.
On the M&A side, we're seeing platform acquisitions, joint ventures with power developers, and strategic investments into digital infrastructure businesses.
On the financing side, deals typically draw on a mix of senior debt, private credit and equity. Securitization now plays a larger role as well — issuance topped $25 billion in 2025, more than the prior three years combined, offering sponsors lower borrowing costs than traditional bank debt for stabilized assets.
Many practitioners expect this financing mix to keep evolving, alongside a potential pickup in M&A activity as the market matures beyond the current build-out phase.
Q. Are there particular U.S. markets where you're seeing especially strong demand?
Carla Luna:
Texas and Chicago continue to stand out.
Chicago has quietly emerged as one of the country's leading data center markets, now home to more than 70 facilities operated by major providers including Equinix, Digital Realty and CyrusOne.
Texas—particularly Dallas and Houston—has also become one of the largest data center markets in the U.S., supported by available land, strong power infrastructure and continued investment.
Meanwhile, New York remains the center of gravity for much of the financing and capital markets work, even when the underlying assets are located elsewhere. Many of the transactions may be happening across the country, but the legal work is often being led from New York.
Q. For associates considering their next move, what are firms looking for, and should they be thinking about industries over practice area labels?
Carla Luna:
Firms are increasingly looking past practice group titles to actual transaction experience. Someone who negotiated a PPA, ran a project-level financing, or helped structure a joint venture brings more to a data center deal than someone with a traditional "energy" label but only peripheral exposure to the sector.
That's really the core shift: a practice area tells a recruiter what kind of documents you've drafted. Industry fluency tells a client you understand what they're actually trying to solve. Associates who can speak to the mechanics of the power market, the digital infrastructure buildout, and how deals in this space get financed are positioning themselves well — regardless of what their practice group is officially called.
My advice to associates evaluating a move right now: don't over-index on your current group's label. Look at the deal sheet. If you've touched site control, project-level debt, or structured financings — even outside a formal "energy" practice — that experience travels further in this market than the title on your business card.
Q. Looking ahead, do you expect this overlap to keep growing?
Carla Luna:
I do, with one caveat. The market has had an exceptional four-year run, and there's real debate about whether we're nearing the peak of this investment cycle.
Even so, I don't expect firms to abandon the multidisciplinary approach. These projects are too complex to sit within a single practice group — so whether activity accelerates or slows, I think the collaborative staffing model we've seen emerge over recent years is here to stay.
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