Nobody Owns Compliance at Most Law Firms — And in 2026 That Became a Structural Risk, Not a Staffing Gap

California now requires a named licensee on every client trust account. The EU AI Act assigns duties to whoever deploys a high-risk system. Insurance carriers underwrite your tech stack. Banks report your trust balances directly to the bar. Every one of these developments does the same thing: it converts diffuse firm responsibility into named individual accountability. Most firms have not appointed anyone.