Artificial Intelligence & AI Act Compliance lawyers
DELCADE, a practice dedicated to AI Act compliance and the legal security of your artificial intelligence projects.
Artificial intelligence is now governed by a demanding body of regulation, of which the European AI Act is the centrepiece. In force since 2024 and applicable in stages through to 2027, this regulation imposes substantial obligations on providers and users of AI systems, calibrated to the risk level of each application. To these are added the civil liability issues raised by AI, the intellectual property questions surrounding AI-generated works and the growing contractual requirements of clients.
Our IT and Data lawyers advise tech companies, large groups and mid-market companies on the full range of legal issues raised by artificial intelligence: qualifying and classifying their systems, achieving AI Act compliance, structuring internal governance and securing contracts. We act both upstream of projects and in crisis management, with a cross-disciplinary approach spanning digital law, GDPR and contract law.
Qualifying and classifying AI systems
The AI Act is built on a risk-tiering logic: prohibited systems, high-risk systems, limited-risk systems and minimal-risk systems. Correctly identifying which category an AI system falls into is the first, and often the most decisive, step in any compliance effort.
Our scope of work includes:
- Legally qualifying the AI systems developed or used
- Analysing the obligations that apply according to the risk level and the company’s role (provider, deployer, importer, distributor)
- Monitoring regulatory developments on the delegated acts and harmonised standards published by the European Commission
- Identifying general-purpose AI (GPAI) systems and foundation models subject to specific obligations
AI Act Compliance
Companies that provide or deploy high-risk AI systems are subject to precise obligations: technical documentation, conformity assessment, registration in the European database, and the implementation of risk-management and human-oversight systems. Our lawyers translate these requirements into concrete actions, tailored to the operational reality of each organisation.
Our support covers:
- Designing and rolling out the AI Act compliance programme
- Drafting the technical documentation and instructions for use
- Setting up human-oversight and incident-management processes
- Preparing for conformity assessments and regulatory audits
- Providing post-incident support and managing reports to market surveillance authorities
AI Governance
Beyond their legal obligations, companies face internal governance challenges: how to frame the use of AI by their staff, how to structure algorithmic decision-making, and how to meet the ethics and transparency expectations of their clients and partners.
We assist with:
- Drafting AI usage charters for staff
- Training teams on best practices for compliant development and the anticipation of AI-related risks
- Setting up committees or validation processes for AI projects
- Incorporating AI requirements into existing GDPR and security policies
- Advising on algorithmic transparency and the explainability of decisions
AI Act Compliance Audits and Contractual Audits
An audit is a key step, both for assessing an organisation’s regulatory exposure and for securing its relationships with AI suppliers and providers. Our lawyers carry out two complementary types of audit: a regulatory compliance audit against the AI Act, and a contractual audit of the commitments binding the company to its AI solution suppliers.
Our audit work covers:
- Mapping the AI systems in production and classifying them under the regulation
- Assessing the gaps between current practices and AI Act requirements
- Reviewing supplier contracts, terms of service and conditions of use for AI solutions
- Drafting corrective action plans and following up on them operationally
- Drafting AI-specific contractual clauses (liability, intellectual property, training data)
AI-Related Contracts and Intellectual Property
Artificial intelligence projects raise complex contractual and intellectual property questions: who owns the works generated by an AI? How should access to training data be framed? What liability arises from a faulty algorithmic decision?
Our work covers:
- Drafting and negotiating contracts for the development, integration and deployment of AI solutions
- Framing intellectual property rights in AI-generated outputs
- Liability and warranty clauses in AI contracts
- Setting the legal framework for the use of training data (rights, licences, GDPR)