Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California, testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM) Xavier Becerra, attorney general of California, testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Sept. 19, 2017. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

Help wanted: Attorneys with an interest in California’s cutting-edge privacy law, one that’s shaping the national dialogue on digital data regulations. Must be able to defend the inevitable lawsuits, provide free counsel to affected businesses and adjust to still-developing regulations and legislative changes in the space. Pay: Not exactly comparable to Big Law.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has started the hiring process for lawyers who will help “implement and enforce” the California Consumer Privacy Act. The law, which gives consumers the right to opt out of the sale of their personal information, goes into effect in January.

Job postings on the attorney general’s website seek midlevel deputy attorneys general to work in the consumer law section in the Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco offices. “The initial assignment for these positions will include the enforcement of privacy laws,” the description reads. Becerra’s press office confirmed the new hires will work on the Consumer Privacy Act.

The attorney positions—the Department of Justice’s website listed three as of Monday—appear to be the first of eight created in the governor’s 2019-2020 budget to help handle what Becerra has predicted will be an enormous workload generated by the new law.

The Privacy Act gives the attorney general the sole authority to enforce most of its provisions, which apply to businesses with gross revenues of $25 million or more or those that buy, sell or share the data of 50,000 or more consumers. The International Association of Privacy Professionals calculated that the regulations will apply to more than 500,000 U.S. companies.

The law also allows businesses and third parties to ask the attorney general for guidance on complying with its provisions.

Becerra and his representatives have complained that even with the boosted staffing and an additional $4.7 million budgeted for the law’s enforcement, the department is unlikely to have the resources to take many wide-ranging actions against suspected violators.

At a state Senate committee hearing in April, Stacey Schesser, supervising deputy attorney general for the consumer law section’s privacy unit, said her office, even if expanded, may only have the capacity to handle three major cases a year.

“There’s 40 million Californians and the scope of businesses that the CCPA applies to is significantly large,” Schesser said.

Becerra backed ultimately unsuccessful legislation this spring that would have created a private right of action for consumers to pursue violations. The bill also would have dropped the requirement that the attorney general offer compliance opinions to businesses and instead allow him to simply provide advisory materials.

The Attorney General’s Office is currently drafting regulations, expected later this year, spelling out how the law will operate. Becerra has said enforcement will begin in June 2020.

The privacy-attorney positions advertised on the Department of Justice’s website would be classified as deputy attorneys general III. The salary for that job title ranges between $110,520 and $141,780.