Welcome to the Law Firm Disrupted, a briefing from Law.com reporter Dan Packel that surveys new competitive pressures on law firms and how their managers are coping, plus insights on the tactics and tech employed by would-be disruptors. Have an opinion? Email me here. Want to be alerted to this dispatch in your inbox every Thursday? Sign up here.

Almost a year ago, I trained my eye on the impact the pandemic was having on law firms and clients’ conversations about pricing. One thing was clear: The disruptions of those early months sent clients scrambling. Questions about cash flow prompted some clients to lean on firms for not just deferred billing, but alternative fee arrangements. But that wasn’t always the case. For others, the need for pressing legal advice made the question of cost secondary.