Businessman rolling large concrete gears another hold coinWelcome to the Law Firm Disrupted, a briefing from Law.com editor 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.

Representing private equity and venture capital clients has served as an elevator into the clouds for a number of present-day elite law firms.

And that hasn't changed over the last few years. In the COVID economy, private equity firms, in particular, raised record amounts of funds and executed record deals, keeping their lawyers busy—or overworked—and contributing to record levels of profitability at law firms.