Welcome 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.

The connection between surging law firm billing rates and escalating pay packages for top producers at elite firms isn’t necessarily a direct one, but it’s bound to raise clients’ hackles nonetheless.