Dan Packel

Dan Packel is an editor on the Business of Law desk at ALM. He writes a weekly briefing for Law.com, "The Law Firm Disrupted," on change and innovation in the legal marketplace. He is based in Philadelphia. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter at @packeld

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April 19, 2024 | Law.com

The Law Firm Disrupted: For Office Attendance, is Music a New Carrot?

Mayer Brown's Charlotte office has a record room—for listening to LPs, not storing boxes of documents.

By Dan Packel

4 minute read

April 11, 2024 | Law.com

The Law Firm Disrupted: A Fight Over Names That Just Won't Seem To End

The debate over how to refer to legal industry professionals without law degrees isn't a new one, and it maps onto larger concerns about a "caste system" in Big Law.

By Dan Packel

6 minute read

April 09, 2024 | The American Lawyer

Dentons Ex-US Leader McNamara Exits Partnership for CEO Role at Industry Advisory Shop

Mike McNamara is now an equity partner as well as the first CEO at Baretz + Brunelle. He stepped down as the leader of Dentons U.S. in July 2021.

By Dan Packel

4 minute read

April 04, 2024 | Law.com

The Law Firm Disrupted: Getting a Head Start on the Office of the Future

Katrina Kostic Samen, leader of Savills Workplace Studio, argues that the office is going to make a comeback. And she says that smart firms should start conceptualizing what this looks like now.

By Dan Packel

6 minute read

March 28, 2024 | Law.com

The Law Firm Disrupted: Are Big Law's Remote Lawyers a Vanishing Species?

New NALP figures show that the number of law firms willing to hire associates and partners in areas where they don't have offices is steadily declining.

By Dan Packel

5 minute read

March 21, 2024 | Law.com

The Law Firm Disrupted: As Reddit Goes Public, Big Law's Redditors Rail Against a Start Up

Two former Big Law associates wandered into r/Biglaw looking to recruit for their remote, tech-forward firm. They were not made to feel welcome.

By Dan Packel

5 minute read

March 14, 2024 | Law.com

The Law Firm Disrupted: Who Would Want to Manage a Big Firm Anyway?

In a week when one Am Law 100 managing partner stepped down abruptly while another was elected to a new term that will last into 2029, the pressures on leaders are thrown into even starker relief.

By Dan Packel

5 minute read

March 07, 2024 | Law.com

The Law Firm Disrupted: Orrick, Reed Smith and Dechert Make Time to Get Comfortable With AI

For five years, Orrick and Reed Smith have been giving associates billable hours credit for innovation work, and in that interval, generative AI has jumped to the forefront.

By Dan Packel

5 minute read