The pandemic's profound impact on the business of law will likely have far-reaching consequences for years to come. But among the biggest may be innovation's elevated role in attracting and retaining associates.

Law firms, of course, have historically relied heavily on prestige and money to attract the best and brightest. In exchange for long, grueling hours, they could offer associates headline-making deals, exciting courtroom experiences and top-of-the-market salaries and bonuses.

But that playbook didn't work as well amidst the pandemic. Even after a series of associate compensation wars that pushed starting salaries to record levels, annual associate turnover for Am Law 100 firms reached 23 percent last November, according to a Thomson Reuters report. That figure significantly outpaced the roughly 19 percent rate those firms experienced in 2019.