Law firms are still searching for growth, even as the legal industry faces mounting pressure from technological change, shifting client demands, and an increasingly competitive market for talent. While some firms are pursuing splashy combinations and others are building through laterals, the challenge remains the same: how do you expand without losing the culture and client relationships that made the firm successful in the first place?
At the same time, firm leaders are grappling with a host of other questions. How do you decide where to invest and where to hold back? What does meaningful AI adoption actually look like when the technology is evolving faster than anyone can predict? And in an era where lawyer mobility is at an all-time high, how do you preserve institutional culture while positioning a firm for its next chapter? Those are exactly the kinds of questions facing managing partners across the legal industry today.
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Michael Byrne, the new managing partner of Day Pitney, to get his perspective on these issues. Here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation on the firm’s growth strategy, the realities of AI adoption in legal practice, what nearly three decades spent at a single firm has taught him about leadership, and more.
Staci Zaretsky (SZ): You’re stepping into the managing partner role during a period of rapid growth at the firm, including recent expansion in Boston, Florida, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. As someone who has watched the firm evolve, how do you think about Day Pitney’s identity today — and where do you see future growth opportunities?
Michael Byrne (MB): I still occasionally hear Day Pitney referred to as a Connecticut firm, but that description hasn’t fit for some time. We’ve added 40 partners since the spring of 2023, with significant expansion in Boston, Florida, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. The platform we operate today is regional in its footprint and national in the reach of our practices.
As much as we’ve grown, our identity hasn’t changed. We’re a mid-market firm that competes by being deeply relationship-driven and giving clients full access to our bench without any internal obstacles. A lot of bigger firms struggle to deliver that. It’s also something our clients consistently tell us they value.
On future growth, we’re pursuing it — but only if it’s strategically smart. We’ve stood up a Strategic Priorities Initiative committee with seven partners to work through where we’re best positioned to expand. Our instinct will be to deepen our investment in markets and practices where we already have momentum, rather than chasing growth for its own sake.
SZ: You’ve made AI and emerging tech an early priority. What does real implementation look like at Day Pitney, and where are you actually seeing it move the needle?
MB: The honest answer here is that it’s still early. Not just for us; for the entire industry. No firm has fully figured out how AI will change the practice of law, and I’m not sure anyone is particularly close right now.
For our part, Day Pitney has been treating AI as a real priority for a couple of years, and we’re committed to exploring how much the technology can do for us. Our clients are driving a lot of this. They regularly ask how we’re using AI on their matters, and they expect us to take advantage of tools that make us faster and more accurate.
Today, AI might be moving the needle most in the earlier phases of matters, where research, document review, and summarization used to swallow hours of lawyer time. The more interesting question is what happens over the next two or three years as the tools mature. I think the firms that lean in are going to look very different from the firms that don’t.
SZ: You’re launching a firmwide listening tour as one of your first projects as the firm’s new leader. What are you hoping to hear from partners and associates, and how will you translate that feedback into concrete changes?
MB: I want to hear what people are seeing from their seats. Our partners are talking with clients every day across markets and practice areas that look very different from each other. Real estate finance in Stamford is a different world from litigation in Boston or data privacy in New York. The listening tour is the most efficient way I have to take in those different perspectives.
Beyond market intelligence, I’ll be using the tour to get a read on how the firm feels from the inside. What’s working well? What would partners change if the decision were theirs? Associates have a different vantage point on a lot of those questions, and I want to hear from them, too.
The output will not be a polished plan unveiled in a town hall six months from now. It’ll be a set of priorities the leadership team and our new SPI committee can work against, with the work itself happening in the open so partners can see how their input shaped it. The credibility of a process like this depends in part on its transparency.
SZ: You’ve spent your entire career at Day Pitney, something that is increasingly rare in today’s lateral-heavy legal market. What has kept you here, and what does that kind of deep institutional knowledge mean for how you’ll lead?
MB: What kept me here is the people and the way the firm treats them. Day Pitney has stuck with me through the highs and lows of a long career, and I’ve watched the firm do the same for plenty of others. That kind of loyalty is harder to find than it used to be. Our partners average roughly 15 years of tenure, and close to a third have spent their entire careers here. Those numbers don’t happen by accident.
My knowledge of Day Pitney certainly gives me a level of confidence in my own leadership. I know which partners are best at which kinds of problems, which client relationships go back decades, and which parts of our culture are worth protecting versus the ones that need to evolve. That accelerates a lot of decisions.
That said, the risk of being a lifer is becoming insular. I’m alert to that, and I rely on partners who came to us laterally to keep me honest about how Day Pitney looks from the outside. On balance, though, knowing the firm as I do means I can move faster on day one than I could if I were still learning it.
On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, we’d like to thank Michael Byrne of Day Pitney for taking the time to share his thoughts on strategic growth, AI adoption, leadership, and the future of law firm management.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
The post How Day Pitney’s New Managing Partner Is Thinking About Growth, AI, And Leadership appeared first on Above the Law.
Law firms are still searching for growth, even as the legal industry faces mounting pressure from technological change, shifting client demands, and an increasingly competitive market for talent. While some firms are pursuing splashy combinations and others are building through laterals, the challenge remains the same: how do you expand without losing the culture and client relationships that made the firm successful in the first place?
At the same time, firm leaders are grappling with a host of other questions. How do you decide where to invest and where to hold back? What does meaningful AI adoption actually look like when the technology is evolving faster than anyone can predict? And in an era where lawyer mobility is at an all-time high, how do you preserve institutional culture while positioning a firm for its next chapter? Those are exactly the kinds of questions facing managing partners across the legal industry today.
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Michael Byrne, the new managing partner of Day Pitney, to get his perspective on these issues. Here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation on the firm’s growth strategy, the realities of AI adoption in legal practice, what nearly three decades spent at a single firm has taught him about leadership, and more.
Staci Zaretsky (SZ): You’re stepping into the managing partner role during a period of rapid growth at the firm, including recent expansion in Boston, Florida, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. As someone who has watched the firm evolve, how do you think about Day Pitney’s identity today — and where do you see future growth opportunities?
Michael Byrne (MB): I still occasionally hear Day Pitney referred to as a Connecticut firm, but that description hasn’t fit for some time. We’ve added 40 partners since the spring of 2023, with significant expansion in Boston, Florida, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. The platform we operate today is regional in its footprint and national in the reach of our practices.
As much as we’ve grown, our identity hasn’t changed. We’re a mid-market firm that competes by being deeply relationship-driven and giving clients full access to our bench without any internal obstacles. A lot of bigger firms struggle to deliver that. It’s also something our clients consistently tell us they value.
On future growth, we’re pursuing it — but only if it’s strategically smart. We’ve stood up a Strategic Priorities Initiative committee with seven partners to work through where we’re best positioned to expand. Our instinct will be to deepen our investment in markets and practices where we already have momentum, rather than chasing growth for its own sake.
SZ: You’ve made AI and emerging tech an early priority. What does real implementation look like at Day Pitney, and where are you actually seeing it move the needle?
MB: The honest answer here is that it’s still early. Not just for us; for the entire industry. No firm has fully figured out how AI will change the practice of law, and I’m not sure anyone is particularly close right now.
For our part, Day Pitney has been treating AI as a real priority for a couple of years, and we’re committed to exploring how much the technology can do for us. Our clients are driving a lot of this. They regularly ask how we’re using AI on their matters, and they expect us to take advantage of tools that make us faster and more accurate.
Today, AI might be moving the needle most in the earlier phases of matters, where research, document review, and summarization used to swallow hours of lawyer time. The more interesting question is what happens over the next two or three years as the tools mature. I think the firms that lean in are going to look very different from the firms that don’t.
SZ: You’re launching a firmwide listening tour as one of your first projects as the firm’s new leader. What are you hoping to hear from partners and associates, and how will you translate that feedback into concrete changes?
MB: I want to hear what people are seeing from their seats. Our partners are talking with clients every day across markets and practice areas that look very different from each other. Real estate finance in Stamford is a different world from litigation in Boston or data privacy in New York. The listening tour is the most efficient way I have to take in those different perspectives.
Beyond market intelligence, I’ll be using the tour to get a read on how the firm feels from the inside. What’s working well? What would partners change if the decision were theirs? Associates have a different vantage point on a lot of those questions, and I want to hear from them, too.
The output will not be a polished plan unveiled in a town hall six months from now. It’ll be a set of priorities the leadership team and our new SPI committee can work against, with the work itself happening in the open so partners can see how their input shaped it. The credibility of a process like this depends in part on its transparency.
SZ: You’ve spent your entire career at Day Pitney, something that is increasingly rare in today’s lateral-heavy legal market. What has kept you here, and what does that kind of deep institutional knowledge mean for how you’ll lead?
MB: What kept me here is the people and the way the firm treats them. Day Pitney has stuck with me through the highs and lows of a long career, and I’ve watched the firm do the same for plenty of others. That kind of loyalty is harder to find than it used to be. Our partners average roughly 15 years of tenure, and close to a third have spent their entire careers here. Those numbers don’t happen by accident.
My knowledge of Day Pitney certainly gives me a level of confidence in my own leadership. I know which partners are best at which kinds of problems, which client relationships go back decades, and which parts of our culture are worth protecting versus the ones that need to evolve. That accelerates a lot of decisions.
That said, the risk of being a lifer is becoming insular. I’m alert to that, and I rely on partners who came to us laterally to keep me honest about how Day Pitney looks from the outside. On balance, though, knowing the firm as I do means I can move faster on day one than I could if I were still learning it.
On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, we’d like to thank Michael Byrne of Day Pitney for taking the time to share his thoughts on strategic growth, AI adoption, leadership, and the future of law firm management.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
