Clockwise from left: Barbara Melby, Oz Benamram, Greg Dickason, David Wang, Melia Robinson, Michael Zuckert, Erick Rabin, Logan Brown, Eric Greenberg, Bruce Karpati, Sharon Crane, Michael Gerstenzang, Sean Fitzpatrick, Avi Gesser, Ilona Logvinova, and Shermin Lakha. Carl Timpone/BFA

Two stories have dominated the legal industry this year: artificial intelligence and lateral hiring.

I tend to report on the first. But I gained a new appreciation for the musical chairs of Big Law while putting together the seating chart for a private lunch of lawyers I hosted last Thursday.

I tried to make sure lawyers who had defected from one firm weren't seated next to their old boss. You know, to keep the peace.

We came together at Business Insider's The Long Play event to talk about what law firm reinvention looks like in practice and how those experiments are changing relationships with clients.…