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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 9, 2026 17 Are your clients concerned about their legacy? With tax season just around the corner, your clients probably have planning on their minds. dime-bank.com • 860.859.4300 • What better time to talk about Wealth Management, Comprehensive Trust, and Estate Planning Services, done locally. Trust in Dime. Colchester | East Lyme | Glastonbury | Ledyard | Manchester | Montville New London | Norwich: Broadway, Corporate, Norwichtown Stonington Borough | Taftville | Vernon | Westerly, RI Not FDIC Insured I No Bank Guarantee I May Lose Value Not a Deposit I Not Insured by any Federal Government Agency Post-pandemic structural shifts Beyond the co-founders' departures, Lawrence said Cantor Colburn is responding to competitive pressures that intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. The broad acceptance of remote work allowed firms in larger markets such as California, New York and Boston to recruit attorneys more aggressively across state lines, often with compensation packages that regional firms struggled to match. Cantor Colburn lost some attorneys during that period, Lawrence said. However, as the pandemic subsided and more firms required at least partial returns to the office, Connecticut's relatively lower cost of living and quali- ty-of-life advantages helped narrow that competitive gap. The firm's attorney mix has shifted. In 2019, Cantor Colburn had about 100 attorneys, with fewer than 10% having less than five years of experience. Today, the firm has 76 attorneys, and roughly 23% are in their first five years of practice. Cantor Colburn has also adjusted its physical footprint to reflect post-pan- demic work patterns. The firm shut- tered its Houston office last year and will allow its Detroit lease to expire, as those smaller satellite offices saw limited usage, Lawrence said. It will maintain offices in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Hartford will remain the headquar- ters, though with reduced space. The firm gave up one of the two floors it occupied in downtown Hart- ford's Stilts Building when the lease expired Jan. 1, reflecting continued remote work among billing and other support staff. Cantor Colburn continues to lease the entire 22nd floor, a 22,400-square-foot space that has been recently remodeled. There has been no consideration of a name change. "Cantor Colburn is a nationally recognized name," Lawrence said. "There would be no reason to change that at all." Pricing advantage The firm's geographic position remains part of its competitive strategy. Based between Boston and New York, Cantor Colburn can serve those markets while maintaining lower overhead than firms headquartered in major metro centers, Lawrence said. That, combined with a larger pipe- line of early-career attorneys, enables the firm to sustain lower billing rates without sacrificing quality, he said. Cantor Colburn attorneys bill an average of about $450 per hour, compared with roughly $1,000 per hour at a Boston intellectual property firm. The firm's sweet spot is generally half to two-thirds the rates charged by larger competitors, Lawrence said. "We believe we can compete on quality at reasonable rates," he said. Although attorney headcount declined in the immediate post-pan- demic period, Lawrence rejects the notion that the firm is rebuilding from a diminished state. Instead, he describes a firm that remains among the top ranked nation- ally in patent issuance while increasing overall billings. The current strategy centers on expanding capacity — ensuring room to take on new clients without overburdening attorneys or sacrificing responsiveness. "If you're at full capacity, you can't treat new clients the same way you treat existing ones," he said. That means hiring ahead of demand at times, even if it temporarily compresses profitability. Lawrence has been actively approving new hires, particularly in electrical engineering and semiconductor-related practices. Sector growth and AI One of the firm's fastest-growing areas involves technologies that support artificial intelligence. The work often centers not on AI software itself but on the hardware infrastructure behind it, Lawrence said. Advances in semiconductor mate- rials, chip design, processing power and data center architecture are generating new patent filings. Cantor Colburn recently hired two electrical engineers to support demand in that area. Lawrence said he has a job offer out to a patent agent and could hire two or three additional attorneys this year. Biotechnology also remains a signifi- cant practice area. Although vaccine-re- lated work has tapered from pandemic highs, Lawrence sees opportunity as research funding dynamics shift. Reduced government grant money may push biotech companies to seek more cost-efficient patent counsel — a dynamic he believes could favor firms outside high-cost urban centers. Artificial intelligence is also reshaping the practice of law itself. Lawrence acknowledges the emer- gence of AI-assisted tools that help attorneys prepare patent applications and other legal filings but approaches them cautiously. Some clients prohibit the use of AI platforms because of confidentiality concerns, particularly for unpublished patent applications. He sees AI as potentially useful for handling repetitive writing and document-preparation tasks, freeing attorneys to focus on higher-level legal strategy. But he cautions that inexperi- enced lawyers who rely too heavily on AI may struggle to distinguish sound legal analysis from flawed output. "That's where I feel the short- coming will be, is if you don't have the experience to know that's not right," Lawrence said.