Altman Weil, the research and information organisation which produces the data, expects 2014 to be another busy year. But the nature of mergers is changing, according to Altman Weil. There are fewer marriages of equals at the larger end. The tendency is increasingly tilted towards takeovers. Analyst Ward Bower said: 'Most law-firm combinations are really acquisitions, not mergers.  The complexity of a true merger of equals is exponentially greater. There are any number of potential pitfalls on the way to the altar.' Source: Philly.com