A Reed Smith spokesperson confirmed that the firm did have ‘preliminary discussions’ with Pepper Hamilton, but that both firms ‘have concluded that for a variety of reasons those discussions should end.’

Profit dip

Reed Smith saw its revenue fall to $1.12bn (£790m) over 2015, as well as a dip in average profit per equity partner by 8 per cent to $1.1m (£770,000).

Top 25

Combined, Reed Smith and Philadelphia-based Pepper Hamilton would have had revenue of around $1.5bn, making the merged firm one of the 25 largest US law firms by revenue according to last year’s rankings in The American Lawyer.

Source: The Lawyer