There were 29 mergers announced in Q1, followed by 19 in the quarter just finished. As well as mergers, there is also considerable activity in the form of the movement of teams and of partners. Withers, for instance, took on a 24-lawyer team in California from McKenna Long & Aldridge. The latter then merged into Dentons on 1 July.

Extremely active

Altman principal Eric Seegar said: 'We expect the law firm acquisition market to be extremely active for the foreseeable future.' Source: ABA