According to Altman Weil, there were 85 mergers and acquisitions in 2016, up from 60 recorded in 2011.

In 2017 so far, a recorded 75 mergers and acquisitions which has included small acquisitions of groups of lawyers and full firm mergers. This Bloomberg Law piece, reports that reasoning behind the trend is that clients under pressure to reduce legal spending are seeking outside firms with national and international practices.