Credit: Sergey Nivens - Fotolia Almost a quarter of the law firm mergers announced in the second quarter of 2018 involved at least one Pennsylvania-based firm, a new report found, as law firms across the state joined a frenzy of dealmaking and consolidation in the industry. Fox Rothschild acquired Altman Weil MergerLine on Monday issued its quarterly report on law firm combination activity, showing that 21 firm mergers and acquisitions were announced in the second quarter of 2018, adding to the 30 combinations announced earlier in the year. Five of those 21 deals involved at least one Pennsylvania firm. Looking at the first half of the year, eight mergers have involved a firm based in Pennsylvania. Fox Rothschild had more than one deal in the second quarter, doubling its presence in Chicago with the Shaw Fishman acquisition and expanding the firm's Denver office with six-lawyer Rollin Braswell Fisher. Two second-quarter combinations involved pairs of Pennsylvania firms. Salzmann Hughes, based in Chambersburg, acquired two lawyers, as well as staff, from Campbell & White in Gettysburg. And 78-lawyer Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl in Pittsburgh absorbed two-lawyer Kisner Law Firm. Also in Pittsburgh, midmarket-focused Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease expanded its western Pennsylvania presence by acquiring 10-lawyer Beck & Thomas. Three Pennsylvania law firms made acquisitions in the first quarter of 2018 as well. Dilworth Paxson brought on 10-lawyer Smith, Stratton, Wise, Heher & Brennan, based in Princeton, New Jersey. Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney added a small group in Miami from Weiss, Alden & Polo. And Pittsburgh's Rothman Gordon absorbed another local firm, three-lawyer Samuel J. Cordes & Associates. On a national basis , Altman Weil said the size of acquisition targets has been particularly large in 2018: In the 21 deals announced in the second quarter, the average size of the acquired firm was 25 lawyers. The largest deal in the second quarter brought together Detroit-based Clark Hill , with its 450 lawyers, and Dallas' 195-lawyer Strasburger & Price, according to the MergerLine data. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough , with its 584 lawyers, and its tie-up with Orlando-based 160-lawyer Broad and Cassel accounted for the quarter's second-largest deal. The Nelson Mullins deal is scheduled to take effect Aug. 1 , while the Clark Hill deal took effect in April. Altman Weil found that the highest number of acquisition targets were located in the mid-Atlantic region, including Pennsylvania and New York, and the western United States, in places such as California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. The only international deal in the second quarter was the acquisition by labor and employment specialty firm Littler Mendelson of an eight-lawyer Dutch employment boutique, which gave Littler a new office in Amsterdam. Altman Weil also noted contributions by global legal giant Dentons to the high pace of merger announcements this year. In 2018, the firm unveiled eight acquisitions, with the announced bolting-on of a 44-lawyer Hawaii firm, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, coming in the second quarter. Altman Weil's second quarter merger data shows a continuation of what has been an active past 18 months for law firm combinations. After ranging between 82 and 91 mergers per year in 2013 through 2016, law firm mergers hit a record high of 102 in 2017, according to MergerLine data. An active market in Texas, in particular, has helped keep the pace of law firm combinations high in 2018. As ALM reported on June 29, a report from consultancy Fairfax Associates showed 16 completed mergers in the second quarter of 2018, coming on top of 20 mergers completed in the first three months of the year in Texas. Those 36 mergers completed in the first half of 2018 outpaced the 35 from the first half of 2017, Fairfax noted, and Texas saw the three largest domestic mergers in the second quarter. The Lone Star State was also the top market in terms of inbound merger activity, meaning that Texas tended to be the home of smaller firms involved in deals, according to Fairfax. Altman Weil also highlighted Texas as an active market in its latest MergerLine report, noting that three large firms in the state have been targeted in 2018 by larger regional firms. In addition to the Clark Hill-Strasburger & Price deal, this year has seen 300-lawyer Andrews Kurth Kenyon merge with Hunton & Williams and 230-lawyer Gardere Wynne Sewell combine with Foley & Lardner .