Litigation giant Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which boasts the second-highest profits per partner among The Am Law 100, said Tuesday that it held early talks to merge with Williams & Connolly, a Washington, D.C., litigation and white-collar powerhouse.

But Williams & Connolly, a firm known for its independence, swiftly denied the notion that any deal was in the cards.

“While Quinn Emanuel is an excellent law firm, we are happy just the way we are. We have no plans to merge with them or any other law firm,” Dane Butswinkas, chairman of Williams & Connolly, said in a statement after news reports of the talks Tuesday.