As a journalist, I've always liked data for its ability to cut through the subjective. But while I generally agree with the well-worn adage that numbers don't lie, without proper analysis, they do have the ability to mislead and misinform.

We've seen this recently within the legal market, where the financial results of the largest U.K.-based firms have been artificially boosted by significant currency fluctuations.

The latest Mergermarket M&A report deserves similar scrutiny. At first glance, it paints a remarkably rosy picture for European corporate lawyers. The total value of European M&A in the first half of the year was up 30 percent on the same period in 2016, at $482 billion, with the region accounting for almost a third of all activity globally. Four of the five largest M&A deals to have taken place so far this year involved European targets.