It was not a match made in heaven for New York-based Dewey Ballantine and San Francisco-based Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. The two major U.S. law firms discontinued their merger talks Jan. 4, a little more than two months after announcing their plans to combine.

“Both firms are successful, global firms that saw great potential in a combination,” the firms said in a joint statement. “However, a combination of this size and scope posed significant challenges. While both firms tried their best to work through these challenges, we were unable to bring the merger to completion. No one issue led us to this point.”

According to various reports reportedly from company insiders, infighting among Dewey and Orrick management about how to structure the new entity partly led to the breakdown. As the two sides discussed the logistics of the merger late last year, the reports claim, at least 11 partners left Dewey, taking clients with them and dampening Orrick's enthusiasm for the deal.