After predictions of law firm consolidation for several years, an eventful 2012 has seen some of this much-touted merger mania come to fruition. Along with a continued spate of international expansion, high-profile hires and post-Legal Services Act innovation, here are some the most read stories of the last 12 months in Legal Week's 2012 news round-up…

January

• Davis Polk launches UK law team with Freshfields heavyweight - Legal Week broke the news that the US firm had controversially kicked off the year by moving in on the territory of its UK referral friend in what was to become the first of three big UK partner hires for the US firm in 2012
• Major law firms assess plans to join 'Tesco law' revolution - the Solicitors Regulation Authority confirmed it had received 65 applications from law firms and non-legal companies to convert to an alternative business structure just two weeks after it started accepting applications
• Pinsents and McGrigors in merger talks over near-£300m tie-up - the two firms became the first of many to confirm merger talks in 2012 with the deal eventually going live on 1 May

February

• Linklaters to shift client focus and crack down on partner performance - the firm started consulting with partners about its new five-year strategy in what would lead to one of the most controversial law firm partner restructurings ever seen
• Unhappy Links partners stall reappointment of Davies as managing partner – the restructuring saw Linklaters chief Simon Davies (pictured) fail to achieve the 75% majority vote required to secure his reappointment as managing partner, despite being the only candidate, due to a protest by partners unhappy with management decisions
• Friday's children – how RollOnFriday got kinda respectable - Legal Week lifted the lid on the irreverent legal website's journey over the last decade

March

• RBS: legal profession carrying thousands of excess solicitor jobs - a report released by RBS argued that the legal profession was over-resourced and had the "opportunity" to remove 5% of the fee earner base- the story received the largest number of hits by our readers in a single month
• CC set to lay off London associates as Linklaters confirms support cuts - the news marked the first two of a spate of redundancy rounds at both US and UK firms to come across the year

April

• Corporate hit as Herbert Smith kicks off London redundancy consultation - Herbert Smith announced plans to make up to 51 redundancies in London, with cuts focussed on the firm's City corporate practice. The story would become the most read story on the Legal Week website for the year
• A&O kicks off salary season with associate pay rises of £500-£1,000 - the magic circle firm was the first to announce junior pay for the year, with marginal increases seen at most firms while some moved to a merit-based model for the first time

May

• Dewey London partners discuss wind-down of UK arm - the US firm began the long and still-ongoing saga of winding down, in the biggest ever law firm collapse
• Former Hogan Lovells partner handed three-year jail term for expense fraud - former litigation partner Christopher Grierson was sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding the firm of £1.3m in false travel expenses- one of a number of partners facing claims this year

June

• Addleshaws set to lay off 24 fee earners as partner profits rise 37% - the firm became the latest to announce a redundancy round intended to rebalance a "top-heavy fee earner structure", alongside its financial results
• A&O cuts partners in Hong Kong amid regional market slowdown - the firm asked four partners to leave as it moved to cut back its local partnership by around 20% in light of a slowdown of activity in Asia- others followed suit over the following months

July

• UK top 50 law firms drive profits back towards boom-time high - Legal Week's 2011-12 results showed that revenues across the top 50 hit £12.96bn – 5.6% up on the equivalent 2010-11 figure of £12.27bn. Top 50 law firms averaged income growth of 7.7% over the year.
• CC takes on double Libor role for Barclays and RBS with Chinese wall - law firms were handed a host of work following the fallout from the Libor scandal, with CC taking some of the top roles
• Herbert Smith Freehills to go live as partners vote through merger. No half measures as partners vote for full financial integration for UK/Australia merger

August

• Freshfields, CC and Linklaters lead City for best maternity packages - in a drive to increase the number of women making partner across the City, a host of firms have revamped their maternity packages in recent times, with Legal Week unveiling how they stack-up comparatively
• Addleshaws to miss out on success fee as Abramovich wins court battle - concluding the world's largest private client litigation, Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky lost his claims against Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich giving rise to speculation over Addleshaws conditional fee arrangement with Berezovsky

September

• Field Fisher and Osborne Clarke in talks over £200m merger – marking the latest in a string of merger talks, Field Fisher Waterhouse and Osborne Clarke entered into discussions about a potential combination following the collapse of Field Fisher and LG's talks in the summer
• Freshfields breaks lockstep in Asia to stave off US firm advances- in a controversial move for the inherently lockstep firm, it emerged that Freshfields had broken its structure in Asia to guard against US firms taking any more of its partners

October

• RBS restructures panel with law firm line-up cut by 40% - RBS completed its panel review reducing its number of advisers by almost half. Lloyds followed suit a few weeks later cutting its panel by 10%
• Addleshaws' Berezovsky earnings reach £50m as Bar fees also emerge- Details of Addleshaws CFA emerged with the firm receiving around £50m in fees from its representation of Boris Berezovsky (pictured) over the last four years, correcting market speculation that Addleshaws had made a loss on the case, with the Russian oligarch paying a further £20m in fees to the Bar 

November

• DLA begins consultation with 251 staff after review of UK business – the largest redundancy consultation in recent times, with DLA also announcing plans to consult on the closure of its 85-person Glasgow office
• Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski to merge from June 2013 – After years of the two firms talking they finally agreed to merge. The merged entity will be known as Norton Rose Fulbright and will sit just outside the global top five law firms, with revenues of just under $2bn (£1.26bn)

December

• Bond Pearce and Dickie Dees seal merger to create Bond Dickinson - the last merger of many in 2012- partners from Bond Pearce and Dickinson Dees voted through a merger under the name Bond Dickinson this month, creating a £95m firm with offices in eight UK locations
• Trainee retention rates dip in 2012 as post-recession recovery falters - Trainee retention rates at UK law firms dipped this year for the first time since the height of the downturn in 2009. The research, conducted by the Chambers Student Guide, found that the overall retention rate was 79.1% for the year, down on last year's corresponding figure of 80.5%.