Top M&A lawyers are a red-blooded bunch and traditionally far more bullish than their conservative colleagues in other practice areas. So it has been pretty depressing to watch how subdued they have been over the past few years. Even once the worst of the crisis was over, few have been willing to stick their neck out beyond muttering about 'cautious optimism', the anaemic phrase that has become their post-crunch cliche of choice. 

So as the first law firm financials start to filter out at the half-year point, it is heartening to see a faint glimmer of hope among the UK's leading dealmakers.

With high street names such as Barratts and Blockbuster re-entering administration this week, we are clearly not out of the woods yet. But renewed interest in the capital markets and a handful of mega-deals has lifted spirits – and profits – after the stagnation in merger and acquisition activity that crippled many firms.

At the end of the 2012-13 financial year, while there were lingering concerns that cash-rich companies were still sitting on their hands, law firms as a whole were feeling more optimistic. At that point our regular Big Question survey on partners' business confidence found 90% of respondents expected revenue growth at their firms over the coming year – about half of them predicting growth of more than 5%. This marked a high point in recent times, with just 65% of respondents to a similar survey six months previously hopeful of revenue increases.

Fast forward to the end of H1 2013-14, and, while some companies are definitely still hesitant, law firms are finally starting to feel the benefits of a long-awaited resurgence in corporate activity. Indications from firms so far point mostly to a rise in revenue when compared to the first six months of last year, and now a very healthy 94% of partners expect an improvement in finances at the end of the financial year.

Let's be clear, we are not talking here about the double-digit growth of yore. And some firms that have struggled to adjust to the 'new normal' – having been tilted heavily towards boom-time practices – are still struggling with the protracted lull. Restructurings at firms such as Berwin Leighton Paisner, not to mention the collapse of smaller London firms such as Manches, prove the market remains unforgiving.

It may yet be 2014 before many of the deals being touted get off the ground, but, with the showdown over the US fiscal ceiling finally reaching a conclusion and China's hard landing appearing gentler than many feared, partners are at last beginning to drop their guard and speak a bit more cheerfully about the future.