The proposed merger between Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge has been called off, after partners at the Washington-based firm voted against the tie-up.

A final vote on the merger was put on hold earlier this month, with Dentons blaming a lag in the due diligence process.

The firms had earlier planned to complete all voting by 14 November, after both boards had given the green light to the tie-up.

Were the two firms to have combined, it would resulted in an outfit with revenues of approximately £1.04bn, putting it on the cusp of the top 10 global law firms by revenue.

A Dentons spokesperson said: "We are not in a position to successfully bring our firms together at this time. We look forward to maintaining the many friendships and working relationships, including with shared clients, that partners in both firms have forged. Both firms will continue to advance their respective strategic positions."

The failure of the merger halts a period of rapid consolidation for Dentons.

In 2010, UK-based Denton Wilde Sapte combined with Chicago's Sonneschein Nath & Rosenthal to create SNR Denton, before Salans and Fraser Milner Casgrain merged under the Dentons banner earlier this year.

The news comes in the same week a proposed merger between US firms Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman was called off, after the firms cited irresolvable client conflicts.

Had those talks been successful, would have become the ninth largest law firm in the US, with a combined revenue of $1.4bn (£866m).

However, unlike the Dentons-McKenna Long tie-up, the decision to call off the Orrick-Pillsbury talks came before either firm had signed a letter of intent or put the merger to a partner vote.