Hogan Lovells' 2010 transatlantic merger of equals has helped redefine the international legal market and paved the way for a handful of similar moves. But nearly five years on, and as the number of firms listing 'global' as a defining characteristic grows, is the firm in danger of losing its early-mover advantage? Frances Ivens reports

In May 2010 legacy Lovells ended a tricky spell as a City firm as renowned for what it was not doing as for what it was, with a genuine game-changer: a transatlantic merger with American firm Hogan & Hartson.

In one fell swoop the pair transformed their own positions in the international legal market and the market itself – pulling off the tricky Anglo-American combination that had eluded pretty much everyone else, with the exception of DLA Piper and, to a somewhat questionable degree, Clifford Chance.

The union – structured through a Swiss verein still deemed unusual in those days – saw the firm fly into the global top 10 with combined revenues of $1.8bn (