After some very challenging post-financial crisis years, 2014 was the year the legal market demonstrated its feet were very much back on firmer footing.

Associate salary rises, record financial results, a smattering of star partner hires and some mega M&A deals, on the face of it the last year has looked like a return to boom times.

But with a crucial difference. With a handful of well-established law firm brands disappearing on both sides of the Atlantic firms and others still struggling to find their place in the market not everything is rosy.

January
January saw the year in as it meant to continue, the completion of the Vodafone/Verizon mega deal suggested the M&A market was back after a largely disappointing 2013, while Slaughter and May finally hired a partner after 125 years of opting out of the lateral market. Meanwhile Hogan Lovells' partner promotions gave an indication firms were looking once again to promote in the City.

At the opposite end of the spectrum legacy Scots firm Dundas & Wilson confirmed a six strong partner exit as it geared up to merge with CMS, DLA Piper confirmed a handful of redundancies in Leeds, while it emerged ex-Cobbetts partners may have to stump up costs in payment to firms. We also looked at what Weil's 2013 partner exodus would mean for London.
The most read story on Legal Week though was Google's decision to temporarily delist Irwin Mitchell from its search engines.

February
This month we broke the news that Shell GC Peter Rees was to return to private practice, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's London head of arbitration Constantine Partasides announced he was leaving to set up an independent firm with Paris-based disputes partner Georgios Petrochilos.
The pair were joined by partners from Shearman & Sterling, Jones Day and Covington as well as a former Freshfields colleague to launch Three Crowns.

Other popular stories included:
White & Case thrown off oligarch dispute for conflict of interest
Record number of solicitor advocates take silk
Best friends forever – Slaughters' international strategy under scrutiny
Wragges LG on lookout for international merger following domestic tie-up

March
With investigations work soaring as financial institutions face growing scrutiny March's top stories included a handful of related stories. We revealed the elite firms winning work on the forex scandal, the obstacles delaying CC's investigation into RBS's small business lending practices and internal discussion over pay rates for the embattled Co-op's GC.

Outside financial services mandates Freshfields kicked off the partner promotion round at UK firms, with Slaughters also announcing, while BLP faced mounting departures, with a trio of partners quitting for DLA Piper. Our interview looked at the job the firm's new finance chief faced.

April
Linklaters led the run of partner promotions stories this month, while Hogan Lovells joined a number of firms asking junior partners to up capital contributions in line with new HMRC rules. Elsewhere Mergermarket's quarterly deal stats showed deal value rocket by a third, while Dentons tried to muscle in on Squire Sanders plans to merge with Patton Boggs, a move that later stalled. We also tried to answer the $23bn question – why banks' soaring legal spend is posing problems and some very lucrative work for law firms – and looked at how post crisis investigation work is changing the way law firms advise banks. Demonstrating the issues some firms were facing at this time media firm Davenport Lyons entered administration with Gordon Dadds taking it over.

May
Associate salary wars kicked off in earnest with Linklaters and Freshfields both increasing salaries and the latter topping the associate pay charts. Meanwhile Weil Gotshal lost banking star and former Linklaters partner Stephen Lucas to Kirkland & Ellis on a bumper salary, raising questions as to how the US firm manages to bring in the big names. Elsewhere our analysis of LLP accounts filed by the UK's 50 largest law firms showed the firms spent £5.4bn on staff costs in 2012-13. Other key stories saw Squire Sanders seal its Patton Boggs merger and CC lose out on a London sublet to TfL. We also analysed the 2014 partner promotion round at the top 30 for our readers. following an uncertain path and female partner promotions pass 30%.

June
Dentons started a war of words this month with the news that it was no longer planning to report PEP figures. Its reasoning – outlined in a letter to The American Lawyer and first reported by Legal Week – drew a mixed response from many (lawyers still need a PEP talk). It emerged in the same month that Legal Week revealed Dentons UK PEP grew 23% in 2013-14. CC meanwhile joined the salary arms race, Ashurst saw partners departures mount, while Addleshaw Goddard announced a drop in PEP. We also took a look under the microscope at the LLP filings of the UK top 50.

July
Barclays slashed its legal panel by 30 but tightened its links with US firms, Addleshaws and Ashurst took spots on BP's enlarged panel, while we revealed that Ashurst talked to Sidley about a potential tie-up while its tie-up with Australia's Blakes was still ongoing. Research based stories from Legal Week saw us unveil the firms shedding the most members from their UK LLPs and provide an update on law firms' efforts to increase social mobility at the graduate level. The month also saw the release of Legal Week Intelligence's Employee Satisfaction Survey and saw Clifford Chance confirm that PEP soared 16% in 2013-14 while Linklaters and Freshfields wrapped up the magic circle results. The month also confirmation of London's newest law firm – Charles Russell Speechlys.

August
Linklaters fell out of favour with Goldman Sachs London leveraged finance team, while Dentons won hearts and minds with news that it was suing the Republic of Guinea for unpaid fees. Slaughter and May meanwhile joined the rush of firms trying to improve diversity through flexible working initiatives. On the hiring front Weil's European high yield star Gil Strauss quit for Simpson Thacher, while Ropes & Gray lured Travers Smith's former private equity head Phil Sanderson.

September
Another US name prepared for obsolescence with Legal Week revealing that Bingham McCutchen was in merger talks with Morgan Lewis, while its London arm mulled a split to Akin Gump. The magic circle meanwhile cut trainee intakes, while several leading US and UK firms reviewed their Russia strategy in response to the Ukraine crisis. The month also saw the boldest attempt in recent years by a magic circle firm in the US, with Freshfields making a series of hires for its transactional team, analysed here in Freshfields' US play – will it work? We also published our UK top 50, with combined revenues across the group hitting £14bn.

October
Starting the month with a bang, former Ashurst senior partner Charlie Geffen quit alongside fellow corporate partner Mark Sperotto to join the London arm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. The move reunited him with two further Ashurst exiles Jonathan Earle and Nigel Stacey, who had joined the US firm over the summer.

Other high profile moves this month saw Kirkland London head Graham White join Fried Frank to relaunch its City arm, while long-serving Olswang leader David Stewart resigned to take on new challenges.

Elsewhere, in the wake a string of exits Addleshaw Goddard this month looked in need of a convincing strategy, while Lloyds finalised its panel.

Legal Week analysis Age Concern meanwhile highlighted the firms with the oldest and youngest partners, with the average life expectancy of a UK partner looking pretty short. Other analysis this month included Hogan Lovells – crunch time, and Teenage Dreams – why 13 years after its creation BLP needs to refind its form.

November
Story of the month was news that Boston stalwart Bingham is set to dissolve following a mass acquisition rather than merger by Morgan Lewis, with former Bingham London head James Roome talking through the biggest team move of 2014 – the defection of most of his City office to Akin Gump. Happier news saw US associates receive confirmation of bumper bonuses while Eversheds also had the US in its sights with the firm taking aim on a US merger. Focusing on the UK this month was Herbert Smith Freehills where four partners were battling for the firm's senior partner post, with corporate partner James Palmer winning the vote. Other well read stories this month included the Global Top 50: the battle for elite status and Stars at the Bar 2014.

December
Clifford Chance hit the headlines this month with news that it faces a professional negligence claim from third party funders on the Excalibur litigation and as partner Simon Davis unveiled a damning report into the FCA. Elsewhere in the magic circle, Linklaters' managing partner Simon Davies discussed the firm's long-term vision, with the firm also setting out generous shared parental leave policies as other magic circle firms are still deciding what to do. Meanwhile US firms hit the lateral market once more with Kirkland's Stephen Gillespie heading to Gibson Dunn, while Skadden hired Freshfields insurance head Robert Stirling. Cooley also closed in on its long-awaited London launch with the news that it was set to hire a team from Edwards Wildman ahead of that firm's merger with Locke Lord. Other well read features on Legal Week include the winners at the British Legal Awards and the unstoppable rise of Latham & Watkins in London.