Transatlantic mergers proved a little like buses last week, with Holman Fenwick Willan and Eversheds both announcing planned combinations with US firms within hours of each other.

Eversheds confirmed it was in talks with Atlanta's Sutherland Asbill & Brennan about a verein-style combination that could go live as early as late January. Should partners approve the deal later this month, the combined Eversheds Sutherland would have revenue of around £650m.

On a smaller scale, Holman Fenwick has sealed a financial union with 20-lawyer Houston civil litigation boutique Legge Farrow Kimmitt McGrath & Brown. The UK firm is the dominant party in the merger under its name, which according to management will be a first step towards combinations elsewhere in the US.

UK firms' continued desire to make it in the competitive US market has also prompted both Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy (A&O) to match associate bonus rates set by Cravath Swaine & Moore that guarantee the most senior associates $100,000 on top of their salaries.

Closer to home, A&O was among a clutch of UK firms to announce details of their financial results for the first half of 2016-17, with many firms with large practices outside the UK likely to see an upswing in revenue as a result of the fall in the post-Brexit value of the pound.

Other firms announcing half-year results during the week included Fieldfisher, Watson Farley & Williams and DAC Beachcroft.

Meanwhile, the KWM Europe crisis continued to provide a steady stream of news, with Dentons emerging as a potential merger partner for the stricken business and then the firm's China arm steppping forward as potential buyer for all or some of what remains of the business.