It may be almost Christmas, but law firm news showed no sign of slowing down last week.

Eversheds ended a recent lull in transatlantic merger activity on Friday (16 December) by sealing a tie-up with Atlanta's Sutherland Asbill & Brennan – securing the vote of well in excess of the two thirds majority required to give the go ahead to the first major UK-US merger since Norton Rose Fulbright was created in 2013. Eversheds Sutherland is now set to launch on 1 February.

The firm will no doubt be hoping to provide a stronger example of non-financially integrated mergers than KWM is currently offering, as its stricken European arm sees a daily stream of high profile exits ahead of a likely pre-pack administration filing that could happen next month.

With Dentons pulling out of the race to take on the bulk of the European business, leaving no single-firm takeover deals on the table, numerous firms emerged as potential acquirers of parts of the business, including Winston & Strawn.

Towards the end of the week, large team moves started to emerge. A six-partner real estate team – including practice head William Naunton – is set to join DLA Piper along with eight qualified lawyers and three trainees.

Greenberg Traurig, meanwhile, is also taking six partners from KWM's London office, including heavyweight real estate funds partner Steven Cowins, alongside a further 25 associates.

For all the background on KWM's current predicament, our Deconstructing KWM feature provides detailed insight into how KWM's European arm ended up in such as mess, as well as offering thoughts on how partners in Asia feel about the European problems.

Other highlights on legalweek.com during the past seven days:

• Linklaters London partners face longer route to the top after lockstep shake-up
• Slaughters hikes associate pay by up to 10% in overhaul of rewards and benefits
• CMS partners secure more than half of all practice and sector head roles at merged firm
• HSF global energy co-head to join Latham & Watkins in London
• RPC launches managing partner elections as Watmough steps down
• Deconstructing King & Wood Mallesons – how did the SJ Berwin tie-up go so wrong?