By any measure, 2016 has been a challenging year on all fronts and the UK legal sector has been affected like any other.

The result has been a tumultuous year for the largest UK firms, with domestic and transatlantic mergers, leadership changes, high profile partner exits and pay overhauls all featuring heavily as firms struggle to position themselves in an increasingly competitive market amid the uncertain fallout of Brexit.

And all of this is on top of the slow disintegration of the legacy SJ Berwin business in Europe, which has dominated the last quarter of 2016.

From bold mergers to law firm collapses then, here are Legal Week's most-read stories of 2016.

January

• Freshfields partners face profit share cut and drop to lower lockstep ladder
• 'Our international strategy is massively important' – Slaughters' new senior partner on stepping up
• Freshfields, Gibson Dunn and Quinn lawyers take silk
• Reed Smith axes 45 lawyers in staff restructuring
• 'People can see through arrogance' – DLA Piper co-CEO on why confidence is key to success
• Rising stars: up-and-coming M&A partners across the UK

February

• Berwin Leighton Paisner in merger talks with Greenberg Traurig to create £1bn firm
• DLA Piper overhauls pay structure to boost profits and reward top performers
• As Kelly quits for White & Case, what's behind Linklaters' partner exits in Asia?
• Addleshaw Goddard and Maclay Murray & Spens merger talks collapse
• 'It is unsustainable alone' – does Olswang need to merge to thrive?
• KWM mulls monthly profit distributions as UK payment delays continue
• As partner exits mount, will the magic circle pass the test of time in Asia?
• Pay divide sees eight of top 20 UK firms award highest earners more than double average partner pay
• 'I would not be surprised if she were to emerge as a Supreme Court Justice' – Stars at the Bar 2016
• The £1,000 question: are City lawyers' rates really too high?

March

• Kirkland doubles equity partners' notice period worldwide as exits continue
• Partners overwhelmingly anti-Brexit as confidence in Britain staying in falters
• Linklaters boosts associate salaries and increases holiday entitlement
• Pay and culture differences at the heart of failed BLP and Greenberg merger talks
• KWM to slash 15% of legacy SJ Berwin partnership alongside support cuts
• Three corporate heavyweights to fight it out for Linklaters senior partner job
• 'There is a lack of recognition that millennials have a different approach' – how can firms keep associates on side?

 April

• KWM trio depart for Mishcons, Dentons and Goodwin Procter
• 'It rips the heart out of the practice' – partners react to KWM's private equity loss
• Panama Papers – law firms 'aren't doing nearly enough' on data security
• Freshfields set to launch Vancouver support hub as it outlines Manchester expansion plans
• Linklaters confirms China launch and Deloitte review as lockstep debate rumbles on
• Addleshaws partners up in arms as firm plots to slash number able to leave each year
• Linklaters and Olswang set to face MPs' questions over BHS sale
• Am Law 100 2016: US firm growth slows to lowest level since the crisis

 May

• Freshfields hikes newly qualified lawyer pay by 26% alongside flexible working measures
• Details of magic circle offshore connections emerge ahead of latest Panama papers leak
• DLA Piper to cut up to 200 support jobs
• Norton Rose Fulbright to move 170 jobs to the Philippines including nearly 60 in London
• Linklaters grilled by MPs over due diligence failures on BHS sale
• DLA Piper's Yorkshire offices to feel the brunt of support staff cull
• KWM exits continue as eight partners leave in London
• KWM faces rent hike as City office goes up for sale

 June

• Kirkland asks Asia partner to pay back $120,000 bonus before leaving for Latham
• 'I came with the expectation I was equal' – video interview with late Slaughter and May partner Frances Murphy
• Clifford Chance raises maximum NQ lawyer pay by £1,000 as it overhauls system
• Clifford Chance and Slaughters roll out new remote working schemes
• Cooley, Dentons and Pinsent Masons among big winners at Legal Week Innovation Awards
• KWM cuts 37 London support staff
• Allen & Overy sets out to revamp partner appraisal system
• US firms rush to raise associate pay after Cravath hikes base pay to $180,000

July

• Ashurst PEP plunges 19% as revenue falls 10% in 2015-16
• Can Ashurst escape its perfect storm and engage the partnership to prevent further losses?
• Top UK firms could lose out on Brexit trade work as they meet government officials to discuss City's future
• Law Society writes to Gove as Brexit throws UK firms' EU offices into question
• Seven ways Brexit will impact international law firms
• KWM taps salaried partners for capital contributions for first time
• Has Olswang finally found its merger partner in CMS?
• Clifford Chance, HSF, Simmons and DLA Piper join rush to register lawyers in Ireland
• Latham & Watkins hires senior Allen & Overy banking partner
• Rising stars: the new generation of litigators making their mark

 August

• Nowhere to hide: UK top 50 LLP accounts analysed
• More than 80% of partners expect job cuts to come as Brexit impact bites
• Simmons lays off London lawyers amid concerns over Brexit impact
• Five partners quit Irwin Mitchell's London real estate team including four joining Dentons
• Ashurst delays quarterly profit payouts after disappointing results
• Irwin Mitchell's profit plunges as revenue hits £221m after merger
• An excellent catch – partners weigh in on Latham's latest assault on the City recruitment market
• King & Wood Mallesons holds off on profit distributions following recapitalisation vote

 September

• CMS, Nabarro and Olswang on verge of three-way tie-up
• UK top 50 firms achieve sixth year of revenue growth as partner profits stall
• Ashurst partner departures continue to mount with exits in London, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi
• The Global 100: the world's top-ranked law firms by revenue, lawyers and partner profits
• White & Case hires 10-partner team from HSF for Australia launch
• The pay gap – which firms have the biggest disparity between top and bottom of the equity?
• It gives them their lives back – Slaughters chief on what artificial intelligence means for associates
• 'There are real challenges at the firm': Shearman equity partners face demotion in profits push
• Ashurst to keep banking heavyweight Nigel Ward despite announced move to Paul Hastings
• DLA Piper red card system to penalise partners who fail to record enough hours
• 'A poisoned chalice' – candidates emerge for UK leadership roles at King & Wood Mallesons

October

• CMS, Nabarro and Olswang vote in favour of three-way merger under CMS brand
• Hogan Lovells and Mishcon take lead roles as KWM sues Goodwin and former corporate co-head Lever
• Four senior London partners quit King & Wood Mallesons amid uncertainty over firms finances
• Linklaters partners to vote on lockstep changes at November conference
• What should a partner be? – Norton Rose Fulbright chief targets culture change in 2020 strategy
• Latham magic circle hires continue with Allen & Overy M&A star
• Its a huge challenge – what are the prospects for the CMS, Olswang and Nabarro merger plans?
• Powerful when combined – CMS, Nabarro and Olswang management break silence on merger
• Olswang Paris and Munich partners considering alternatives to CMS-Nabarro merger
• White & Case seals hire of Clifford Chance banking co-head Sarch

 November

• King & Wood Mallesons European arm considers merger options as recapitalisation plan fails
• Fewer than 20% of KWM Europe partners signed up to failed deal as Halford joins Goodwin
• There will be a lot of cherry picking – what next for KWMs embattled European arm?
• The walls are crumbling down – partners size up King & Wood Mallesons predicament
• The vultures will be circling – what next for KWM and the legacy SJ Berwin business?
• Dentons in talks to take on KWMs European arm
• Pinsents, Linklaters and Vodafone among winners at British Legal Awards
• Linklaters partners vote in favour of lockstep reform
• Eversheds in tie-up talks with US firm with name change on the cards
• Latham sets out plans to take on the magic circle in London M&A
• Ashurst to overhaul partner profit distribution system in move to single annual payout
• British Legal Awards Law Firm of the Year 2016: why we selected the firms on the shortlist
• This dwarfs Brexit – City law firm leaders assess the impact of Trump's election

December

• Deconstructing King & Wood Mallesons – how did the SJ Berwin tie-up go so wrong?
• One team, one firm – one fine mess: why KWM is bad news for verein advocates
• KWM Europe announces intention to appoint administrators
• KWM Europe changes deed to give tax benefits to partners in event of pre-pack
• Macfarlanes hires KWM competition team including former senior partner Kon
• The British Legal Awards 2016: who won what – and why…
• Barclays puts emphasis on innovation with six firms appointed to new panel
• Slaughters hikes associate pay by up to 10% in overhaul of rewards and benefits
• Linklaters London partners face longer route to the top after lockstep shake-up
• CMS UK and Olswang partners to pay in more capital as Nabarro holds back drawings to fund pension deficit
• CMS partners secure more than half of all practice and sector head roles at merged firm
• Eversheds and Sutherland partners vote in favour of transatlantic tie-up
• 'This isn't the end of the journey': Eversheds eyes further US tie-ups after Sutherland merger