Kennedys and defendant insurance firm Plexus Law held talks over a merger earlier this year, sources close to the firms have told Legal Week.

While both firms dismissed the prospects of a deal – as reported by RollOnFriday earlier this week – former partners say that discussions took place around six months ago.

A source with knowledge of the matter said: "I certainly heard that Kennedys were in talks to buy Plexus. It has looked clear to me that Plexus have been getting ready for a sale, and Kennedys was the name of which I was made aware. I heard about those talks inside the last six months."

A former Parabis partner confirmed this, saying that they were aware of talks between the two firms "between six and seven months ago".

A spokesperson for Kennedys said: "We are approached by laterals, teams and firms regularly but we can confirm that Kennedys is not purchasing or in any way merging with Plexus." A Plexus spokesperson added: "The firm is not is discussion with Kennedys."

Plexus, meanwhile, has had an eventful few years following the collapse of parent company Parabis in 2015. As part of the break-up of Parabis, Plexus was sold to a consortium of investors led by Parabis founders Andrew McDougall and Tim Roberts in November 2015, following unsuccessful talks over an acquisition by insurance rival Keoghs.

At the same time, Plexus partners were asked to agree to a two-year lock-in. Those agreements are set to expire this November or in May next year "for capital reasons", according to one ex-partner.

Kennedys already has a number of former Plexus lawyers among its ranks. In March 2015, the firm took on a 13-lawyer travel team led by partners Claire Mulligan and Justin Collins.