Allen & Overy (A&O) partners are converging on Miami for the firm's partnership conference, with attendees expecting the firm's US merger plans to feature heavily on the agenda.

Partners attending the conference, which begins today (20 June), are anticipating an update on the magic circle firm's merger talks with US firm O'Melveny & Myers, news of which broke more than two months ago.

To date, specific knowledge of the talks have been contained to "a very small circle", according to partners, but partners headed to Florida are primed for the latest developments.

One A&O partner told Legal Week: "I'm interested to hear what they tell us. This is a good business with clever people, so I expect to be told something of merit. I want to hear about what the plan is for the whole of the States."

Historically, the conference has served as a platform for the firm to set forth its strategy for the US, with the last meeting devoting "a half day entirely on it", according to one partner.

One former London partner added: "At the conference two years ago there was a specific section just on the US strategy, and that was when there were no rumours, so in the circumstances I'd expect it to be a major topic of conversation this week."

While some new information is expected to be shared with partners, it is understood that management will not be presenting any formal proposals such as a merger vote.

Partners are also expected to receive a progress update on the changes A&O made to its governance structure and client focus last year, when it introduced a new executive committee and a new client group accountable for sector growth.

One partner said: "I expect there to be a lot of talk about client successes following the governance changes, and continuing to drive the business forward through that."

The conference is also expected to address the firm's technology objectives, after the second batch of tech startups moved into the firm's Fuse innovation hub in London earlier this year.

One London partner said: "We talked a lot at last conference about it. We all want to hear about how the firm will focus on disruptive technology that could change the ways of working and how that will look in the next 20 years."

The conference comes at the midway point of senior partner Wim Dejonghe and managing partner Andrew Ballheimer's terms, after the pair set out their intentions to build up the firm's "core area expertise" in the US after being appointed two years ago.