From Allen & Overy's (A&O) merger talks with O'Melveny & Myers to Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins becoming the first $3bn-plus law firms, the legal sector has had more than its fair share of headline-grabbing stories in 2018 – a year that also saw the profession begin to confront the stark realities of the #MeToo movement.

Here, we look back at some of the most-read articles on Legal Week during the past 12 months.

  • January

It was early doors for scandal in 2018, as a number of partners from top City law firms were revealed as having been on the guest list for the infamous Presidents Club dinner, whereas, in contrast, CMS and Shoosmiths became the first UK top 50 law firms to publish details of their gender pay gaps.

Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) were among the law firms called in as construction firm Carillion fought for survival amid a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigation, while the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) said it was "very troubled" by the misconduct allegations made against CC in the Excalibur case.

Elsewhere, Slaughters overhauled its associate appraisal system, with performance scores dropped in favour of ongoing feedback, while legal recruiters also made some bold predictions about the key trends for the year ahead.

  • February

This month saw the sector's male-dominated culture come under the microscope after news broke of an alleged sexual assault by a Baker McKenzie partner some years ago. This was one of a number of #MeToo stories to come to light during the course of the year, with incidents at Linklaters, Dentons, Latham, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Mayer Brown also making headlines.

On the back of these revelations, Legal Week gathered the views of more than 250 partners on the issues around male-focused corporate events, with respondents highlighting the scale of the problem still facing women in law.

Slaughters was called before a parliamentary inquiry to face questions over its pre-collapse advice to Carillion, from which CC sealed the surprise hire of its Newcastle legal services arm. And as financial results continued to stream in from the top US law firms, Latham set a new benchmark by becoming the world's first $3bn law firm.

  • March

However, just weeks later, Kirkland dethroned Latham as the world's largest law firm by revenue after seeing its top line grow by 19% to $3.2bn.

Compounding Latham's woes, chairman and managing partner William Voge quit the firm after allegedly making inappropriate "communication of a sexual nature" to a woman, which were revealed to have been connected to his involvement with a Christian support group that claimed to help men deal with the temptations that accompany professional life.

Back to business, and Latham was one of four new firms winning places on Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse's new global legal panel, alongside UK trio Ashurst, Allen & Overy, and Linklaters.

  • April

We opened April by breaking the news that magic circle firm A&O was in merger talks with US West Coast firm O'Melveny & Myers – a deal that could create a business with combined revenues of £2bn and a total lawyer headcount of about 3,000. While the tie-up was initially met with some scepticism, the discussions have rumbled on during the year, with a resolution not expected until well into the new year at the earliest.

The month also saw Squire Patton Boggs cut ties with US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen following an FBI raid on his New York offices.

Elsewhere, Slaughters, Linklaters and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher advised on the proposed merger of supermarket giants Asda and Sainsbury's, while new research found that half of London's biggest law firms believe the rise of new artificial intelligence technology will lead to job cuts.

Accusations of misconduct continued to emerge at major law firms, with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan referring itself to the SRA following allegations made against former partner Mark Hastings.

Slaughters also continued to attract headlines; first as one of a number of law firms accused of "squeezing fee income" from Carillion as it collapsed, and then facing questions over its decision to omit partners from its gender pay gap reporting.

This month, Legal Week also examined the impact that an increasingly demanding sector was having on lawyers' wellbeing, with 91% of respondents to a Big Question survey saying long working hours were affecting their mental and physical health.

May also saw HSF announce that it would move about 500 London staff to a new office in Canary Wharf, while Ashurst launched a redundancy consultation that put 80% of its London secretarial roles at risk.

  • June

As the hottest summer on record set in, another kind of heat blighted Freshfields' partnership, with more than 60 partners seeing their profit share reduced after the firm introduced a new lockstep system.

Meanwhile, Legal Week research identified Linklaters as the law firm with the most expensive staff in the UK, while Big Four accountancy giant Deloitte's UK arm sealed a 'first of its kind' alliance with US immigration firm Berry Appleman & Leiden.

As Slaughters and Freshfields revealed their partner gender pay gap following requests by MPs, we examined the policies law firms were putting in place to protect employees from sexual harassment and other inappropriate behaviour, following the tide of revelations across the sector during the past six months.

  • July

In one of the biggest lateral moves of the year, Freshfields high-yield star Ward McKimm made good on his long-rumoured move to Shearman & Sterling, returning to the firm at which he spent 14 years before jumping to Kirkland in 2011.

Pay also came under the spotlight, with Legal Week revealing that the Government Legal Department's top four lawyers received less than four newly qualified London associates at top US law firms.

And the month also saw mixed fortunes for the magic circle brand, with news of A&O's, CC's and Linklaters' inclusion in Barclays' new-look legal panel coming alongside fresh sexual assault allegations made by a junior lawyer against a partner at an unidentified member of the elite group.

  • August

August saw its share of headline-making deals, with CC, Freshfields and Slaughters advising on billionaire Stan Kroenke's £600m bid for a full takeover of Arsenal FC, while CC also had a hand in the pre-pack sale of House of Fraser to Mike Ashley.

US firms continued their raids on the City elite, with Latham bringing in CC's head of infrastructure M&A Brendan Moylan and A&O's infrastructure partner Conrad Andersen, while Morgan Lewis made a triple hire from HSF, including London private equity head Mark Geday.

Our sister publication, The American Lawyer, took a look at the challenges facing Wall Street's elite firms, with most now having to confront new kinds of competition, while a Legal Week survey found three out of four City partners backing a second Brexit referendum, alongside strong concerns over the impact of a no-deal scenario on the legal sector.

  • September

Legal Week broke the news that four Ropes & Gray partners were to leave following a strategic shift at the firm, while Freshfields also saw two senior departures – senior capital markets partner Ashar Qureshi, who left for Fried Frank – and arbitration partner Reza Mohtashami QC, who joined his former colleagues at boutique firm Three Crowns.

And at Slaughters, there was more senior movement in this one month than tends to happen during a number of years at the magic circle firm, with corporate veteran Nigel Boardman announcing he would step down from the partnership after 45 years, while Serious Fraud Office director Sir David Green was confirmed as the firm's latest external recruit following months of speculation.

  • October

October served up yet more controversy, as Clyde & Co dismissed a senior Manchester partner after an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour, while former Quinn partner Hastings found a new job amid an SRA investigation into allegations made against him in May.

Meanwhile, Bakers announced its leader, Paul Rawlinson, was to take temporary leave from the position following health issues, with The American Lawyer taking a closer look at how law firm leaders bear up when grappling with the rigours of the job.

Elsewhere, Latham underlined its City ambitions with the promotion of nine lawyers to partner, while it was revealed that five partners would compete to succeed Malcolm Sweeting as CC senior partner.

  • November

November's most-read news story was the relevation that a Hogan Lovells partner had been suspended for viewing questionable internet content at work, after being caught in the act by a lawyer over the road in Irwin Mitchell's nearby City offices.

Two big Linklaters stories also dominated the headlines, including our article on measures brought in by the firm to prevent partners leaving en masse, as well as the news that it was considering making more widespread use of its guaranteed 40-hour contract after a successful first year of the scheme in Germany.

CC's surprising choice of Amsterdam head Jeroen Ouwehand as its new senior partner pointed to new post-Brexit priorities for international firms, and while the Brexit omnishambles rumbled on, Legal Week research found that many City partners were actually more concerned about Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister than the impact of Brexit.

The month also saw two of the most read-articles of the year – our latest roundup of rising stars in private equity, and the poignant open letter written by the widow of a Sidley Austin partner who committed suicide after struggling with the pressures of Big Law firm life.

  • December

The first few weeks of December have seen Slaughters dominate the headlines once more – boosting associate pay, advising on the Interserve rescue talks and also attracting attention for its ties to former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch after his US fraud charges.

This month we also published the heartwarming speech by the seven-year-old daughter of Obelisk CEO Dana Denis-Smith, who stepped up in front of almost 750 guests at the British Legal Awards to talk about her mother's charity, the First 100 Years, which aims to inspire future generations of female lawyers by raising awareness of success stories from the past.