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1. The Global Merger That Never Was

Allen & Overy's proposed merger with O'Melveny & Myers was for a year and a half the story that had the legal world transfixed. But this summer, Legal Week broke the news that the talks had collapsed in a heap of unrealised ambitions and riches. The decision to call an end to negotiations came amid "adverse macroeconomic conditions".

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2. Major Conduct Hearings Pt I

Questions abounded when Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ryan Beckwith was put on indefinite leave by his firm. But the picture became a whole lot clearer once the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) decided to prosecute the matter; clearer still once the hearing into his conduct started in October, as Beckwith faced accusations of having engaged in sexual activity with an intoxicated junior colleague. The tribunal hit him with one of the biggest fines yet imposed on a solicitor.

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3. Major Conduct Hearings Pt II

The seven-year-long saga around Baker McKenzie's former London head Gary Senior, who faces allegations of sexual harassment and of attempting to influence the outcome of a subsequent internal investigation, is now entering its final and most critical phase, as the tribunal hearing into the matter reaches a head. However, in December the hearing was adjourned until April 2020.

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4. Conduct—The Theme That Dominated The News

The Beckwith and Senior controversies, important though they are, were by no means the only hard-hitting stories that Legal Week broke on contentious lawyer behaviour. We put out widely read stories on a Ropes & Gray trainee forging a client's signature, on partners at DLA Piper, Ashurst, CMS, Mayer Brown and Freshfields (again) leaving following conduct probes. Indeed, amid intense post-Beckwith scrutiny, Freshfields became one of the first firms to threaten to fine its miscreant partners.

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5. The Haves and The Have Nots

You might have thought that the Oxbridge bias among the Magic Circle was old news, but did you know the true extent of it? Our research into the numbers produced some shocking insights into the startling scale of the bias. Diversity in all its forms is still a subject of clamorous debate in the industry, with the gender pay gap among equity partnerships across the U.K. showing little sign of narrowing, and GCs earlier this year penning a letter threatening (mostly white middle-class male-dominated) law firms to improve their diversity stats, or else...

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6. Mourning Leading Lights

This year, we also paid tribute to those bright legal talents who passed away—in some instances, unexpectedly. Among those well known in the City were Linklaters' partner Ian Wagstaff who tragically died following a cycling accident; Baker McKenzie's global chair Paul Rawlinson who passed away in April; and DLA Piper's co-chair Juan Picon who sadly succumbed to a long illness in June.

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7. Boris and Brexit

With Boris Johnson and Brexit scarcely out of the headlines over the last 12 months, it was hard to ignore the political backdrop against which City lawyers toiled and, occasionally, prospered. Lawyers had plenty to say when Johnson secured the premiership—on both occasions—and again when he attempted to prorogue Parliament. Meanwhile, Law.com's coverage on Brexit has throughout the year provided evergreen insight into how law firms continue to respond to the most urgent political story of our time.

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8. Mental Health and Wellbeing in Focus

A narrative that drew a lot of attention in 2018 continued to gain traction throughout 2019, as lawyers became increasingly forthcoming on issues concerning mental health and wellbeing. Our research pieces into burnout and depression resonated, while earnest interviews with partners at Fieldfisher and Clifford Chance received wide praise for helping illuminate the often hidden, often insurmountable mental challenges confronting fee-earners in this most testing of times.

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9. Freshfields, Freshfields, Freshfields

Lately known as much for the conduct of its partners as its mega-deals, Freshfields this year hit the headlines with greater frequency and intrigue than any other. But conduct aside, the loss of private equity star Adrian Maguire to Kirkland & Ellis at the start of the year triggered renewed debate about the firm's lockstep and was recently counterpoised by an astonishing coup in New York, when last month the firm gained the services of a world-beating M&A team from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, led by one of America's preeminent corporate lawyers.

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10. Deep Dives Into Murky Worlds

Legal Week's much-talked-about investigation into Jones Day's London office exposed a seedy male-dominated culture characterised by alleged sexually inappropriate behaviour and bullying, underpinned by non-disclosure agreements, while our deep dive into the legal directories shone a light on the depth and extent of the sexual harassment suffered by young (female) legal researchers at the hands of lawyers at some of the world's largest law firms. Meanwhile our exposé of how a pioneering 'new law' firm collapsed unearthed some shocking details about the actions of the firm's founder.

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11. From Low Lows to Absolute Highs

Our painstaking research into whom the industry considers to be the brightest young stars in the exploding world of private equity produced our best read story of 2019. Meanwhile, our coverage of those firms GCs felt were best on diversity, and our follow-up on the big winners at this year's British Legal Awards were also among our most popular—last month's ceremony saw Ashurst crowned law firm of the year.

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12. Pro Bono Ranked, in a UK First

In a first of its kind analysis in the U.K., Legal Week ranked law firms on their efforts in all things pro bono. The groundbreaking research saw Hogan Lovells top the list for numbers of hours and lawyers dedicated to work done free of charge for the public benefit. It is essential reading for anyone interested in how seriously the world's largest law firms treat pro bono.

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13. The Scandal That Rocked Germany

The so-called 'cum-ex' tax scandal in Germany has swallowed up some pretty big names in the corporate world, and that includes in corporate law. Freshfields' global head of tax Ulf Johannesmann was the first in the international legal world to fall from grace. Soon after, Law.com International broke the news that DLA Piper's German head was to step down amid swirling stories of cum-ex involvement.

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14. Cash is (Still) King

With Kirkland, Wachtell, Cravath and Quinn Emanuel paying its top partners sums never before seen, was there any doubt that money would continue making headlines? But this year it was remuneration at the junior end of the pay scale that really got the industry talking. A newly qualified pay war, started by Freshfields, broke out in the U.K., with firms offering upwards of £100,000 to junior talent. Notably, in an interview with Legal Week, Linklaters' managing partner Gideon Moore decried the pay war as a misstep by the industry that his firm certainly would not want to emulate.

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15. Notable Floats

In March, DWF became the first law firm, ever, to float on the London Stock Exchange main market, generating a market capitalisation of more than £360 million. But the bold pre-Brexit IPO was not the only law firm listing to make headlines this year. In the junior AIM market, another narrative brewed when Big Ben struck in 2019, as listed Gordon Dadds gobbled up 100-year-old City stalwart Ince & Co, in one of the most unusual moves the industry has seen yet. Gordon Dadds renamed itself The Ince Group earlier in the year.