The upcoming merger of Duane Morris with Satterlee Stephens is the first major intra-regional combination involving northeastern U.S. law firms with at least 50 lawyers in about two years.

The last time the region saw merger of this magnitude was in 2018, when the Washington-based law firms of Venable and Arent Fox merged with Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto of New York and Posternak Blankstein & Lund of Boston, respectively, according to data collected by consultancy Altman Weil.