Law firm mergers continued at a steady clip in the third quarter of 2023, according to a new report, with many participants using combinations as a vehicle to launch in a new market.

Fairfax Associates, the report’s author, counted 11 completed mergers during the third quarter, the same number it recorded in the second quarter. The total of completed combinations for the first nine months of the year, 41, is slightly above activity in 2022 and 2021, when 37 and 33 mergers, respectively, were completed by the nine-month mark.