“Allen Myers sounds like a 1970s porn star,” says one top partner at a U.S. firm in London. Such is the interest in the merger talks between Allen & Overy and O’Melveny & Myers that the name appears to be open to public debate.

Understandable. This potential transatlantic merger discussion is the most important for a generation because it is likely to set the tone for the future of all the top U.K. firms.