DuckNothing is more likely to raise temperatures during merger negotiations than the delicate issue of what the new enterprise should be called. It always requires a certain amount of ducking and diving – especially when said merger involves an Anglo-Saxon and a German firm.

Which makes The Diary wish we had been able to listen in on the merger discussions between Wilmer Cutler & Pickering (WCP) and the gloriously named German firm Quack Rechtsanwalte when the issue of names, er, surfaced.