Silicon Valley icon the Venture Law Group (VLG) is set to make a key strategic decision that will either set it on a course for a merger with West Coast ally Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe or reassert its prized independence.

Legal Week has learned that VLG formed a working party last month to formalise strategy at the 65-lawyer firm, which has been heavily battered by the collapse in California’s venture capital and technology market.