Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has failed in its bid to merge with Washington DC’s Swidler Berlin Shereff & Friedman, leaving the San Francisco giant with its third failed US tie-up in the past 12 months.

The collapse of talks with the 235-lawyer Swidler Berlin, first reported on legalweek.com (5 July), stemmed from problems involving a client conflict on the Swidler Berlin side.