As Kirkpatrick & Lockhart seal with a kiss their union with Nicholson Graham & Jones, Pinsents and Masons dream of a beautiful future and Tite & Lewis fall head over heels for Lawrence Graham, it seems merger fever has gripped the City.

Perhaps most exciting of all is the transatlantic three-in-a-bed romp between the always open-minded DLA and sassy US slickers Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Friedenrich – with a bunch of partners from Denton Wilde Sapte gagging to jump in.