SAN FRANCISCO — As Dewey & LeBoeuf teeters, the Silicon Valley M&A lawyers led by rainmaker Richard Climan are said to be in talks with at least three law firms: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Kirkland & Ellis; and the U.K.’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, according to people familiar with the group’s situation.

Climan, reached on his cellphone in New York, said he wouldn’t comment on the group’s plans.